Small Business 

(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. HONOLULU (04-Dec) -- Already one of the most prestigious road mile races in the United States, the Kalakaua Merrie Mile is now the most lucrative. Race organizers announced Tuesday that the winner of the December 7 event will receive $7,500, the highest first-place prize for any American road mile. That caps a total prize pool of $18,000 --up from $10,000 in 2023-- for the unique mixed-sex pursuit race, which will showcase 11 Olympians. The professional women's field will have a 32-second head start over the men and prize money is awarded based on overall order of finish for the top 5. The runner-up receives $5,000, followed by $3,000 for third, 1,500 for fourth and $1,000 for fifth. (A woman has yet to win the event, but that could change with this year’s head start being the longest yet.) In addition to the overall prize money, the race is offering bonuses of $10,000 for a world record and $5,000 for a USA record. The current world records are 3:51.3 by Great Britain’' Elliot Giles, set this past September, and 4:20.98 by Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji while winning the 2023 World Athletics Road Running title. Yared Nuguse (3:51.9) and Nikki Hiltz (4:28.0) hold the U.S. records. "The increase in prize money in the Kalakaua Merrie Mile recognizes the incredible contributions that world class athletes have made to this incredible event," said Dr. Jim Barahal, president of the Honolulu Marathon Association, which puts on the race. "As we begin a new era of this event with a worldwide streaming broadcast, we want to reward and continue to work with the top athletes in the world for many years to come." The race was first held in 2016, in conjunction with the Honolulu Marathon, and has quickly become a popular event, attracting Olympians and international stars from around the world. Nine months after winning last year's race, Nuguse took the bronze medal in the Olympic 1500 meters in Paris. "I really love bringing athletes down to Honolulu for the KMM; it's the best way to end our year and celebrate a successful year," said coach and agent Stephen Haas, who represents five athletes racing this year. "The Honolulu Marathon team really has helped my athletes grow in the sport by providing them a great opportunity to race some of the best athletes in the world down here every year. We are really excited about this year's race and have been really looking forward to trying to put on a good show for everyone coming out to watch." The race features a World Athletics-certified out-and-back course along Kalakaua Avenue in Waikiki. In addition to the professional field, about 2,500 citizen runners will participate. A live stream will begin at 7:30 a.m. local time Saturday (12:30 pm Eastern time) on the Honolulu Marathon's YouTube channel (12:30 p.m. EST). Hiltz --the reigning USA Track & Field indoor and outdoor champion in the 1500 meters-- will line up at this year's Merrie Mile after finishing fifth overall last year. The women's field also includes Susan Ejore-Sanders of Kenya, who placed sixth in the 1500m at the Paris Olympics (one spot ahead of Hiltz), as well as American Olympians Emily Mackay, Heather MacLean and Weini Kelati; Irish Olympian Sophie O'Sullivan, and Japanese Olympian Nozomi Tanaka. Rounding out the field is Sinclaire Johnson, the 2022 U.S. champion in the 1500, who finished fourth at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials. Chasing them in the men's field are several Olympians, including Americans Hobbs Kessler (the 2023 World Athletics road mile champion), Bryce Hoppel and Nico Young; Australian Oliver Hoare; and Neil Gourley of Great Britain, the 2022 Merrie Mile winner. Also in the mix will be Australia's Jack Anstey, Kenya's Festus Lagat and last year's runner-up, Vince Ciattei, who finished fourth in the U.S. Olympic Trials in June. "The Kalakaua Merrie Mile is one of my favorite events of the year. There is no better athlete experience anywhere," said Ciattei. "For the event organizers to increase the prize money on top of everything else they do for us on race week is an amazing investment in the sport. Last year I looked forward to my first chance at the Merrie Mile all fall, and to come back and compete for higher prize money this year is even more