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Featured Stories

Marathoning Alive And Well in USA - 2009 Shows Unprecedented Growth
Wow, wow, wow... There were approximately 463,000 marathon finishes in the USA in 2009 - an increase of approximately 9.2% over 2008. That's the largest year-to-year growth in finisher numbers since the 9.8% year-to-year growth seen in the abnormal years of 2001/2002 when travel and finisher numbers were down in 2001 after 9/11, leading to the unrealistic growth percentage in 2002. As has been the trend, women continued to make up a higher percentage of the total finishers, reaching a record 40.7% of finishers in 2009. We'll have our full report available in early January.
And, because the year is over... The complete list of "best Boston Qualifiers" (a proxy for fastest marathons):
2009 Boston Qualifiers Recap

New Year's Resolution Incentive Price Increases
Many races have set Dec. 31 (or Jan. 1) as one of their registration price breaks. The hope is that the deadline and savings is enough to encourage runners to start their new year properly by setting a resolution and committing to run one of their races.... Below are listsed some marathons that have an end-of-the-year price break set. Register now! Get ready for 2010!
First Light Marathon + Half Marathon, Relay (Mobile, AL - 1/10/10)
Maui Oceanfront Marathon + Half Marathon, 15K, 5K (Lahaina, Maui, HI - 1/24/10)
Little Rock Marathon + Half Marathon, 5K, Relay (Little Rock, AR - 3/7/10)
Napa Valley Marathon + 5K (Napa, CA - 3/7/10)
Ocean Drive Marathon + 10 Mile, 5K (Cape May County, NJ - 3/28/10)
Whidbey Island Marathon + Half Marathon (Oak Harbor, WA - 4/11/10)
Oklahoma City Marathon + Half-Marathon, Relay, Memorial 5K (Oklahoma City, OK - 4/25/10)
Cellcom Green Bay Marathon + Half Marathon, Relay, 2.62 Mile Mini Marathon (Green Bay, WI - 5/16/10)
Bayshore Marathon + Half Marathon, 10K (Traverse City, MI - 5/29/10)
Buffalo Marathon + Half Marathon, Relay (Buffalo, NY - 5/30/10)
Madison Marathon + Half Marathon, Quarter Marathon (Madison, WI - 5/30/10)
Mayor's Marathon + Half Marathon, 5 Mile Run, Relay (Anchorage, AK - 6/19/10)
USAF Marathon + Half-Marathon, 10K (Dayton, OH - 9/18/10)
Grand Rapids Marathon + Half-Marathon, Relay (Grand Rapids, MI - 10/17/10)

America's BEST Men to run Boston Marathon 2010
Keflezighi and Hall to run Boston
Finally! We've been getting tired of watching the best of the USA heading over to London for their Spring Marathon, but not this coming year - now we have something to talk about...
Meb Keflezighi is not the fastest marathoner in the world, but he is one of the greatest and most consistent champions. Keflezighi's heart, spirit, attitude and goodness combine to let him gut out podium finishes as great as a Silver medal at the olympics and national championship titles. Before the 2009 New York City Marathon, Keflezighi had never won a marathon (but had multiple impressive major runner-up finishes), but with his win in New York in a Personal Best - and New York should not be a personal best course - Keflezighi jumped into the ranks of the great champions. And we hope he'll repeat that in New York.
Ryan Hall IS the fastest American marathoner currently running and has the second fastest American maraton time ever behind just Khalid Khannouchi. Hall proved his mettle in an impressive and overwhelming win at the 2008 USA Olympic Trials Marathon, but has yet to gain a major win on the International stage and was disappointed with his third place finish at the 2009 Boston Marathon...
With Keflezighi and Hall both running the Boston Marathon, there is a real chance that an American could win a race that has not seen an American champion since Greg Meyer won in 1983.
Read the Press Release

Annual Marathon & Beyond Magazine Offer
From day one of MarathonGuide.com (nearly 10 years ago!), we've been fans of Marathon & Beyond Magazine. And each year at the holidays they've offered a discount or incentive to go with discounted subscription prices that are only available from the link below. This year, every subscription or renewal comes with an M&B running cap. But even without the cap, M&B makes either a great gift for a loved one who runs or a great gift for yourself. Learn more about the best and truest running magazine around:
Link for Special Offer

Tis the Season to Give And Save
Yes, Christmas is over, but these deals are still available for a few more days...
Along with the Holiday Season, retailers know that we're all buying more and that deals might entice us to buy even more. Here are some deals and places to start looking. These deals require use of the specific link on this page or the code indicated. Shop online and save, but we also encourage everyone to support their local stores! We'll be adding more deals and links in the coming days:

Recent Press Releases...
If you aren't checking out the Press Release page on a daily basis, you're missing out. We'll do our best to highlight the most important items - but often we can't write about everything on the home page... Don't forget this page...
Press Release Page

