Category: Running

Watch a New York City Marathon runner who fell before finish get helped across the line

He got help from two extraordinary fellow runners.

This content comes from our friends at Sportskind.

While the New York City Marathon is highly competitive for the top athletes, for the rest of the 33,000 strong field, it’s simply one of the greatest fun runs in the world.

But covering 26.2 miles of city streets is no walk in the park, and every year some competitors can’t quite make it.

This year, one man was almost among them when he ran out of gas just 200-meters from the finish line. But in the true spirit of sportsmanship, two complete strangers refused to let him fail.

Though surely exhausted themselves, these Good Samaritans picked him up and supported him as he stumbled to the finish line to the roar of the appreciative crowd.

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Olympic marathoner Molly Seidel asked her family to have a beer for her after surprise bronze finish

“I’m so tired. Please drink a beer for me!”

Molly Seidel, have yourself a day!

Coming into the final days of the Tokyo Olympics, Seidel was not expected to place near the podium in the women’s marathon. And yet, Seidel finished in a surprise third place on Friday after running the marathon in 2:27:36, becoming just the third American woman to win an Olympic medal in the event.

Not only that, this event was Seidel’s THIRD-EVER marathon! To post a time like that in just your third marathon ever, and in the Olympics nonetheless, is an incredible feat and a wonderful moment of athletic achievement.

Here’s how the end of the race went down on Friday.

A stunning third-place finish by Seidel was then capped off by a lovely emotional moment between her and her family post-race. Seidel was overcome with emotion seeing her family celebrate her bronze finish, then had just one request to celebrate the occasion.

“Please drink a beer for me!”

What a moment for Seidel. No doubt her family obliged as well!

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Very good dog crashes track meet to show off her incredible 100-yard dash time

“Lol I can’t believe I got beat by a dog”

Everyone loves fun, wholesome sports content, right? This latest delightful moment is thanks to a super speedy dog, who interrupted a Utah high school track meet in spectacular fashion.

During the final leg of a 4×200 meter relay heat on Saturday, runner Gracie Laney, from Logan High School in northern Utah, was anchoring for her team, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. She had a comfortable lead as she went into the final straightaway, and if she was going to get caught before finishing, she probably didn’t expect to get caught by a dog.

That dog’s name is Holly, according to The Sacramento Bee. And mid-race, she got loose from her humans and hit the track, technically finishing ahead of Laney after running 100 meters in about 10.5 seconds.

What a finish! While Holly’s time 100-yard dash time isn’t quite exact, it’s worth noting for comparison that Usain Bolt’s 100-meter world record is 9.58, set in 2009.

More via The Salt Lake Tribune:

“I’d say probably about the 50-meters [mark], I could feel something coming on me, and I thought it was a person. I thought it was the runner,” Laney said. “And then I kind of realized that it was really small.”

Laney and Logan High School obviously got the actual credit for winning the race, but that was still an awfully impressive performance on Holly’s part. And luckily for everyone involved, nothing bad happened after Holly (surely unintentionally) cut off Laney at the very end.

As The Sacramento Bee noted, Laney also commented on the video posted on Instagram, writing:

“Lol I can’t believe I got beat by a dog”

A very good dog.

New episodes of The Sneak: The Disappearance of Mario Rossi are out now

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Michigan freshman makes an unbelievable relay comeback from last place

Wow!

This content comes from our friends at Sportskind. 

Blink and you’ll miss her! That’s how fast Ziyah Holman ran to bring her team back to win this nail-biter of a race.

Watch the moment Ziyah laps two runners, makes up a huge time deficit and stuns the crowd with her incredible finish in the player above.

The University of Michigan athlete helped her team recover from a four-second deficit to claim victory by half a second.

Ziyah and her team raced against competitors from Ohio State and Oklahoma State.

She came in at 51.79 for the 400-meter split.

Usain Bolt’s daughter’s name is incredibly awesome and a subtle flex

Perfect!

Usain Bolt — owner of the 100m world record and eight gold medals — became a father in May.

The Jamaican Olympics legend introduced his daughter to the world Tuesday on social media, and we all got to find out her name, which is just the best: Olympia Lightning Bolt.

Not only do you get the use of his fantastic nickname, “lightning bolt,” but you also get a reminder of Bolt’s unreal Olympics performances.

Little Olympia was born in May, according to a tweet sent that month by Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness.

Here are the first photos and the name reveal:

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Everything you need to know to run the virtual 2020 Boston Marathon

Here’s what we know about the virtual version of the race so far.

The Boston Marathon won’t be held for the first time in 124 years — the Boston Athletic Association and city mayor Marty Walsh announced the cancellation of the iconic 26.2-mile race that was already postponed to September because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“While our goal and our hope is to make progress in containing the virus and recovering our economy,” Walsh tweeted on Thursday, “this kind of event would not be responsible or realistic on September 14 or any time this year.”

