Random New Items for a Holiday Weekend

By Ed Griffin

Running not only does not take holidays off, it often creates more time for…..running.  Check out some of these interesting news bits from around the running/endurance world:

• A Wisconsin man has set an impressive world record after spending some quality time running 100 miles on a Milwaukee track. Zach Bitter made the accomplishment Saturday during the Six Days in the Dome event at the Pettit National Ice Center. Bitter achieved the world record after running 363 times around the 440 meter track in just over 11 hours at the Pettit, edging out the previous champion Oleg Kharitonov by about 11 minutes. Bitter's official time came in at 11:19:13, beating his personal record of 11:40:55. Overall, the record-breaking athlete maintained a roughly 6:48 minute per mile pace - for 100 miles.

• British triathletes Jess Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown were disqualified from an Olympic Games qualification race in Tokyo in August because they crossed the finish line while holding hands.  The pair had a huge lead on the rest of their competitors in the event, and after surviving extreme temperatures during the race in the 2020 Olympic Games host city, they held hands as they finished. At first, Learmonth was considered the winner and Taylor-Brown the runner-up, but they technically broke competition rules and were disqualified for it.

• On August 23^rd, Nick Symmonds, a former professional 800-meter runner, broke the known record for running a mile while dribbling a basketball: 5 minutes and 29 seconds. A week earlier, Symmonds broke the known record for running 100 meters in ski boots: 13.71 seconds.

• Two Upstate New York Running legends defended their US 10,000-meter track titles in Iowa this past July. Molly Huddle (Elmira) and Lopez Lomong (Tully) won comfortably. Huddle finished in 31:58 and Lomong in 27:30. For Huddle, 34, it was her fifth consecutive title at the distance, making her the only American woman in history to win the national 10,000-meter crown five times in a row. Remarkably, Lomong nearly made the 2020 Olympic Games Qualifying Standard of 27:28.00 by running a huge personal best 27:30.06, the second-fastest winning time in the history of these championships.

Ed Griffin and his wife Ellen own Fleet Feet Syracuse, which they founded in May of 2000. Fleet Feet Syracuse has received National Recognition as a Top 50 Running Store in America 12 years in a row and was named Best Running Store in America in 2012. Ed enjoys helping the team at Fleet Feet and our customers achieve their fitness and professional goals. In his spare time, Ed speaks to companies and organizations on a variety of topics, walks his dogs, enjoys good music and is the family chef. He can be reached at ed@fleetfeetsyracuse.com.