Your Favorite Tool - The Pace Band Creator
With Marathon season upon us, the most common question to MarathonGuide.com is: "where can I find your [famous] pace band creator." You [the reader] asks: "What's That?" We answer: "one of our coolest tools creates wearable pace charts for the marathon (or ANY distance) for ANY pace - in miles or kilometers." If you have a marathon coming up (or even a shorter race), check it out and print one out.
Visit MarathonGuide.com's Pace Band Creator

Weekend Results
USA/Canada Results | International Results

USA and Canada Results

Run for the Ranch Marathon - Dec 27 - Springfield, MO
Josh Hite, 32 of Cookeville TN, won the 2009 Run For The Ranch Marathon in 2:58:22. This was Hite's fifth victory and thirteenth podium appearance out of the twenty-one marathon he has run in 2009. Russ Traphagan, 37 of Springfield MO, finished second in 2:59:52. Jacob Shultz, 18 of West Plains MO, was third in 3:07:53.
Shawn Loy, 39 of Washington IA, the winner of the 2009 Deadwood-Mickelson Trail Marathon, was the first female finisher in 3:37:46. Megan Brown, 30 of Blue Springs MO, the runner-up in 2008 and third place finisher at the 2008 New Hampshire Marathon, finished second in 3:40:51. April Flickinger, 33 of Chicago IL, was third in 3:41:10.
Complete Searchable Results Here!

Older News

photo credit: Victah Sailer

What Did You Do On Thanksgiving Day, Mr. K?
When you are the first American Winner of the New York City Marathon in 27 years, you are very much in demand for public appearances - perhaps on a par with Miss America! And for Meb Keflezighi that was exactly the case as Keflezighi spent part of his Thanksgiving Day riding the Statue of Liberty Float in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. With Keflezighi, Miss America and Mary Wittenberg (CEO of the New York Road Runners), as well as dozens of pilgrims, turkeys, flying superheroes and Santa Claus... Congratulations, again, Meb.

Boston Marathon - Closed/Paris Marathon - Closed
Two major marathons have closed registration for their races five months before race day - continuing the trend of earlier and earlier registration closures by the most popular races. The Paris Marathon has closed its registration at 37,000 and the Boston Marathon has closed its general registration, but still has charity and other spots available as it reaches for its number of 25,000 registrants by race day.

Boston Marathon Registration by The Numbers
Boston Marathon registration closed on November 13, 2009 for the April 19, 2010 race (157 days early), compared to January 25, 2009 for the April 20, 2009 race (85 days early). We know many who were caught unaware by the earlier closing and many who were still hoping to qualify via races later in the year. According to the race website, the event will accept 25,000 registrants - the same as the stated number for 2008 (which yielded nearly 23,000 finishers). Beyond the open registration, the Boston Marathon has available charity registrations and reserves additional registrations - MarathonGuide.com estimates that somewhere over 6,000 registrations remain available through the alternate methods. MarathonGuide.com did a quick analysis of the numbers and here are some facts about the registrants on the day open registration closed:
By Country: USA (84%), Canada (12%), UK (1%), Mexico (1%)
Largest States: MA (8%), CA (8%), NY (6%), ON (6%), IL (6%)
Average Age: Overall - 42.2; Female - 39.4 (43%), Male 44.4 (57%)

Other Items

Our Favorite Running Products
From time to time, people ask us for recommendations on products or books, so we've gathered together some of our favorites in a new section. Everything from The Stick (which will make your muscles feel great) to a Watch/Speedometer to measure your speed and distance to lotion and scrub for your skin to books galore.
Check out our favorites in MarathonGuide.com's Recommended Products

Great Magazine:
Special Subscription Offer From Marathon & Beyond Magazine
Note: This is not an ad (paid or otherwise) - it's a special offer from our friends to our friends...
Marathon & Beyond is truly one of our favorite magazines. The only running magazine targeted specifically to Marathoners and Ultra-Marathoners - it is a must-have or a must-give - really! Each bimonthly issue is set out in a format that looks more like a book than a magazine - so it can sit on your shelf and be read and re-read - and is filled with articles, profiles, training - everything for the distance runner (experienced or novice). We started to write a description of the magazine, but decided that they describe it best themselves on their website - so, if you don't know Marathon & Beyond, check them out. Then, if you like what you see, use the link below for special subscription pricing starting at $32.95 for one year.

Because we (MarathonGuide.com) and they (M&B) share a common vision and because they're friends, we've convinced them to offer the lowest subscription rates that they've ever offered to the public (this is true!) - so if you aren't yet a subscriber, there's no better time - and this deal is only available through the link below.
- Click here for the secure order form and special pricing.