Shelly Pryce and Olympic Athletics Marathon

Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce was born on December 27, 1986. She is a Jamaican sprinter, who specializes in the 100 m. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Fraser is the reigning Olympic champion over 100 m, clocking a time of 10.78. The 2009 World 100 m champion, she is only the second female sprinter to hold both World and Olympic 100 m titles simultaneously after Gail Devers, and is tied with Christine Arron as the fourth fastest woman in history over 100 m. She attended the Woolmer’s High School for Girls and represented her school in many athletic occasions.

Fraser, who trained for the Olympics with teammate Asafa Powell, became the first Jamaican woman in history to win an Olympic gold medal in the 100 m sprint. In her first round heat, she placed first in a time of 11.35 to advance to the second round. She then improved her time to 11.06 seconds, finishing first in her heat. In the semifinals Fraser again finished in front, outsprinting Kerron Stewart and Muna Lee in 11.00 seconds.

In the final, Jamaican sprinters finished in the top three positions in the race, with a photographic tie for second place by Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart. Both women were awarded silver medals; no bronze medal was awarded. Fraser's time of 10.78 seconds was a personal best and 0.20 seconds faster than her Jamaican teammates. Fraser's Olympic time was the second-fastest 100 m ever recorded by a Jamaican woman, a mere 0.04 seconds (1/25 of a second) shy of Merlene Ottey's 10.74 records.

Together with Sheri Ann Brooks, Aleen Bailey and Veronica Campbell-Brown, Fraser also took part in the 4 x 100 m relay. In its first round heat, Jamaica placed first in front of Russia, Germany and China. The Jamaica relay's time of 42.24 seconds was the first time overall out of sixteen participating nations. With this result, Jamaica qualified for the final, replacing Brooks and Bailey with Simpson and Stewart. Jamaica did not finish the race due to a mistake in the baton exchange.

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Fauja Singh and Olympic Athletics Marathon

Fauja Singh was born on April 1, 1911. He is a British centenarian marathon runner of Indian Sikh origin. He is a world record holder in his age bracket. His current personal best time for the London Marathon is 6 hours 2 minutes, and his marathon record, for age 90-plus, is 5 hours 40 minutes, at the age of 92, at the 2003Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

Singh has stated, "I won't stop running until I die. The next target, God willing, is to be the oldest marathon runner ever." and, "At the time when people start retiring, I thought of running at the age of 63 and today I won the marathon at 93 years of age."  In 2004, Singh was featured in an advertising campaign for sportswear manufacturer Adidas alongside David Beckham and Muhammad Ali. Singh holds UK records for the 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, mile and 3000 m for his age group, records all set within a single 94 minute period. 

At the age of 100 (and a half), Singh attempted and accomplished eight world age group records in one day, at the special Ontario Masters Association Fauja Singh Invitational Meet, held at Birchmount Stadium in Toronto, Ontario Canada. Timed by officials in Canada, He ran the 100 meters in 23.14, 200 meters in 52.23, the 400 meters in 2:13.48, the 800 meters in 5:32.18, the 1500 meters in 11:27.81, the mile in 11:53.45, the 3000 meters in 24:52.47 and the 5000 meters in 49:57.39. Each time bested the previous record in that age division some events had no previous record holder, as nobody over age 100 had ever attempted to run the distance. Some of his marks are significantly superior to the listed world record in the M95 age group as well.

Three days later, on October 16, 2011, Singh became the first 100 year old to complete a marathon, running the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 8:11:06. As it took him over 14 minutes after the gun to cross the starting line, the official time submitted for the age group record will be 8:25:17. However, Guinness World Records refused to include Singh in its record book due to the fact that he could not produce his birth certificate to prove his age. Birth records were not kept in India in 1911. He was able to produce a passport listing his date of birth as April 1, 1911, and a letter from Queen Elizabeth II congratulating him on his 100th birthday. Now for Olympic 2012, Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets are being sold at Sport Ticket Exchange. Sport Ticket Exchange offers you all sorts of Olympic Tickets including Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets at very cheap prices.

