Tell Us Your Story!
Do you have a great training story? Are you running for a cause? What's your motivation? Let us know! Every tale needs to be told, so we want you to share your Marathon or Half Marathon story. Who knows, your story may be featured on our website or even be part of the race day television coverage.
Submit your story to: pr@nationalmarathon.com
runDC: Runner Central
Welcome to NationalMarathon.com's newest addition; Runner Central. Compiled within this section is the work of some of the running industry's most respected, insightful and interesting members. From podiatry to community, training tips to motivational advice, this section has something for every runner out there and we hope you take advantage of it while you train to runDC.
This will be an ever-evolving section so make sure you check back with us every so-often to see who the newest National Marathon resident-expert is!
In addition, please feel free to contact any of our experts if you are particularly interested in their work...they'd be happy to interact with you! Here are your sections:
SunTrust Training Tips
The Foot Doctor
Doug Kurtis - Running Perspectives
Greater Washington Running Profiles
SunTrust Training Tips
Powered by the DC Capital Striders
SunTrust, the title sponsor of the 2011 National Marathon, is proud to present its 2010 collection of Training Tips. Powered by the DC Capital Striders Running Club, the Training Tips will be released monthly within each newsletter in addition to being placed in this section of 'Runner Central'.
If you have any questions in regard to these tips, please send us an email at info@nationalmarathon.com and we'll be happy to direct your inquiry to the appropriate resource. Good luck training and THANK YOU for being a part of NationalMarathon.com.
Training Tips #1 - Training and Staying Motivated in Cold Weather
Training Tips #2 - Speed Work and Maximizing Performance
Why is Speed Work Important? - The primary goal of half and full marathon training is to build endurance. Speed work builds endurance but it also benefits pace and strength. The purpose of speed work is to build increased efficiency and improved energy conservation, which improves race performance. Also...Read More
The Foot Doctor
Brian Fullem, or Doc Fullem to consistently satisfied patients, is one of the leading podiatrists in the country, and has been involved in running for over 25 years. He received his Bachelors Degree from Bucknell University in 1986 where he ran the 4th fastest 1500m in school history while serving as Co-Captain of the Outdoor Track Team. He is Board Certified in Foot Surgery by the American Board of Podiatric Surgery and has written dozens of articles on foot health, specifically for runners, which have been published by popular running publications such as The Running Times.
For more information or to inquire about Brian's services, visit his website at www.docfullem.com.
To help keep you healthy, Brian has provided the following articles regarding injury prevention and treatment for you to use as you train to runDC:
Owner's Manual: Know Your Achilles
New Treatment for IT Band Syndrome Yields Results
How To Detect And Treat Running Injuries
Planting the Pain in Your Foot
Women and Stress Fractures
Stretching and Strengthening Exercises for Iliotibial Band Syndrome
Owner's Manual: Know Your Achilles
The Achilles tendon is the largest tendon in the body and one of the more difficult injuries to treat in a runner. As a sports medicine podiatrist there are only a few injuries that lead me to advise runners that they have to take time off; Achilles tendinopathy is one of those diagnoses. The proper medical terminology no longer includes tendinitis when discussing injury of this tendon. A landmark paper in 1976 showed that under microscopic examination the injured Achilles tendon shows no inflammatory cells within the tendon but rather degeneration; therefore, tendinitis is not the proper term. This has led to a greater understanding in the treatment of this injury...Full Article
New Treatment for IT Band Syndrome Yields Results
Iliotibial band syndrome (ITBS) can be a debilitating injury to a runner. The IT band, as it is more commonly known, can become so painful that a runner is unable to train at all. Mark Fadil, the Director of Sports Medicine Institute International (SMI) in Palo Alto, CA, knows this injury both personally and professionally. As a high-school senior, Fadil won the New York state 3,200m championship in 9:10. After one successful collegiate year, Fadil developed pain on the outside of his knee on the fourth day of his sophomore year...Full Article
How To Detect And Treat Running Injuries
Many runners will consult a podiatrist for their initial physician visit for lower extremity injuries. Diagnosing and treating the most common running injuries requires finding the cause of the injury and going beyond simply treating the symptoms. Injured runners will often show up in the office with a bag full of old running shoes, a training log and a self-diagnosis...Full Article
Planting the Pain in Your Foot
In October of 1998, Ray Pugsley continued his improvement towards the elite distance runners in the U.S. by running 49:12 to finish second in the Army 10 Miler. It was the longest race that the 5K specialist had ever run in racing flats. During the next few weeks Ray experienced heel pain his first steps in the morning and pain during the start of runs that seemed to go away after he warmed up. When he described his symptoms to a fellow runner, she replied that it sounded like plantar fasciitis...Full Article
Women and Stress Fractures
Men and women obviously differ physiologically, and those differences can leave women more susceptible to certain running injuries. There are things you can do to reduce the risk, however. Women seem particularly susceptible to one of the more frustrating running injuries, stress fractures (hairline bone breaks)...Full Article
Stretching and Strengthening Exercises for Iliotibial Band Syndrome
In the May 2004 issue of Running Times Magazine, Brian Fullem examined the causes of iliotibial band syndrome in runners and considered various treatment options. The photos that follow depict a number of effective stretches and exercises that can help runners beat this common injury. All photos below assume that it is the right leg that is the injured leg...Full Article
Doug Kurtis - Running Perspectives
To most, training for and completing a Marathon is one of the crowning achievements of a lifetime. It takes dedication and perseverance beyond that of the average human being, to push through the mentally and physically punishing experience. And when all is said and done, finishing the event in under 3 hours would leave most runners ecstatic.
