“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.” - John Maxwell
Edition of 10/22/24
1 second ⏱️
Image: Runner's World
By just 1 second, athlete Yomif Kejelcha from Ethiopia broke the world record for the half marathon last Sunday (27), in Valencia.
The Spanish race is known for its technically flat course. There are only 18m of elevation gain spread over the 21.1km of the race.
For the record, Kejelcha completed the route in exactly 57 minutes and 30 seconds, that is, an average pace of 2:43 min/km.
Details about the test: Earlier this year, the president of the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation, which organizes the event, announced that if a record is set in Valencia, the new record holder will receive a prize of 1 million euros, which at the current exchange rate is 5.3 million reais.
Unfortunately for Kejelcha, this award is exclusive to the marathon that takes place next month.
The race, which as previously mentioned is famous for its flat course, had a total of 28,709 participants, a completely absurd number for a half marathon.
It is also worth noting that the event is part of the select group of “super midfielders”, a group that also includes Lisbon, Prague, Cardiff, Berlin and Copenhagen.
A true legend among half marathons!
Kona delivered everything and more 🔆
Image: Marca Newspaper
You couldn't expect anything less from a World Cup. All the participants had already proven themselves to be there. That said, Kona exceeded expectations.
In the elite, Sam Laidlow, Patrick Lange and Kristian Blummenfelt were the favorites.
Laidlow came second in the swim, already opening up a 30-second lead over his main rivals in the first transition.
On the bike, his strongest section, he had an average of just over 45 km/h, took the lead and opened up a lead of more than 5 minutes at the start of the race over the then second-placed Robert Kallin.
The race was where the race was decided. Despite the more than 9 minutes difference to Patrick Lange in the transition, by the 5th kilometer this difference between the two was already just over 7 minutes, and there were still 37 kilometers to go.
Lange overtook Laidlow at kilometer 18, and by the half marathon mark he was already more than 3 minutes ahead of the second-placed rider, putting an average gap of one minute per kilometer on his rivals.
Finishing the marathon in 2h37min, and the race in 7h35min, Patrick Lange was crowned the great champion of the 2024 IronMan world championship, and also broke the course record.
Laidlow broke down in the race and finished only in 18th place, while Blummenfelt finished in 35th. On the podium were Magnus Ditlev in second and Rudy Von Berg in third.
It is also worth noting that this was not the first time that Patrick Lange had reached the position of world champion, but rather the third.
Running for a dream 🙌🏼
Image: News Nation Now
American Bill Murphy, from Grafton, Massachusetts, promised to complete 7 marathons in 7 consecutive days, one on each continent, as a pledge to raise funds for children with serious illnesses.
The challenge, called “Make-a-wish”, promises to complete the tests between November 15 and 21. Its fundraising goal is 50 thousand dollars, something close to 300 thousand reais at the current exchange rate.
Bill is already a longtime supporter of the cause. Over the past 20 years, Bill has completed challenges in support of the cause, totaling more than $500,000, or approximately R$3 million.
In 2021, for the Boston Marathon, Bill had promised to run, also for the cause, but he was injured shortly before the race and was unable to run.
Contrary to the obvious, the American decided to complete the race on crutches.
At the time, he treated it as if doing the test on crutches was the most obvious thing in the world, as if there was no option of not completing the test for the children and their dreams.
Cases like these remind us that before being competitive, sport has a huge capacity for social impact, much greater than we are used to thinking.
For a running world not only with more Kipchoges, but mainly with more Bill Murphys.