Friday, October 02, 2009

Twin Cities Marathon Grab-Bag II

There's no stopping the 2009 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon now!

Things really start heating up today with media conferences and the final preparation for TCM's Saturday events -- the 5K, the new 10K, and the kids' races -- and then it's on to Sunday's marathon and ten mile races.

Before DtB makes the drive to St. Paul to get in on all the media action today, here's another collection of Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon notes and news items.

The USA Championships ... USA Track & Field put THIS succinct race preview together for all of the USA Championships being contested at TCM this weekend. The event will host the USA Women's Marathon Championship, the USA Men's 10 Mile Championship, and the USA Masters Marathon Championships for men and women.

Note: The USATF preview incorrectly lists Mohamed Trafeh in the USA 10 Mile field; he is a late scratch.

The Local Men's Marathon ... The Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon men's race, which isn't a USA Championship this year, still features an uniquely local elite field. Along with Stillwater native Luke Watson and Team USA Minnesota's Antonio Vega, the Coon Rapids-based Duma Runners' Club has five runners in the elite mix.

Duma, a team of Kenyan-born athletes led by William Segei, features 2008 Grandma's Marathon runner-up David Tuwei. Tuwei was third at Grandma's earlier this year. Also competing for the squad are 2:10 marathoner and Bahrainian Olympian Stephan Lorou, Armen Kemei, Jacob Kendagor, and John Njoroge.

Advice from Team USA Minnesota ... Team USA Minnesota athletes Katie McGregor, Emily Brown, and Patrick Smyth will answer questions and discuss training, race strategy, nutrition, goal setting and injuries at a panel discussion starting at 4:00 p.m. today at the Target Health & Fitness Expo in the St. Paul River Centre.

McGregor is a five-time winner of the Medtronic TC 10 Mile. Brown, the reigning USA Cross Country champion, won the 2007 TC 5K. Smyth makes his Twin Cities 10 Mile debut on Sunday.

Facebook Film Festival ... If you haven't done so already, be sure to check out DtB's Facebook Film Festival, HERE. DtB co-founder Pete Miller has been posting his favorite running videos on DtB's Facebook page for some marathon-week inspiration and entertainment.

Watch the films and then become a Facebook fan of DtB! (All the kids are doing it!)

Weekend Coverage ... Stay tuned to DtB throughout marathon weekend for the latest on all the Twin Cities action. We'll post more news by Saturday morning off of today's media conferences. Later in the day, we'll have news and results from the TC 5K and 10K races.

On Sunday, we'll post top results and news about marathon and 10 mile.

And, by Monday morning, have our complete wrap-up of Minnesota's busiest weekend of racing.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Are there bib numbers for the elites yet?

Chad said...

Isn't Kara Goucher the 10 mile course record holder?

Anonymous said...

I thought Kara was the course record holder too.

Charlie said...

Charlie here ...

My bad, Goucher is indeed the TC-10 record-holder at 53:16.

The mistake has been corrected.