motivating." PHOTO: Vince Ciattei (right) finished second at the 2023 Kalakaua Merrie Mile in Honolulu; he and third place Hobbs Kessler (left) will both be competing in the 2024 edition of the event (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. MANCHESTER, CONN. (28-Nov) -– Weini Kelati won her fourth straight Manchester Road Race here this morning, three years after her first run on the 4.737-mile course. She is now the only woman to win New England's second largest road race four consecutive times. Kelati, 27, an Olympian who lives and trains in Flagstaff, Ariz., won today's 88th annual Thanksgiving Day race in 23:14, 19 seconds off her record she set in 2021. Andrew Colley from the ZAP Endurance team in Blowing Rock, N.C. won the men's race for the first time in 21:09 after finishing fourth in 2022 while running the fourth-fastest time in race history (21:07). There were over 12,000 entrants but quite a few no-shows due to the rainy and cold weather with temperatures in the high 30s at race start and the crowd watching the race was also down this year. Kelati led wire to wire, pacing off the men around her, as she has done in her three other victories. "It feels great," Kelati said. "This is my first race of the season. I took a break after the Olympics. I wasn't sure what to expect but I know I was in really good shape. "I was happy, with these conditions. I was hoping to run a little faster." Only Amy Rudolph, who won five times between 1995-2002, has more victories than Kelati at Manchester. Kelati is tied with Judi St. Hilaire, who won four times between 1985-92. Annie Rodenfels of Newton, Mass., finished second (24:05) and Florencia Borelli of Argentina third (24:16). Kelati had taken a break after the Olympics, where she finished eighth in the 10,000 meters, and went back to visit her family in Eritrea but her bags with her running gear never arrived so she took three extra weeks off.  It didn’t seem to bother her Thursday. "It doesn’t take me a long time to get fit so I wasn't worried about it," she said. The men's pack took the first mile out in 4:28 and the group thinned out a bit as they tackled the Highland Street hill. After Kenyan Olympian Edwin Kurgat and Evert Silva finished in a dead heat at the King of the Hill mark (Kurgat was deemed the winner and awarded the $1,000 bonus), Colley came into play. He took the lead down the Porter Street hill, citing his surfing background and how he wasn't afraid to fall – "I just let gravity take me," he said. But Colley had learned from his 2022 race not to take the lead too early because the finish line at Manchester is deceptively far away after he turned the corner from East Center Street to Main Street. When Kurgat surged back into the lead again at Mile 4, Colley remained patient. "I thought, 'This is a little early to be going,'" Colley said. "I did this two years ago and paid the consequences. I promised my coach I wouldn't do anything til Main Street." He continued: "I did it a little early but I could tell the others were fading and I wanted to capitalize and really take the wind out of their sails. I was slipping all over the place. The traction on my shoes isn't great. But I was having fun out there." Colley passed Kurgat after the final turn onto Main Street and held on, even lengthening the lead. With 100 meters to go, Eduardo Herrera of Mexico passed Kurgat, his Under Armour/Dark Sky Elite teammate, to finish second in 21:15. Kurgat finished third (21:19). Herrera said he came to the Thanksgiving Day race because Kelati, another Dark Sky teammate, had talked it up. "I didn't know what to fully expect," Herrera said. "I've only done road races in Boston. It was nice to come out to Manchester and get the full experience.  I didn't think the (Highland Street) hill was going to be that bad. But yeah, running full speed up the hill - it definitely got to me. It's pretty hard. I felt like I was revving the engine a lot going up the hill." But he still had enough in the tank to knock off his teammate at the end. "I talked to people about the race and they said the best way to break away from the group was to run the downhill," Herrera said. "I wasn't with the pack at the top of the hill. I made a comeback at the downhill. I caught up with the group. It was motivating to see Edwin with me as well. At the four mile mark, he did a surge I couldn’t cover." He added: "Once he made that surge, I was like, 'Oh, I got to have something for the finish.'  It's my first Thanksgiving race. It was such a good experience." PHOTO: Andrew Colley breaks away from Edwin Kurgat just before winning the 2024 Manchester Road Race (photo by Chris Barlow for Race Results Weekly)  