Paula Radcliffe and Olympic Athletics Marathon

Paula Jane Radcliffe was born on 17 December 1973. Radcliffe is an English long-distance runner. She is the current women's world record holder in the marathon with her time of 2:15:25 hours. She is a three time winner of the London Marathon, two time New York Marathon champion, and won the 2002 Chicago Marathon.

Radcliffe is a former world champion in the marathon, half marathon and cross country. She has also been European champion over 5000 meters and in cross country. On the track, Radcliffe won the 10,000 meters silver medal at the 1999 World Championships and was the 2002 Commonwealth champion. She has represented Great Britain at the Olympics four times consecutively 1996 to 2008, but has not won a medal on the Olympic stage. Radcliffe is an asthma sufferer who is against the use of drugs in sport. She is married to her coach, Gary Lough, and has two children. Her running has earned her a number of accolades including the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, Laureus World Comeback of the Year, IAAF World Athlete of the Year, AIMS World Athlete of the Year three times and a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). She has also been nominated for World Sportswoman of the year on several occasions. In 2010, she was inducted into the England Athletics Hall of Fame.

Radcliffe was born on 17 December 1973 in Davenham near Northwich, Cheshire. Her family then moved to nearby Barnton where she attended Little Leigh Primary School. Despite suffering from asthma and anaemia she took up running at the age of seven, influenced by her father who was a keen amateur marathon runner and joined Frodsham Athletic Club. Her family later moved to Kingsley. When Radcliffe was aged 12, the family moved to Oakley, Bedfordshire and she became a member of Bedford & County Athletics Club. Her joining the club coincided with a talented and dedicated coach, Alex Stanton, building the women's and girls' sections in to one of the strongest in the country, in spite of Bedford's relatively small size.

Radcliffe withdrew from the 2008 London Marathon due to a foot injury. Shortly after the London Marathon, it was also revealed that Radcliffe was suffering from an injury to her hip, preventing her from running. Originally thought to be a muscular problem, scans later revealed it was a stress fracture to her femur. In May, Radcliffe broke her left leg. Radcliffe managed to get to fitness level for the 2008 Summer Olympics, but cramped during the marathon to the point where she had to stop running and stretch.

 She resumed the race and finished in 23rd place overall. Radcliffe won the 2008 New York City Marathon, making it her third victory at the competition with a time of 2:23:56. Russian Lyudmila Petrova came in second, and American Kara Goucher took third.

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Modern Olympic Athletics Marathon

When the idea of a modern Olympics became a reality at the end of the 19th century, the initiators and organizers were looking for a great popularizing event, recalling the ancient glory of Greece. The idea of organizing a marathon race came from Michel Breal, who wanted the event to feature in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 in Athens. This idea was heavily supported by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, as well as the Greeks. The Greeks staged a selection race for the Olympic marathon on 10 March 1896 that was won by Charilaos Vasilakos in 3 hours and 18 minutes with the future winner of the introductory Olympic Games marathon coming in fifth. The winner of the first Olympic Marathon, on 10 April 1896 a male only race, was Spyridon "Spyros" Louis, a Greek water carrier. He won at the Olympics in 2 hours 58 minutes and 50 seconds.

The women's marathon was introduced at the 1984 Summer Olympics and was won by Joan Benoit of the United States with a time of 2 hours 24 minutes and 52 seconds.

Since the modern games were founded, it has become a tradition for the men's Olympic marathon to be the last event of the athletics calendar, with a finish inside the Olympic stadium, often within hours of, or even incorporated into, the closing ceremonies. The marathon of the 2004 Summer Olympics revived the traditional route from Marathon to Athens, ending at Panathinaiko Stadium, the venue for the 1896 Summer Olympics. The Olympic men's record is 2:06:32, set at the 2008 Summer Olympics by Samuel Kamau Wanjiru of Kenya. The Olympic women's record is 2:23:14, set at the 2000 Summer Olympics by Naoko Takahashi of Japan.

