Author Archives: crossn81

Wisconsin Marathoner Dies at Little Rock

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Much has been written about the tragic year for the marathon in 2007 and we were all hoping for a better year in 2008. Sadly, tragedy has struck the race again during this weekend’s 6th Little Rock Marathon.

Adam Nickel, of Madison, Wis., was pronounced dead late Sunday morning near the finish line of the race, which attracted about 9,000 entrants, race officials said.

Nickel, 27 was an experienced runner having completed 6 marathons and finished this race in under 3 hours – even looking strong at the finish according to the race director. He collapsed shortly after crossing the finish line and emergency crews were unable to resuscitate him. The cause of death hasn’t been determined as of writing this post – however one doctor speculated some type of congenital heart condition which sounds similar to last year’s marathon deaths.

According to MarathonGuide.com Nickel ran a 2:54 marathon last year at Las Vegas.

From Fox 16 News and Arkansas Online.

[tags] Marathon, Little Rock, Arkansas [/tags]

Are U Nuts About Running?

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Then check out this site.


Talk about great marketing. Emerald Nuts has created a fun and engaging environment to draw attention to their running series. I enjoyed playing around the site – make sure your volume is turned up (unless you are at work!).Thanks Rae.

[tags] Emerald Nuts, Marathons, Marketing [/tags]

$2 Million Half-Marathon

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Remember the $1 Million Marathon in January?

That is nothing compared to Thursday’s $2 Million Half-Marathon – twice the money for half the distance, can’t beat that. The Zayeed Half Marathon will be the richest long distance race in the world. The marathon is taking place in Abu Dhabi the capital city of United Arab Emirates. Various news reports indicate that Half-Marathon record holders Samuel Kaman Wanjiru and Lorna Kiplagat, will be racing alongside Paul Tergat and other elite runners.

Winner’s will receive a $300,000 check with an additional $200,000 on the line if they break the world record. The current records stand at 58:33 (4:27) and 1:06:25 (5:03), for the men and women respectively.

This is great news for the athletes, where will it stop? How much money will organizers be willing to shell out to get top athletes and world records at their courses?

HT The Final Sprint

[tags] Half-Marathon, Abu Dhabi, Zayeed [/tags]

Running Groups are Great!

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It was great to run with a group of people again last Saturday. I ran with the Polar Bears a group from the Minnesota Distance Running Association. I ran with the second pack at around 8 minute pace. We ran out 45 minutes along the Minnehaha Parkway and then turned around and came back. It was very nice to run with other people and made the run go by a lot easier. The front pack of guys are training for Boston, so they went longer at a pretty steady pace.

It is amazing how much difference it can make running with other people. Even without talking the pace just kind of moves you and you feel like no effort has been exerted. Now it did feel like we ran almost 11 miles when we finished, but it was a good feeling! Crunch, Crunch, Crunch – the sound of a group running along the snow-covered trails!

I ran with them again this past week. I went out with the front group which was running around 7 minute pace. This was perfect for the workout schedule. They made it a lot easier to stay motivated and focused on pushing through the pain!

Do you train with a group?? Which one?? If you are a Twin Cities runner which running club(s) do you belong to?

[tags] Running Clubs, Minnesota, MDRA, Minnesota Distance Running Association [/tags]