This decision was not easy.

I will not run the 114th Boston Marathon this coming Monday.

Just came back from my Physio and there is no improvement in my ankle and calf. Still inflamed and sore it does not make sense to get on the start-line in Hopkinton. The Physio taped the ankle to give it a bit of protection and stability.

I have to be honest to myself and listen to my body. It is not an easy decision as my training and preparation was leading up to this main goal of my 2010 season. To say i was keen on the race would be understate.

What now? I really do not know at the moment. I would love to run a marathon but do not want to damage my foot or muscles. That mysterious thing in my ankle needs to be 100 percent pain free before i start thinking about another shot on the 42k distance. Numerous races are around so that is not the problem.

Next week i see a doctor and try to get a scan of the foot. I want to be sure that it is not a stress fracture or any other damage to the bones.

In the meanwhile the swimming pool and the bike will be the playground for me.

Just 6 days and 13 hours to go! I still hope my calf gets loose. Cant wait to get to Hopkinton!

It seems to be the standard for my spring marathon – calf problems!

again, like last year before the rotterdam marathon, i have problems with my calf. the pain started when i was in kenya. i had to stop training as the pressure was too much. haven’t done a long run in the last 2 weeks is not the ideal preperation for boston.

last friday i saw the physiotherapist. she gave me extensive treatment for the calf and after that session the tightness is gone a bit. the problem is still there but it does not affect me that much anymore. despite that i do not run. stretching and swiming keeps me busy the next few days. there is nothing i can do despite that at the moment.

let´s hope it gets better and i will have loose calves on the 19th – barely needed!

interview for mzungo.org, 07.04.2010

It is late at night and still hot in the departure area of Nairobi airport. My flight to Paris has just been canceled and now I’m sitting here and waiting for the plane that should take me to Amsterdam instead.

“No oxygen in here!” a laughing voice is talking to me all of a sudden. Two slim guys are grabbing the seats beside me. I look up and what I see is a pretty familiar face. A guy that shocked the marathon scene at the start of last season – Vincent Kipruto (right on pic), 22 years old from Kenya’s distance running hub Eldoret. He surprised all experts by winning the Paris Marathon in 2009 with a 2:05:47 and backed it up with a 2:06:08 at last fall’s Chicago Marathon.

Together with his friend and training partner Evans Kiplagat (2:10:46 debut marathon in Amsterdam last year) he is on his way to the Netherlands. In five days the 40th edition of the Rotterdam Marathon will take place. The flat course has a guarantee for fast times. Like every year, the field is loaded with east African talent and since Paris and Chicago, Vincent is definitely not the dark horse in the pro line up.

mzungo.org: how are you feeling? Did the preparation go well for you?
Kipruto: I’m feeling good. Training back home went well. I’m really looking forward to the race.

mzungo.org: is it your first time in the Netherlands?
Kipruto: No. I raced a small 10k race before (the Singelloop).

mzungo.org: after last years Rotterdam race everyone now expects a new Kenyan or even the world record.
Kipruto: (smiles) that’s true. The course is fast. Competition will be good. Let’s hope the weather is perfect.

mzungo.org: who do you think are the main contenders for the win this year?
Kipruto: (James) Kwambai and (Patrick) Makau. Those are the guys to watch out for.

mzungo.org: what is your goal for the race?
Kipruto: I want a new PR. I think I can run under 2:05 in Rotterdam. Just hope there is no wind.

mzungo.org: where are you staying the last couple of days before the race? Are you based in Rotterdam?
Kipruto: Yes. We will relax in a hotel in the city centre.

mzungo.org: you ran the old version of the Nike Streak XC in Chicago and Paris. Will you stick to them? Or are you going to wear Lunaracers?
Kipruto: No. I won’t wear the Lunars. I´ll run in the Streak again. I like them. No reason to change for me.

mzungo.org: is there anything special in your training so short before a marathon? Any sprints, short intervals…
Kipruto: No. I take it easy. No speedwork at all. Just slow running. Not more than 40 minutes. Then just eat and sleep. Nothing special.

mzungo.org: I think Feyenoord is playing at home on Saturday night. Will you go and watch the match?
Kipruto: (laughs) Yes. on TV.

Single speed versus runner. See the mzungo.org clip of Shadrack Biwott and Josh Rohatinsky at mile 11 of NYC Half 2010.

“It was an August evening in 1977 that the first ever organised road race in modern times took place in Ballycotton. A five mile event, it was won by Ray Treacy, now Head Coach at Providence College and brother of John, Olympic Marathon Silver-Medalist from 1984 and twice winner of the World Cross Country title.

The following March, a ten mile race took place in Ballycotton. 31 runners (all men) took part with Richard Crowley the winner in 50:22. The rest, as they say, is history. The next year, 82 runners were led home by Pat Hooper in 49:12, with Mary Dempsey the inaugural women’s winner in 68:47. In 1980, six months before the first Dublin Marathon, numbers had increased to over 150, considered a huge field for a road race at the time.

With the advent of the Irish ‘running boom’ heralded by that Dublin Marathon, races and participants in Ireland mushroomed. Ballycotton’s numbers increased in tandem, reaching a record 848 finishers in 1984. For the remainder of the 80s, the figures competing in Ballycotton hovered around 650-750 as a lot of other races in the country fell into decline or ceased to exist.

The 1990s saw the Ballycotton ’10’ enter a new era. One thousand finishers was reached for the first time in 1993 and due to the unprecedented interest in the race, a limit had to be imposed for safety and logistical reasons. This limit was set at 1500 in 1999, which was reached in mid-January…” 

READ ON…