Johnny Hayes' victory at the 1908 Summer Olympics contributed to the early growth of long-distance running and marathoning in the United States. Later that year, races around the holiday season including the Empire City Marathon held on New Year's Day 1909 in Yonkers, New York, marked the early running craze referred to as "marathon mania". Following the 1908 Olympics, the first five amateur marathons in New York City were held on days that held special meanings to ethnic communities: Thanksgiving Day, the day after Christmas, New Year's Day, Washington's Birthday, and Lincoln's Birthday.

Frank Shorter's victory in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics would spur national enthusiasm for the sport more intense than that which followed Hayes' win 64 years earlier. By 2009, an estimated 467,000 runners completed a marathon within the United States. This can be compared to 143,000 in 1980. Nowadays, various marathons are held all around the world on a nearly weekly basis.

Long after the re establishment of the marathon in the Olympics, distance races such as the marathon did not include female participants. Although a few women had run the marathon distance, they were not included in any official results. Marie Louise Ledru has been credited as the first woman to race a marathon. Violet Piercy has been credited as the first woman to be officially timed in a marathon. For challenging the long held tradition of all male marathons running in the Boston Marathon, in 1967, Kathrine Switzer is regarded as the first woman to run a marathon as a numbered entry, but did so unofficially, due to a fluke in the entry process. Bobbi Gibb had completed the Boston race unofficially the previous year and was later recognized by the race organizers as the women’s winner for that year, as well as 1967 and 1968.  Now for Olympic 2012, Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets are being sold at Sport Ticket Exchange. Sport Ticket Exchange offers you Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets and all other Olympic Tickets at very cheap prices.

Mary Keitany and Olympic Athletics Marathon

Mary Jepkosgei Keitany was born on January 17, 1982 in Kisok, Baringo. She is a runner from Kenya who specializes in the long distance events. She won silver at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships and became the World Half Marathon champion two years later. She won the 2011 London Marathon with a personal best of 2:19:19 hours making her the fourth fastest woman ever in the event.

Her personal best of 1:05:50 in the half marathon is the current women's world record. She also holds the world record in the women's 10 miles (50:05 minutes), 20 km (62:36), and the 25 km (1:19:53). She started running while at primary school. In 2002, she joined the Hidden Talent Academy. In January 2006 she placed 21st in her first senior race, after some success in local races, she competed abroad for the first time, winning some road races in Europe.

She won a silver medal at the 2007 IAAF World Road Running Championships, finishing second only to Lornah Kiplagat who broke the world record. She married fellow Kenyan athlete Charles Koech in late 2007 and the couple had a son, Jared Kipchumba, in mid 2008. After her year out, she returned to competition at the World 10K Bangalore in May 2009. She finished one second behind the winner Aselefech Mergia, but set a new personal best of 32:09 in the 10 km. In September that year, she finished the 2009 Lille Half Marathon with 1:07:00, which were a winning mark and the seventh fastest run of all-time over the distance.

She won the 2010 Abu Dhabi Half Marathon. She also won the 2010 Berlin 25K race, setting a new world record 1:19:53 hours. The previous record was held by Mizuki Noguchi of Japan since 2005. Her quick time left her almost five minutes ahead of the runner-up Alice Timbilili. She used the Portugal Half Marathonin September as preparation for the New York City Marathon and led from the front to win the race largely uncontested in a time of 1:08:46. In her debut run at the 2010 NYC Marathon she was among the leading three for much of the race but faded in the latter stages to complete the distance in 2:29:01 hours for third place.

Keitany began 2011 in record breaking form as she won the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon with a world record time of 1:05:50. This marked the first time a woman had run the distance in under 66 minutes and she set a number of other records along the way, including a world record of 1:02:36 for 20 km and world best times for the 8 km and 10 mile markers.  She then won the 2011 London Marathon in a time of 2:19:17, pulling away from the field at the 14 mile mark and becoming the fourth fastest woman ever over the marathon distance. She won for a second time at the Portugal Half Marathon and improved upon her own course record with a winning time of 1:07:54 hours.

