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in a junior golf clinic. Although that limited his pr

in Here is your first Forum Sat Nov 09, 2019 5:12 am
by sakura698 • 630 Posts

New York, NY (SportsNetwork. Air Max From China .com) - The 2013-14 World Marathon Majors championship concludes on Sunday with the 44th running of the New York City Marathon, in what is expected to be one of the most contentious races in history. A star-studded field of competitors will take to the streets of Americas largest city, in which competitors will be searching for a victory to knock off the current WMM leader on the mens side, Dennis Kimetto. The 30-year-old native of Kenya tops the WMM leaderboard after picking up a victory and setting a world record in Septembers Berlin Marathon. The course in New York starts across the The Narrows on Staten Island, but competitors quickly cross the Verrazano Narrows Bridge into Brooklyn. From there, runners take long trips up Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue, work their way up the East River and then cross over the Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan. Once in the heart of the city, runners will shoot straight up First Avenue, make a left hook up on 135th Street over the Madison Avenue Bridge, and make their way down Fifth Avenue and into Central Park, where the race finishes up. The race has been run every year since 1970, with the exception of the 2012 season in which the event was canceled due to Hurricane Sandy. Kenyan runner Geoffrey Mutai has won each of the last two races. His 2011 victory set the course record with a time of 2:05:06. The New York City Marathon is one of the six World Marathon Majors courses. The World Marathon Majors is a competition for marathoners that spans a two-year period, and takes four of a runners highest finishes into account when determining which runner receives the prize jackpot. The runner who has the best four finishes gets the jackpot of $500,000. The six race courses are in Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, London, Chicago and New York. To be eligible for the jackpot, each athlete must compete in at least one of these qualifying courses in each of the two calendar years. New York hosts the final leg of the World Marathon Majors. In the 2014 version of the race, a mens champion will be crowned for the 2013-14 season. The two- year period overlaps, though, and this race will count toward the 2014-15 WMM series as well. On the womens side, Kenyan runner Rita Jeptoo has already captured the WMM crown and the $500,000 jackpot by taking victories in the 2013 and 2014 Boston Marathons, and the 2013 and 2014 Chicago Marathons. Jeptoo defended her 2013 Chicago title with a victory there last month, which awarded her the WMM crown. She is not in the New York field. But for the men, it all comes down to this race. Kimetto leads the WMM standings after capturing the victory in Berlin back in September, so he is not running this race. He adds his victory in Berlin to the 2013 Tokyo Marathon and the 2013 Chicago Marathon in the WMM series. The top challenger who can steal the WMM crown away from Kimetto is Wilson Kipsang, a fellow Kenyan who is making his New York debut. Kipsang has taken victories in the 2013 Berlin Marathon and the 2014 Virgin Money London Marathon, so a victory here in New York is the only thing that can help him surpass Kimetto for the title. Kimetto broke Kipsangs previous world record of 2:03:23 in Berlin not even two months ago with his 2:02:57 time. Kipsang, a 32-year-old, said hes eying the course record in New York this weekend. The two-time defending champion Mutai is also in this years field of competitors. He won back in 2011 with a time of 2:05:06 - the current course record - and then won again in 2013 after Hurricane Sandy canceled the 2012 event. Mutai looks to become the first three-time NYC Marathon winner since American Alberto Salazar captured three straight titles from 1980-1982. Another American, Bill Rodgers, won four straight titles in New York immediately before Salazars run. Ethiopian contenders Lelisa Desisa and Gebre Gebremariam will both present challenges to Kipsang and Mutai. Desisa won his marathon debut last year in Dubai in just under 2 hours, 5 minutes, and then followed that victory up with a win in the 2013 Boston Marathon. Desisa dropped out of this years Boston Marathon at the 40-kilometer mark, but won a half-marathon in October in 1:01:38. Gebremariam, a 31-year-old, has a marathon personal best of 2:04:53, and won the New York event