The New York Marathon & Canada's Next Great Runner

This weekend marks the running (pun intended) of the NY Marathon - it seems like just yesterday when I was living in the Big Apple, and try as I might, I could not get in thru the lottery. (I only learned too late that one could also qualify by running a sub 1:30 half marathon, a pretty straight forward matter, but one which I was unaware of - damn). It used to drive me nuts - NUTS - to see the race fill up thru the lottery, tour groups etc, and I had to stand on the sidewalk, watching the elites and then the ever-so-slow walkers at the back (the ones who stole my rightfully deserved spot - haha). I would walk a couple blocks down from our house and watch as the race unfolded off the Verrazano Bridge through 4th Ave in Brooklyn - a truly awe inspiring spectacle.
This is a pic of the elite men I shot in 2007; epic running by the world's best:

Speaking of which, there are definitely upsides (backsides too) to watching a race, esp as the lead women go by...

However, this week I want to write about the 2010 NY marathon; what with, among others, Haille G (current marathon world record holder, 2:03:59 - damn!), Ritz and Canada's own SIMON BAIRU gunning for the victory, I thought maybe a bit of Canadian national pride would be of use to those who are following along on my blog journey. Thus, the following 2 links will jump you to a bit about Simon B, who is making his marathon debut this weekend in New York. He is also currently the Canadian record holder in the 10,000m (27:23); the Can cross country champ 2002-2009; and holds a PB of 1:02:08 from the Philadelphia Half Marathon set in Sept 2010; he also soundly spanked (the great American hope) Ryan Hall in a half earlier in the year. Bairu was also the 2005 and 2006 NCAA cross country champion. However, although a world class runner, Bairu is still, unfortunate as it is, a great unknown here on his own home turf. According, I present, without further ado, Simon Bairu: the first thing ya gotta read is a great blog piece written by Bairu himself that was published in the New York Times on Oct 18, 2010: Simon Bairu - the Long Road to New York.

The second is an article I found in Running Times: Simon Bairu - part 2.

Get thru these two and you may - no, you will - find yourself rooting for Simon this coming Sunday.

Just as Sid the Kid buried the USA in Vancouver, Simon will do us all proud ripping up the 5 Boroughs of New York.

Run fearless, Simon.

peace out,

johnny boy