I encourage you to check out our foundation and how we are combating poverty (http://TheStepsFoundation.org), but more than anything I encourage you to not just walk by the next homeless person you walk by. Take some time to hear their story and encourage them along their journey. I think you will find you walk away from the experience encouraged yourself and perhaps with a different view of the homeless than you’ve had before.Obviously not all homeless are bad people. But most of them are. Hold tight to your purse/hide your wallet as you walk by and don't make eye contact.
Olympian Shalane Flanagan to Make Marathon Debut at ING New York City Marathon 2010
Flanagan joins running greats in making marathon debut in New York
New York, June 16, 2010—The ING New York City Marathon will once again showcase a highly anticipated American marathon debut: Shalane Flanagan will join the likes of Deena Kastor (2001), Meb Keflezighi (2002), Marla Runyan (2002), Dathan Ritzenhein (2006), and Kara Goucher (2008) when she runs the 41st edition of the race on Sunday, November 7, 2010.
“It’s another coming-out party on the streets of New York as Shalane adds her name to the impressive list of American debuts here,” said Wittenberg. “This will be no mere ‘toe in the water’ as Shalane jumps into the deep end with the world’s best. I am 100-percent confident that Shalane will hold her head above water and much more. Shalane’s debut at the 10,000 meters says it all. Look for a serious and significant debut effort in NYC.”
Flanagan, 28, is the American record-holder at 3000, 5000, and 10,000 meters. She set the 10,000-meter mark of 30:22.22 when she took the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, lowering her own record set earlier in 2008. Earlier this year, she won the Houston Half-Marathon in 1:09:41 in her debut at that distance. Flanagan attended the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she won national cross country titles in 2002 and 2003, becoming the first Tar Heel to earn the top individual honor in the sport.
“I’ve dreamed of running a marathon since I was a little girl, and on November 7, 2010, I will attempt to fulfill that dream by racing the merciless 26.2 miles in New York City,” said Flanagan. “I’ve chosen to run my first marathon in New York because of the support and encouragement I’ve received from NYRR throughout my career. Riding the lead vehicle in 2009 showed me the gritty overall challenge, and the distinct spirit within each of New York’s neighborhoods. I can’t wait to begin the training and the journey to the streets of NYC!”
Kastor and Goucher set women’s American marathon debut records in New York. Goucher set the current record at 2:25:53 when she finished third two years ago.
Flanagan will join the previously announced Kastor in the women’s field. Defending ING New York City Marathon champion Keflezighi and world marathon record-holder Haile Gebrselassie have been announced for the men’s field.
Half-marathoner has cleared major hurdles
Things were good for American distance runner Fernando Cabada in 2008. While being coached by former marathon world-record holder Steve Jones, he won the USA Men’s Marathon title, in a race from Minneapolis to St. Paul, and earned a spot on the 2009 World Championships team. Things haven’t gone as well since then. By: Kevin Pates, Duluth News Tribune
Things were good for American distance runner Fernando Cabada in 2008. While being coached by former marathon world-record holder Steve Jones, he won the USA Men’s Marathon title, in a race from Minneapolis to St. Paul, and earned a spot on the 2009 World Championships team.http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/event/image/id/52554/headline/Fernando%20Cabada/
Things haven’t gone as well since then.
Cabada, 28, from Boulder, Colo., didn’t see improvement in his race times, battled injuries and decided in February to coach himself. He comes into Saturday’s 20th Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon with something to prove.
“Right now I’m on a mission and I’m more motivated than I’ve ever been,” Cabada said last week. “My confidence has grown by leaps and bounds the last few weeks, and if the (Bjorklund) half-marathon leaders take off sprinting from the start, then I’ll take off sprinting.”
He’s been in the thick of things the past two years in Duluth, placing second in 2008 in 1 hour, 5 minutes, 7 seconds, and third last year in 1:05:30. He has a half-marathon best of 1:02:45, from 2006, while the Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon course record is 1:04:19, set in 2002 by Ryan Meissen of Hudson, Wis.
Two days after the 2009 Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon, he found he had an Achilles tendon problem and ultimately gave up his position for the World Championships marathon. In December he developed posterior tibial tendonitis in an ankle, which meant more time off. He’s been back training seriously since March.
On June 5, Cabada was fifth in a field of 6,860 in the Dam-to-Dam 20-kilometer road race in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1:02:36 for the 12.4 miles.
“I was heartbroken for months after missing the World Championships, and after that I’ve learned to love my running more and to give 100 percent. I needed a long race like (Dam-to-Dam), because I had lost my racing edge,” Cabada said.
Getting to the elite-runner level in this decade is another story in Cabada’s biography. He was raised by a single mother on welfare in Fresno, Calif., and then left for a better life in Boulder. He lives with two siblings, Corina, 20, and Dominic, 18, while his mother, Magdalena, is nearby in Longmont, Colo. Cabada ran 2:12:27 in the 2006 Fukuoka Marathon in his debut at the distance.
Namesake returns
When a record 6,876 runners line up for the Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon, they’ll see a familiar face at the starting line. Namesake Garry Bjorklund, a Twig native living in Fort Collins, Colo., will address the runners before the 6:30 a.m. race.
The former U.S. Olympian at 10,000 meters is attending the anniversary race as a fan, not a competitor.
“This half-marathon has become a major event and I love the fact that it’s in Duluth,” Bjorklund said Sunday. “To be associated with a race like this has been a wonderful gift for me. I’m very proud of it.”
When race director Scott Keenan helped start the race he wanted to honor Bjorklund, who legitimized Grandma’s Marathon by running and winning the inaugural event in 1977, and then winning again in 1980 in 2:10:20. The Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon began in 1991 with 1,600 entrants.
Bjorklund, 59, who ran at Proctor High School and the University of Minnesota, is a private concessions contractor for the city of Fort Collins, where he’s lived the past 27 years.
Joining Cabada among the men’s favorites are Ethiopians Worku Beyi, 23, who has run 1:01:57 and Bado Worku, 21, with a best of 1:03:45, along with 2008 champion (1:04:48) Mathew Chesang, 28, of Kenya. Caroline Rotich, 26, of Kenya leads the women’s field with a best of 1:10:23. She was 10th in Saturday’s New York Mini 10K in 32:43.