(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. HONOLULU (26-Nov) -- Backed by a record field of about 35,000 runners of all abilities, a combined total of fourteen Olympians are set to compete in the Honolulu Marathon and the Kalakaua Merrie Mile on the weekend of December 7th and 8th, race organizers announced today.  For the Olympic athletes --three in the marathon and 11 in the mile-- this will be no island vacation.  They must be prepared to run fast, and several significant records could be broken in the mile. "We have put together an incredible field of world-class athletes, including many Paris Olympians from the summer of 2024," said Honolulu Marathon Association president Dr. Jim Barahal.  "The Kalakaua Merrie Mile is rapidly emerging as one of the world's most prestigious road miles, and the unique format in which the men chase the women to the finish line promises to deliver another incredible finish. The first athlete across the finish line receives $5,000 and a solid gold plaque." The mile, which will be held on Saturday, kicks off with about 2,500 citizen runners who will run the flat, World Athletics-certified, out-and-back course on Kalakaua Avenue adjacent to Waikiki Beach.  After that the professional athletes will line up with athletes in the women's category getting a 32-second head start over the men.  Prize money is paid based on the combined finish order of men and women. Leading the charge in the women's division is reigning USATF 1500m champion and 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships 1500m silver medalist Nikki Hiltz.  The former Arkansas Razorback has competed in the Merrie Mile three previous times, and was fifth across the line last year behind the top four men.  Hiltz's time of 4:28.07 was just a fraction off of their national and all-comers record of 4:28.0 set at the Grand Blue Mile in Des Moines in 2023, a record that could easily fall this year in Honolulu.  Hiltz was passed by Morgan Beadlescomb just steps from the finish line; the finish photo had to be used to separate them. "I made a pretty hard move at 400 to go and nobody [in the women's division] went with me," Hiltz said after last year's race.  "So when I heard people [behind me] I assumed it was the men.  I just wanted to beat as many bodies as possible the last 50 meters." Hiltz will have a strong group of women to push them this year including American Olympians Emily Mackay, Heather MacLean, and Weini Kelati; Irish Olympian Sophie O'Sullivan, Japanese Olympian Nozomi Tanaka, and Kenyan Olympian Susan Ejore-Sanders.  Sinclaire Johnson, the 2022 USA 1500m champion who was fourth in the 2024 Olympic Trials, will also be competing. A formidable group of men will be trying to chase down the women, and three of them --Paris Olympians Oliver Hoare of Australia, Neil Gourley of Great Britain, and Hobbs Kessler of the USA-- have run sub-3:50 miles during their careers.  Two other Paris Olympians, Americans Bryce Hoppel and Nico Young, will also be competing along with Australia's Jack Anstey, the USA's Vince Ciattei, and Kenya's Festus Lagat. In addition to Hiltz's national record, athletes could challenge the USA all-comers records in Honolulu (3:56.58 for men and 4:28.0 for women), as well as the fastest time in the world by a woman this year (4:30.3), and the fastest times on U.S. soil this year (3:56.97 and 4:32.20).  There will be pacemakers for both the men's and women's fields. REIGNING CHAMPIONS RETURN FOR THE MARATHON Sunday's Honolulu Marathon will feature both of the race's 2023 champions, Cynthia Limo and Paul Lonyangata of Kenya.  In last year's race Limo, the 2016 World Athletics Half-Marathon Championships silver medalist, won by a wide margin in her marathon debut.  Her time of 2:33:01 was solid for Honolulu's hilly course, intermittent rain, warm temperatures, and high humidity.  