The silver lining, at least? Runners will get an opportunity to complete the race in 2020 virtually.

According to the BAA, everyone originally registered for the race that was set for its usual Patriots’ Day in April will be offered a full refund, and will get to run “in the virtual alternative” anytime in the week of September 7th through the 14th.

Here’s more:

Participants in the virtual 2020 Boston Marathon will be required to complete the 26.2 mile distance within a six hour time period and provide proof of timing to the B.A.A. All athletes who complete the virtual race will receive an official Boston Marathon program, participant t-shirt, medal, and runner’s bib.

The details on exactly how all of that works are coming soon. But my favorite part of all this is the “downloadable toolkit” that will have “a printable finish line, winner’s breaktape, and more.”

That will make for some incredibly cool moments on photo and video.

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Britney Spears had everyone buzzing about whether she broke Usain Bolt’s 100m record

This was fun for a little while.

For at least one day, Britney Spears was the fastest human on Earth.

Seriously! But until she revealed she was kidding — and we knew that, didn’t we? — it was still fun to wonder if it was true or what she was exactly talking about on Instagram.

Isn’t that all we need right now? Some entertainment, even if it might not be real?

Anyway: Spears posted a since-deleted Instagram post in which she claimed to have run a 5.97-second 100m dash. That’s pretty incredible when you consider Usain Bolt holds the world record at 9.58 seconds (!!!).

Here’s the original post, in which she said she usually runs a “6 or 7.”

So here’s what I think: either she mistook what a 100-meter run was or she was just trying to stir up some internet hilarity. It appears it was the latter, because her latest post on Instagram cleared it up:

View this post on Instagram

Okay I guess I’m bored …. in my home for two weeks of quarantine and I’m modeling dresses I never knew I had 😂😂👗👠💕🙄 !!!! I tried to screen shot a picture but it didn’t work 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️ I realized I had my hair in a pony tail and no shoes 😂😂😅 anyhow I got this cute video !!! I was tired of being still so I got up to go dance in this orange dress 💃🏼 ….. and do you know what I just learned today ??!? That orange symbolizes wealth, success, stimulation, happiness, fun, balance, sexuality, enjoyment, expression, heat, sunshine, and warmth ☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️🧘🏼‍♀️ and that’s how I felt when I put it on !!!!!! PS …. obviously I was joking about running the 100 meter dash in 5.97 seconds …. the world record is held by Usain Bolt which is 9.58 seconds …. but you better believe I’m coming for the world record 😂 !!!! #joking #workbitch

A post shared by Britney Spears (@britneyspears) on

“Obviously I was joking about running the 100 meter dash in 5.97 seconds …. the world record is held by Usain Bolt which is 9.58 seconds …. but you better believe I’m coming for the world record.”

Ha!

This just gives us all an excuse to watch Bolt again:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiQ-4TFeeO8

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Man runs the length of a marathon on a 23-foot balcony during coronavirus lockdown

Just … wow.

In hopes of limiting the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, countries across the globe have instituted lockdowns.

People who live in China, Italy, France and Spain — to name a few — along with several U.S. states have been required to remain indoors. But in order to stay sharp as a competitive runner, French restaurant worker Elisha Nochomovitz decided to run a marathon on his 23-foot balcony in Balma, France.

The 32-year-old Nochomovitz did so by running around 3,000 laps — back and forth — on his balcony to reach the 26.2-mile distance. He has competed in 36 marathons, but Nochomovitz told CNN that the balcony marathon was by far the most challenging.

Nochomovitz completed the marathon attempt in just under seven hours (6:48). The constant changing of directions and the struggle to maintain a pace with just 23 feet to work with had a significant impact on that time. But still, what an effort.

He said via CNN:

“My only pleasure is running, no matter what the time.”

Nochomovitz added that he dedicated his marathon to the health workers trying to fight the pandemic in France.

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Is the ‘soap treadmill’ actually a good way to stay in shape while stuck at home?

We gave it a try.

I love the ingenuity of people who are stuck at home while practicing social distancing and quarantining during the coronavirus pandemic.

Like Atlanta Hawks star Trae Young, who started the #InHouseChallenge in which he shot sock balls into garbage cans to keep up his shooting touch (or just to pass the time).

And then there are folks like Olympic silver medalist Paul Chelimo who are trying to find ways to run on treadmills even though many gyms are closed or they might not own a machine in their house.

They’re using dish soap, water and bare feet to take a “walk.”

I was skeptical even though those videos made it look like it worked. So I gave it a shot (see above!) in my New York City apartment, and the result was decidedly this: I’d rather take a walk or run outside than slip and bang my face on my kitchen counter.

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