Now imagine going through this training and preparation not once, not twice...but 76 times. And add on the fact that you have to finish the race in less than 2 hours and 20 minutes. That's just what Michigan-based running guru Doug Kurtis, who holds the International Record for Most Sub 2:20 Marathons and Most Marathon Victories (40), has accomplished is his career. Fortunately for us and our runners, Doug has been kind enough to offer NationalMarathon.com some insight on how he was so successful and why he has such a love for running.
The former Race Director for the Detroit Free Press/Flagstar Marathon, Doug has written hundreds of running articles over the years...if you're interested learning more about his work, please CLICK HERE.
Below are a collection of Doug's articles, enjoy!
We Are Runners
Love for Running
Running Relationships Enrich Life
Winning Doesn't Always Mean Finishing First
Relax and Run
Common Sense Doesn't Hurt When Preventing Injuries
Common Mistakes
We Are Runners
You can be a runner. It's one of the easiest and cheapest sports to get started in. A pair of running shoes, a few simple outfits and out the door you go. Runners, we come in all shapes, sizes and colors. We represent every nationality and religion in the world. Some of us are famous millionaires and some live in dirt floor shacks in the most remote areas of the world. More than 33 million of us live in the U.S. and 1.2 million of those are in Michigan. Of the latter, over 100,000 finished a race last year. At work or on the street you may not recognize us...READ MORE
Love for Running
Running Relationships Enrich Life
Once running becomes a part of your lifestyle you discover that the relationships you develop through running are as important as the exercise itself. I can't imagine what my life would be like without the friends and acquaintances I've met through running. Over the last thirty years I have been blessed to meet people all over the world, some famous, some not, some interesting and some very passionate about life...READ MORE
Winning Doesn't Always Mean Finishing First
Few runners think about winning a race overall. Instead they create their own personal victories. For some it might be running a personal best, beating a competitor or winning an age group. For others it can be just finishing a race. Vince Lombardi is often acknowledged for the quote, "Winning is everything", he actually said, "Winning isn't everything--but wanting to win is." He also said...READ MORE
Relax and Run
Common Sense Doesn't Hurt When Preventing Injuries
Injury prevention is a major concern among most marathoners. How do you increase the effort to prepare for a marathon and stay away from injuries that can disrupt your training for weeks or more? According to Dr. Scott Eathorne, Athletic Medicine Director at Providence Hospital in Novi, some the most common injuries among runners are: Achilles Tendonitis, ITB — Iliotibial Band Syndrome, Plantar Faciitis, Shin splints and Hamstring pulls. Basic prevention for many injuries begins with a proper warm up...READ MORE
Common Mistakes
After more than 30 years of competing, I've made my share of mistakes while training and competing in a marathon. Athletes that I have coached have often been slow to heed some of my advice but usually discovered that I was fairly accurate in my assessment of the best way to prepare and compete...READ MORE
Greater Washington Running Profiles
NationalMarathon.com is proud to present a tribute to those runners who have worked to make Greater Washington the elite running destination it is today.
Mommies on the Run
Individually there is nothing spectacular about any of our running achievements. None of us are particularly fast. None of us have had to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. But together...together as a team, I think we are spectacular. In fact, as a team, WE ROCK! We are the Mommies on the Run, a group of average moms in Bethlehem Township, PA who found each other (and ourselves) through running. So who are we exactly? We are a group of 5 women...READ MORE
Jay Wind
‘Jay’ Jacob Wind has been a part of the National Marathon since before it started in 2006. After running in the sixth and final DC Marathon in 1986, its director Jim Purce asked Jay to do whatever he could to see that DC had a marathon after Jim was gone.
Jim died a few years later, but Jay always remembered Jim's request. In 2002, Jay ran the Washington DC Marathon and planned to run the 2003 edition as his 98th marathon, but the official race was cancelled just days before the race. Jay pulled together a coalition of hundreds of local runners...READ MORE