She ran solo from 35 km to the finish. "When we got to 35 kilometers, I felt that I was still strong and I knew it was only seven kilometers that remained, so I had to do it by myself," said Limo. "I tried to push and push. I am so pleased." Limo's key rival this year will be compatriot Judith Jeptum Korir, the 2022 World Athletics Championships Marathon silver medalist, who will be making her Honolulu Marathon debut.  Also hoping for a podium spot will be Ethiopia's Fantu Shugi Gelasa. For Lonyangata, twice the Paris Marathon champion, this will be his third appearance in Honolulu.  He was second in 2014 before coming back to win last year, getting away about 35 km into the race. "When you prepare for everything you know you are ready," said Lonyangata after last year's race.  "And when you decide when to make the move, you have to go hard." Other contenders this year include Eritrean Olympians Yemane Haileselassie and Amanuel Mesel, both of whom live and train in Flagstaff, Ariz., where they are coached by James McKirdy of McKirdy Trained.  Haileselassie was fifth in the 2021 Olympic steeplechase, and Mesel competed in the heats of the 5000m at the 2012 London Olympics, and was 21st in the 2016 Olympic Marathon in Rio.  Two other Kenyans, Reuben Kerio and Barnabas Kiptum, are also in the race.  Kiptum is the fastest man in the field with a 2:04:17 personal best. "The 52nd Honolulu marathon has a deep field of top athletes, including both defending champions Paul Lonyangata and Cynthia Limo," said Dr. Barahal.  "They will be challenged by a top field of international athletes, all competing for the $25,000 first prize as well as a solid gold first place medal." The solid-gold first place medal is hand-crafted by race sponsor SGC of Japan.  The Honolulu Marathon is the only marathon in the world to present winners with a solid-gold medal in addition to their prize money. "Their dedication to excellence mirrors the spirit of our event," said Dr. Barahal of SGC. In addition to the mile and marathon races, the popular Start to Park 10-K will start contemporaneously with the marathon on Sunday.  That race has seen explosive growth, and organizers are expecting about 9,000 runners this year (there were 6961 finishers last year). The full elite fields for the Honolulu Marathon and Kalakaua Merrie Mile are below: Honolulu Marathon (athletes shown with personal best times): MEN - Paul Lonyangata, KEN, 2:06:10, Paris, 09-Apr-2017 Yemane Haileselassie, ERI, 2:14:44, Boston, 15-Apr-2024 Amanuel Mesel, ERI, 2:08:17, Valencia, 17-Nov-2013 Reuben Kerio, KEN, 2:07:00, Eindhoven, 13-Oct-2019 Barnabas Kiptum, KEN, 2:04:17, Milan, 16-May-2021 Suguru Osako, JPN, 2:05:29, Tokyo, 01-Mar-2020 Kensuke Horio, JPN, 2:08:25, Tokyo, 06-Mar-2022 Ryo Murata, JPN, N/A, N/A WOMEN - Cynthia Limo, KEN, 2:25:10, Hamburg, 28-Apr-2024 Judith Jeptum Korir, KEN, 2:18:20, Eugene, 18-Jul-2022 Fantu Shugi Gelasa, ETH, 2:29:20, Lisbon, 08-Oct-2023 Eri Suzuki, JPN, 2:41:42, Tokyo, 03-Mar-2024   Kalakaua Merrie Mile (athletes shown with 1500m and mile personal best times): MEN - Jack Anstey, AUS, 3:35.37, 3:51.51 Vince Ciattei, USA, 3:31.78, 3:50.56 Neil Gourley, GBR, 3:30.60, 3:47.74 Oliver Hoare, AUS, 3:29.41, 3:47.48 Bryce Hoppel, USA, 3:42.62, 4:00.7 road Hobbs Kessler, USA, 3:29.45, 3:48.66 Festus Lagat, KEN, 3:33.25, 3:52.63 Nico Young, USA, 3:34.56, 4:01.16 (Pacemaker will be Abe Alvarado, USA)   WOMEN - Susan Ejore-Sanders, KEN, 3:56.07, 4:20.61 Nikki Hiltz, USA, 3:55.33, 4:16.35 Sinclaire Johnson, USA, 3:56.75, 4:33.80 Weini Kelati, USA, 4:10.88, 4:30.16 road Emily Mackay, USA, 3:55.90, 4:23.79 Heather MacLean, USA, 3:58.31, 4:20.41 Sophie O'Sullivan, IRL, 4:00.23, 4:33.30 Nozomi Tanaka, JPN, 3:59.19, 4:28.94 (Pacemaker will be Amaris Tyynismaa, USA) PHOTO: Paul Lonyangata after winning the 2023 Honolulu Marathon (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)

In a new Running USA member interview, Brian Goodell of BibBoards shares his unusual path to running industry entrepreneurship and why he believes that going bibless can change a race for the better. BibBoards has also just introduced a game-changing offer for event organizers: event bibs for only $0.01 each with the purchase of any custom bulk bibSNAPS order. This new initiative not only helps organizers save on essential race materials but also introduces exciting sponsorship possibilities by offering branding options directly on the bibs and bibSNAPS themselves.

