“Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm” - Winston Churchill
Edition of 05/11/24
Farewell to the Majors in 2024 🗽
Image: NPR Website
Last Sunday (03), the streets of NY stopped to follow and cheer for athletes from all over the world at the NYC Marathon 2024.
Considered one of the most difficult routes among the world's biggest marathons, New York was no easy feat even for professionals, let alone amateurs.
In the men's race, Abdi Nageeye won the race in 2h07min39s.
In the first half of the race, the front group had 10 athletes, who began to space themselves out as the finish line approached.
The day's favorite, Tamirat Tola, finished in 4th place, 33 seconds behind the champion.
In the women's category, Kenyan Sheila Chepkirui won with a time of 2h24min35s, but not very easily.
Up until km 35 there were 5 athletes in the front pack, and at the 40km mark the distance between Sheila and Hellen Obiri was still less than a second. From then on, in the final sprint, Chepkirui opened up a 14-second lead over her main rival.
World record: The world record for the most participants in a marathon has been broken once again in 2024. After more than 54,000 participants in Berlin, the new number to be beaten is now 55,362.
Nothing less was to be expected from the last major of the year.
Welcome 🤝🏻
Image: Abbot World Marathon Majors Website
After years of testing and speculation, the Sydney Marathon was confirmed last Sunday as the newest Abbott World Marathon Major.
The majors circuit, traditionally known for being the largest and most traditional marathons in the world, had 6 events on 3 different continents, with Sydney being the seventh in the group, and the first in Oceania.
In addition to the newcomer, there are three events in America (Boston, Chicago and NY), two in Europe (London and Berlin) and one in Asia (Tokyo).
According to the latest calendar, the TCS Sydney Marathon is set to open the second half of the majors calendar in 2025 on August 31.
The route of the race, however, should not be the easiest. There are 317m of ascent and 400m of descent during the route, with few or practically no flat moments.
Despite the difficulty, the temperature shouldn't be too bad, considering it's the end of the Australian winter. The beautiful landscapes and modern architecture are also big attractions of the newest major city.
Welcome, Sydney!
The greatest in history wants more 🥇
Image: The Guardian
Eliud Kipchoge has declared that he still wants something more.
The former marathon world record holder and arguably the most relevant long-distance runner of all time has said he intends to finish all six majors before retiring.
It is worth remembering that today (!), November 5, 2024, Kipchoge turns 40, and is now considered a master athlete.
The current masters world record is 2:04:19, set by Kenenisa Bekele at the 2023 Valencia Marathon.
The Kenyan legend also said that before retiring from competitive racing, he wants to achieve goals that “can inspire the world more”.
Considering that the New York marathon was this weekend, and will only happen again in a year, it is possible to imagine Kipchoge trying to break the masters record in the first half of 2025, before doing the New York marathon at the end of the year.
Another point to remember is that Sydney has only just joined the majors, so we will likely have two more years of Kipchoge competing professionally before his retirement.
We hope so!