Road Racing News Round-Up

Although the indoor track and the cross country seasons are in full swing, there has been a lot of news over the past few days on road running events.

Here's a summary:

YAMAUCHI WITHDRAWS FROM LONDON WITH HAMSTRING INJURY:

Mara Yamauchi, the second-fastest British marathon woman of all time with a 2:23:12 personal best, has been forced to withdraw from the Virgin London Marathon, with a hamstring injury. Yamauchi, 37, who finished sixth at the Beijing Olympic Marathon, had hoped to run both the NYC Half-Marathon on 20 March (she is the defending champion), and then the London race on 17 April. "I am very disappointed to have to withdraw from the 2011 Virgin London Marathon due to a hamstring injury," Yamauchi said through a press release. "London is an iconic marathon which I have enjoyed racing many times. I was looking forward to returning to London this April. But my injury treatment and rehabilitation must take priority, especially with the 2012 London Olympics approaching fast." Yamauchi finished 10th at London last year in 2:26:16 (after a 5-day trip to get from Albuquerque to London because of the volcanic ash plume over Europe), and had her best run there in 2009 when she finished second.

VIRGIN LONDON MARATHON RANKED #1 BY ALL-ATHLETICS.COM - ARRS DISAGREES:

All-Athletics.com, the athletics results and statistics website, has ranked the Virgin London Marathon as the world's most competitive for both men and women for 2010. Using their proprietary measurement system, the London men's field was most competitive when ranked based on both the full elite fields and just the top runners. It was the same for the women's field. However, a separate analysis by the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS) reached a different conclusion. The ARRS gave the London men's field a ranking of 891 points (the ING New York City Marathon was second), but ranked the New York City women's field as the most competitive with 856 points (London was second with 801 points). Both events are part of the World Marathon Majors series. You can see both of these rankings at http://tinyurl.com/49dfgu9 and http://www.arrs.net/CompLevl.htm, respectively.

REGISTRATION OPEN FOR FREIHOFER'S RUN FOR WOMEN:

Entry for the 33rd Freihofer's Run for Women, the most competitive women's 5 km race in the United States according to the Association of Road Running Statisticians, is now open. The IAAF Silver Label road race is scheduled for Saturday, 4 June, in downtown Albany, N.Y. Organizers said today that the first 500 women to register at http://www.freihofers.com/ will be entered in a drawing to win an Apple iPod Touch. Registration costs $25 through 31 March.

REGISTRATION TO OPEN 1 FEB. FOR CHICAGO MARATHON:

Race director Carey Pinkowski announced yesterday that registration for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon will open on Tuesday, 1 February, beginning at midnight. The 34th edition of the race will take place on Sunday, 9 October, and registration will be open to the first 45,000 runners who apply. The fee to register is $145 for USA runners and $170 for runners outside of the USA. Find more information at http://www.chicagomarathon.com. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is part of the World Marathon Majors series.

BEPPU-OITA MARATHON RELEASES INVITED FIELD:

Organizers of the Beppu-Oita Marathon in Oita, Japan, have announced the top athletes for their race, scheduled for Sunday, 6 February. According to correspondent Ken Nakamura, Kenya's Daniel Njenga (2:06:16 personal best) is the fastest man in the field. Other overseas athletes include Samson Ramadhani of Tanzania (2:08:01 PB), Abiyote Guta of Ethiopia (2:09:03), Ahmed Baday of Morocco (2:10:58), Jeffrey Hunt and Andrew Letherby of Australia (2:11:00 and 2:11:42, respectively), and Harun Njoroge of Kenya (2:13:04). The top Japanese entered are Atsushi Fujita (2:06:51), Shigeru Aburaya (2:07:52), Kazuhiro Maeda (2:11:01), and Ken-ichiro Setoguchi (2:11:44).

MARUGAME HALF-MARATHON RELEASES INVITED FIELD:

Japan's most competitive winter half-marathon, the Marugame Half-Marathon, scheduled for Sunday, 6 February, announced their elite field, according to correspondent Ken Nakamura. On the women's side the big news is that Turkey's Elvan Abeylegesse, who has a personal best time of 1:07:07, will compete for the first time. Also invited are defending champion Nikki Chapple of Australia, who ran a 1:08:37 personal best at the event last year. Russian veteran Silvia Skvortsova and Korea's Kim Sung-Eun will also run. The big Japanese star on the women's side is Kayoko Fukushi, the Japanese record holder with a 1:07:26 personal best. In the men's competition, overseas talent include Rachid Kisri (MAR), Dmytro Baranovskyy (UKR), Ji Young-Joon (KOR), Girma Tola (ETH), Mekubo Mogusu (KEN), and Cosmas Ondiba (KEN). Twenty-five Japanese men have been invited, led by Yuki Sato, Tsuyoshi Ugachi, Tsuyoshi Ogata and Kensuke Takahashi.

HONDA LA MARATHON RELEASES "FACT PACK:"

The Honda LA Marathon presented by K-Swiss, scheduled for Sunday, 20 March, has released a unique "Fact Pack" for the benefit of the media and fans. The Fact Pack contains nearly all the relevant information about the event, including television coverage schedule, prize money purse, course map, sponsors, official charities, race records, etc. The Fact Pack can be accessed here: http://www.lamarathon.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/LAM11-fact-pack-A-1...

27th RUNNING OF THE GEORGE WASHINGTON PARKWAY CLASSIC ANNOUNCED:

Pacers Running Stores announced the launch of the 27th George Washington Parkway Classic, a 10 mile road race in Alexandria, Va., on Sunday, 10 April. Registration fees are $65 and $55 for 10 mile (open and active duty military, respectively) and $45 for the companion 5-K. All event details are at http://www.pacersevents.com.

By David Monti (c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved; Used with permission

Photo by SNappa2006 (licence)