She is married to another runner Charles Koech and gave birth to her first child in 2008. She trains at the Adidas camp in Iten, is managed by Gianni Demadonna and is coached by Gabriele Nicola. The only point which is trustable for purchasing of Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets is Sport Ticket Exchange. You can buy Olympic Tickets for all sports and events including Athletics Marathon Tickets from Sport Ticket Exchange at cheap rates.

Water consumption dangers at Athletics Marathon

The most significant concern associated with water consumption during marathons is its overconsumption. Drinking excessive amounts of fluid during a race can lead to dilution of sodium in the blood, a condition called hyponatremia, which may result in vomiting, seizures, coma and even death. Dr. Lewis G. Maharam, medical director for the New York City Marathon, has stated, "There are no reported cases of dehydration causing death in the history of world running, but there are plenty of cases of people dying of hyponatremia."

Consumption of water during a race has not been demonstrated to enhance performance and may even impair it because hyponatremia is caused by excessive water retention, not merely loss of sodium, consumption of sports drinks or salty foods will not prevent it. The International Marathon Medical Directors Association issued a warning in 2001 that urged runners only to drink when they are thirsty, rather than "drinking ahead of their thirst." Women are more prone to hyponatremia than men. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that 13% of runners completing the 2002 Boston Marathon had hyponatremia.

Fluid can be drunk at a rate of about 500 ml/h. A patient suffering hyponatremia can be given a small volume of a concentrated salt solution intravenously to raise sodium concentrations in the blood. Some runners weigh themselves before running and write the results on their bibs. If anything goes wrong, first aid workers can use the weight information to tell if the patient had consumed too much water. Now for Olympic 2012, Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets are being sold at Sport Ticket Exchange. Sport Ticket Exchange offers you all sorts of Olympic Tickets especially Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets at very cheap prices.

Marathon Mania and Olympic Athletics Marathon

Johnny Hayes' victory at the 1908 Summer Olympics contributed to the early growth of long distance running and marathoning in the United States. Later that year, races around the holiday season including the Empire City Marathon held on New Year's Day 1909 in Yonkers, New York, marked the early running craze referred to as "marathon mania". Following the 1908 Olympics, the first five amateur marathons in New York City were held on days that held special meanings to ethnic communities: Thanksgiving Day, the day after Christmas, New Year's Day, Washington's Birthday, and Lincoln's Birthday.

Frank Shorter's victory in the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics would spur national enthusiasm for the sport more intense than that which followed Hayes' win 64 years earlier. By 2009, an estimated 467,000 runners completed a marathon within the United States.  This can be compared to 143,000 in 1980. Nowadays, various marathons are held all around the world on a nearly weekly basis.

The marathon is the only road running event featured at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics and the Summer Olympics, although there is also an annual IAAF World Half Marathon Championships. The marathon is also the only road running event featured at the IPC Athletics World Championships and the Summer Paralympics.The only point which is trust able for purchasing of Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets is Sport Ticket Exchange. You can buy Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets from Sport Ticket Exchange at cheap rates. Olympic Tickets Resale is also returning a handsome package at Sport Ticket Exchange.

World Records of Athletics Marathon

World records were not officially recognized by the IAAF until 1 January 2004; previously, the best times for the marathon were referred to as the 'world best'. Courses must conform to IAAF standards for a record to be recognized. However, marathon routes still vary greatly in elevation, course, and surface, making exact comparisons impossible. Typically, the fastest times are set over relatively flat courses near sea level, during good weather conditions and with the assistance of pacesetters.

The current world record time for men over the distance is 2 hours 3 minutes and 38 seconds, set in the Berlin Marathon by Patrick Makau of Kenya on 25 September 2011, an improvement of 21 seconds over the previous record also set in the Berlin Marathon by Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia on 28 September 2008. The world record for women was set by Paula Radcliffe of Great Britain in the London Marathon on 13 April 2003, in 2 hours 15 minutes and 25 seconds.

On 18 April 2011, Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya ran the fastest marathon ever in a time of 2 hours 3 minutes 2 seconds at the 2011 Boston Marathon, but the mark will not be recognized as a world record since the Boston course fails the IAAF criteria for world record eligibility.  Now for Olympic 2012, Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets are being sold at Sport Ticket Exchange. Sport Ticket Exchange offers you all Olympic Tickets especially Athletics Marathon Tickets at very cheap prices.