back in 2010. Reigning World and Olympic marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich, a 25-year-old Ugandan, will certainly be a runner to watch in this years race. Kiprotich finished 12th in last years NYC race, but finished third in his last Bupa Greatest Race outing in Newcastle last month. Kiprotich is just the second man in the world to win both the Olympic and World championship marathon titles, but he wasnt able to make an impact in Aprils London Marathon. My problem was speed, and I have been working on it, Kiprotich said. I believe that it is great enough for me to put up some good challenge against that high field of elite runners. The best chance for Americans in the race falls on 2014 Boston Marathon winner Meb Keflezighi. The 39-year-old may be one of the more overlooked competitors, considering he won this event in New York back in 2009, and wasnt seen as much of a threat in Boston before he pulled ahead for the win. Keflezighi beat some big names in Boston earlier this year, including Kimetto, Desisa and Gebremariam. Defending womens champion Priscah Jeptoo, who won last years event with a time of 2:25:07, withdrew from the Nov. 2 race early in October due to a leg injury that occurred during the London Marathon. Jeptoo said she plans to come back and run in New York again in 2015. That leaves the womens side pretty open. The front-runners are Mary Keitany (of Kenya) and Buzunesh Deba (of Ethiopia). Keitany, 32, hasnt participated in a marathon since the London Olympics, which was before the birth of her second child. Since then, she has competed in just two other non-marathon races. My training has been going on very well, Keitany said. I have also had a chance to compete and test my body, but this will be the first major hurdle in my program to return to the top of marathon running. Shell be challenging for the course record, which was set by Margaret Okayo back in 2003 (2:22:31). In the second of her London Marathon wins (2012), Keitany set a blistering pace of 2:18:37, which was the fastest time since Paula Radcliffe ran a sub-2:18 back in 2005. But since she hasnt raced in a marathon since then, any form of record may be unrealistic for Keitany. Deba is from Ethiopia, but calls the Bronx her home. She finished second last year in New York with a time of 2:25:56. She had built up a lead at the 15-mile mark over Priscah Jeptoo, but then Jeptoo turned on the jets to take the win and the WMM title at the end of last season. It was the second time in as many years that Deba finished second in New York. Deba also finished second at this years Boston Marathon by running a personal best of 2:19:59. Coming into the final race of the season and the WMM title already being awarded to Rita Jeptoo, Deba will be shooting for a first-place finish. Because of the withdrawal by Priscah Jeptoo, Kenyan Jemima Sumgong was added to the list of race entrants. She has a personal best of 2:20:41, and plans on challenging for one of the top spots this year. Also, 34-year-old Kenyan Edna Kiplagat will be running in this years New York event. She finished first in New York back in 2010 with a time of 2:28:20. Kiplagat has a personal marathon best of 2:19:50. Keitany has run the New York Marathon twice in the past, and finished third both of those times with a best finish of 2:23:38 in 2011. I hope to be third-time lucky, she said. But that is easier said than done. In New York, there are no pace makers, no jokers and only serious challengers. I hope I will pass the test and get the best result. The top three American contenders on the womens side consist of Deena Kastor, Desiree Linden and Kara Goucher. American Shalane Flanagan will not compete after finishing seventh in the 2014 Boston Marathon and third in the 2014 Berlin Marathon (which she finished with a personal-best 2:21:14). Kastor, a 41-year-old, holds the American record for the fastest marathon at 2:19:36, which she set in 2006 in London. She might be the best hope for the American women, who havent won the New York City Marathon since Miki Gorman did so back in 1977. Its the final event of the 2014 marathon season, which means the final try for Kipsang to unseat Kimetto at the top of the WMM standings. The mens side will be highly competitive with the title on the line, but the women will be running for a big boost in the 2014-15 WMM race. Either way, this field of competitors is one of the deepest in marathon history, so expect fireworks in New York on Sunday. Cheap Authentic Air Max . - The Denver Broncos kept rookie wide receiver Tavarres