(c) 2024 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Published with permission. BOSTON (10-Nov) -- Fentaye Belayneh of Ethiopia and Yemane Haileselassie of Eritrea won this morning's 22nd Boston Half-Marathon on a sunny and near-freezing morning here.  Employing completely different tactics, Belayneh won in a pack-sprint to the finish in Franklin Park where the first three women finished in a span of just one second. Haileselassie won in a solo breakaway, dominating the final miles and winning by 15 seconds.  Both athletes won $12,000 in prize money. The women's race got out slowly, and the first mile was completed in just 5:41, a comfortable training pace for athletes at this level.  Britain's Calli Hauger-Thackery was at the front.  She said that she felt good taking the lead and wanted to work on some of her racing skills. "I felt good doing that," Hauger-Thackery told Race Results Weekly.  "I was practicing not being set in a set pace.  I've got to practice surging... not be afraid to put in a five minute mile here and there." The first real move happened just before 5K where Ethiopia's Mestawut Fikir, who was fifth at this race last year, put in a surge.  The field responded immediately, and Kenyan's Veronica Loleo and Daisy Jepkemei, and Ethiopians Melknat Wudu and Mebrat Gidey followed her single file.  They passed through 5K in 17:17 and four miles in 21:45.  The downhill fourth mile was passed in a fast 5:05. Fikir's mini-surge only brought the lead pack down to 12.  Although the second, five-kilometer segment was faster (16:27) it wasn't enough to dwindle the field further.  Fikir decided to go again just after the 10-K mark, and that move sent Hauger-Thackery and Australia's Lauren Ryan several steps back.  Kenya's Mercy Chelangat was also having trouble holding on.  Mile-8 went into the books at 5:10, and the serious racing had begun. But after that, none of the women were keen to open up the race further, and the pace slowed enough that Chelangat managed to catch up.  Remarkably, eight women were still together as they ran back to Franklin Park for the finish.  Indeed, the race would not be decided until the final 200 meters when Belayneh, who had not led one step of the race, jumped the field and broke for the tape.  She was ready for that kind of move. "I prepared very well and I knew Boston was a good course," Belayneh said with the help of a translator.  "I prepared very well." Fikir and Senayet Getachew, another Ethiopian, were right on Belayneh's heels as she bolted for the tape, but they just couldn't catch their speedier rival.  She broke the tape, arms raised with a huge smile, in 1:10:26.  Fikir was given the same time, and Getachew was just one second back.  Loleo got fourth in 1:10:29, and Wudu was fifth in 1:10:30.  The first seven women finished in just a six-second span. "At the end, I decided at the end," Belayneh said when asked when she knew that the time was right for her final move.  "It was a rough race, but I knew I could hold on and push.  I had some little (energy) left over.  I used that." Farther behind, Chelangat finished eighth in 1:10:43 and Hauger-Thackery was ninth in 1:10:49.  The two women, both former NCAA stars who know each other from training in Flagstaff, embraced at the finish line. "It was fun, it was good," said Hauger-Thackery, who plans to run the California International Marathon in December with her husband, Nick.  She added: "This was a good race to go for it, get the blood flowing." Unlike Belayneh, Haileselassie did not want to wait for the final sprint. In the ninth mile, he and Isaac Kipkemboi of Kenya and Haimro Alame of Israel pulled away from the field. Haileselassie was on the front, and kept pressing. "Actually, when I lead in mile-nine I give them a little bit gap," Haileselassie told Race Results Weekly.  "I looked over my back, I had little bit gap.  I know they can't touch me." The Eritrean crossed to the finish line alone in 1:01:46.  Kipkemboi was a clear second in 1:02:01, but Alame faded in the final miles and only finished sixth in 1:02:12.  Taking the final podium position was Canadian miler Kieran Lumb, who was making his half-marathon debut.  Lumb, who made the Paris Olympic 1500m semi-finals, was timed in 1:02:03.  He was happy with his race, a good fitness test before the Canadian Cross Country Championships later this month, even if it hurt a little. "It was hard," said Lumb.  "Honestly, it was pretty hard early on.  I would say, like 20 minutes in, I didn't feel amazing.  I did not sleep well last night, either.  I slept like four hours." ** Today's event was the third and final race in the 2024 Boston Athletic Association's Distance Medley which included the Boston 5-K on April 13 and the Boston 10-K on June 23.  About 6500 runners finished today's race. PHOTO: 2024 Boston Half-Marathon champions Fentaye Belayneh & Yemane Haileselassie (photo by Jane Monti for Race Results Weekly)