London Marathons and Olympic Athletics Marathon

Marathons have been run each year in London since the founding of the Polytechnic Marathon in 1909. By 1996 this series had been eclipsed by the Flora London Marathon and the 'Poly' folded.

The current London Marathon was founded by the former Olympic champion and renowned journalist Chris Brasher and Welsh athlete John Disley. In November 1979, shortly after completing the New York Marathon, Brasher wrote an article for The Observer newspaper which began:

In 1980, Brasher and Disley made trips to America to study the organization and finance of big city marathons such as the New York and Boston Marathons. Brasher signed a contract with Gillette for £50,000, established charitable status and outlined six main aims in the hope to mirror the scenes he witnessed in New York and establish the United Kingdom on the map as a country capable of arranging major events. The London Marathon was born.

The first London Marathon was held on 29 March 1981, more than 20,000 applied to run. 6,747 were accepted and 6,255 crossed the finish line on Constitution Hill. The Marathon's popularity has steadily grown since then. As at 2009, 746,635 people have completed the race since its inception.[9] In 2010, 36,549 people crossed the line, the biggest field since the race began. The first wheelchair marathon race was held in 1983 and the event was credited with reducing the stigma surrounding disabled athletes. The only point which is trust able for purchasing of Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets is Sport Ticket Exchange. You can buy Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets from Sport Ticket Exchange at cheap rates. Sport Ticket Exchange is offering London Olympic Tickets for all sports and events. If you want to Sell Olympic Tickets, you are more than welcome at Sport Ticket Exchange.

Important Marathon Races and Olympic Athletics Marathon

Annually, more than 500 marathons are organized worldwide. Some of these belong to the Association of International Marathons and Distance Races (AIMS) which has grown since its foundation in 1982 to embrace over 300 member events in 83 countries and territories. Five of the largest and most prestigious races, Boston, New York City, Chicago, London, and Berlin, form the biennial World Marathon Majors series, awarding $500,000 annually to the best overall male and female performers in the series.

In 2006, the editors of Runner's World selected a "World's Top 10 Marathons", in which the Amsterdam, Honolulu, Paris, Rotterdam, and Stockholm marathons were featured along with the five mentioned above. Other notable large marathons include United States Marine Corps Marathon, Los Angeles, and Rome. The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon, inspired by the success of the 1896 Olympic marathon and held since 1897. The oldest annual marathon in Europe is the Kosice Peace Marathon, held since 1924 in Kosice, Slovakia. The historic Polytechnic Marathon was discontinued in 1996.

One of the more unusual marathons is the Midnight Sun Marathon held in Tromso, Norway at 70 degrees north. Using unofficial and temporary courses, measured by GPS, races of marathon distance are now held at the North Pole, in Antarctica and over desert terrain. Among other unusual marathons to mention are: The Great Wall Marathon on The Great Wall of China, The Big Five Marathon among the safari wildlife of South Africa, The Great Tibetan Marathon a marathon in an atmosphere of Tibetan Buddhism at an altitude of 3,500 meters, and The Polar circle marathon on the permanent ice cap of Greenland in 15 degrees Celsius/+5 degrees Fahrenheit temperatures.

Some of the most scenic marathon routes are: Steamboat Marathon, Steamboat Springs, Colorado; Mayor's Marathon, Anchorage, Alaska; Kona Marathon, Keauhou/Kona, Hawaii; San Francisco Marathon, San Francisco, California.

The Intercontinental Istanbul Eurasia Marathon is the only marathon where participants run over two continents, Europe and Asia, during the course of a single event. In the Detroit Free Press Marathon, participants cross the US/Canadian border twice. The Niagara Falls International Marathon includes one international border crossing, via the Peace Bridge from Buffalo, New York, USA to Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada. Now for Olympic 2012, Olympic Athletics Marathon Tickets are being sold at Sport Ticket Exchange. Sport Ticket Exchange offers you all Olympic Tickets also Athletics Marathon Tickets at very cheap prices.