King from joining the Green Bay Packers by promoting him to their active roster Tuesday. Discount Air Max . Although head coach Randy Carlyle jokingly wondered how much actual training Bolland got done while in London. "I dont know how much training goes on when you go back to the junior team that you played for so I wouldnt read too much into that," laughed Carlyle after the Maple Leafs were put through an up-tempo practice that concluded with a 10-minute bag skate on Thursday. https://www.airmaxchina.us/ .com) - The Ottawa Senators will try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive when they face the Chicago Blackhawks who are trying to secure their place in the post-season.AVONDALE, La. -- Ben Martin made his way through most of the TPC Louisiana course with the type of sparse gallery one would expect for a player who had missed seven cuts in his previous nine starts on the PGA Tour. The few who followed him, including his mother, father and wife, were treated to a round never before seen at the current home of the Zurich Classic. Martins 10-under 62 in Thursdays opening round broke the course record by two strokes, highlighted by a chip-in from 55 feet and two birdie putts of 20 feet or more. "It was one of those days you dream about," Martin said. "I started the round with two birdies in a row and they just kept rolling in." Martin birdied 10 holes and made pars on the rest. His final birdie came on his chip with a 54-degree sand wedge on the par-3 17th hole, which hugs a water hazard and was made more difficult by afternoon winds. Martin said the challenges that hole posed led him to take a conservative tee shot with a 5-iron rather than a longer club, and the way the 26-year-old South Carolina native executed his plan exemplified the type of day he had. "That was just managing my game. I knew that hole was into the wind with water left," Martin said. "I felt like short of the green was a pretty easy chip." He certainly made it look that way. "Really, everything was working well," Martin said. "It was just one of those days, just like you draw it up." The previous record at TPC Louisiana was a 64, accomplished many times, including on Thursday, when Andrew Svoboda did it to take a lead that held up until Martin surged past late in the day. Peter Hanson and Sueng-Yul Noh were tied for third at 65. Last weekend, Martin matched his career best with a third-place tie in the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head, S.C. He also finished third in early March in the Puerto Rico Open, but missed four cuts after that. Martin opened the Zurich with a 10-foot birdiee putt, the first of six birdies on the front nine, most set up by approach shots within 10 feet. Replica Air Max. One exception was his 26-foot birdie putt on No. 5. He opened the back nine with a 14-foot birdie putt, made a 10-footer on 11 and a 20-footer on 13. Svoboda birdied six of his last nine holes. Like Martin, the 34-year-old Svoboda has never won on the PGA Tour. While much can change with three rounds left, New Orleans has seen its share of maiden tour triumphs. It has happened in six of the past nine years, and 10 of the past 16. "Ill take that stat," Svoboda said. Svobodas best career finish on the PGA Tour is a tie for 15th at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas in October. Hansons round was highlighted by an eagle on the par-4 sixth hole, accomplished with a 6-iron from 183 yards. Erik Compton, Chad Collins and Michael Thompson were tied for fifth at 66, and Jeff Overton, Stuart Appleby and Robert Streb followed at 67. Compton, a two-time heart transplant recipient, spent the early part of the week meeting with children at a New Orleans-area hospital and participated in a junior golf clinic. Although that limited his practice time, he thought it helped his mindset. "It seems to really relax me and really puts things in perspective," Compton said. "I seem to play better during the weeks where I have hospital visits." On the par-5 seventh, his 297-yard drive sailed right of the fairway, crossing a cart path. But he belted a 227-yard shot out of the rough to the foot of the green and two-putted for birdie. He ended his round with a 22-foot birdie putt on nine to briefly put him atop the leaderboard. Compton, also winless on the PGA Tour, said he feels "very comfortable" on New Orleans Pete Dye-designed course. "You have to hit a lot of long iron shots and drive it well here, and those are some of the strengths of my game," he said. ' ' '

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