TCS New York City Marathon – Saturday, November 5 – Abbot Dash to the Finish Line 5K and Performance Metrics Powered by TCS – Daily Roundup – By Barbara Huebner

A pair of two-time Olympians—both with a kinship to New York City—won the 2016 Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K, leading 10,446 runner through the streets of New York to the iconic finish line of the TCS New York City Marathon.

Donn Cabral, who trains with the New Jersey/New York Track Club, shook runner-up Scott Fauble in the final kilometer for his third-consecutive win in 14:19, while Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal of Norway controlled the race from the start and broke the tape in 15:40.

“I’m starting to feel defensive about New York City,” said Cabral, who grew up in Glastonbury, CT, and was a two-time NCAA Champion at Princeton.  “At one point there was a group on the course cheering for Scott, who’s from Arizona, and I thought, ‘You can’t have fans here.’”

Cabral, 26, finished eighth in the 3000-meter steeplechase for Team USA at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Bjerkeli Grøvdal, also 26, has competed in the past two Olympics, placing in the top 10 in the both the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters in Rio. Although this was her first time racing in New York City, her ties here run deep: She runs for the IK Tjalve Running Club and is coached by Knut Kvalheim, who dropped out of the first five-borough New York City Marathon in 1976 but later suggested to his friend, Grete Waitz, that she give the race a try. Waitz would go on to win here nine times.

Reflecting on Waitz's legacy, Bjerkeli Grøvdal said: “It's big. It's good to see her (for) someone like me (to know I), can do something great in the United States … I think it's great and I'm proud that she's Norwegian."

Fittingly, Bjerkeli Grøvdal will see the TCS New York City Marathon on Sunday as part of its Lead Vehicle Program, along with Fauble, Marielle Hall, and 2016 New Balance Fifth Avenue Mile winner Eric Jenkins.

Nukuri changed course after NYRR New York Mini 10K

Diane Nukuri smashed her Burundian national record by almost 30 seconds when she ran 31:28.69 to finish 13^th in the 10,000 meters at the Rio 2016 Olympics, and she has this year’s NYRR New York Mini 10K to thank for it.

Before that race in June, in which she finished third, “I was 100 percent going to run the marathon” in the Olympics, Nukuri said earlier this week. “I had started training for it two weeks before.” But in the Mini, she said, “I felt really good, I had fun, and I wanted to keep going. I’m glad I did, because it (the Olympic 10,000) was one of the most exciting things I’ve ever been a part of.”

Nukuri, who lives in Flagstaff, AZ, will be racing in the TCS New York City Marathon for the third time on Sunday.

Performance Metrics Powered by TCS

How does the heart rate of a pro marathon runner differ from that of a 54-year-old at Mile 18? Is the body temperature of a female wheelchair athlete at Mile 10 the same as that of a man running his sixth Abbott World Marathon Majors race of the year? Thanks to a new feature on this year’s broadcast of the TCS New York City Marathon, viewers will get the chance to find out, as the biometric data of 10 runners will be collected through Performance Metrics Powered by TCS and transmitted in real time for live analysis by “Sports Science” host John Brenkus.

At the TCS New York City Marathon Pavilion, there’s a sneak preview of how the data might stack up using data collected from seven runners as they trained through 18 miles.

For instance, at Mile 18 of those runs, their heart rates varied from 149 beats per minute to 189, and body temperature ranged from 100.5 degrees F to 103.6.
During the race, pro athletes Esther Atkins, Josh George, Craig Leon, and Tatyana McFadden will wear an electronic device that will capture data on core temperature, pace, cadence, heart rate, and breathing rate.

So will six others runners, from a first-time marathoner to an Ironman triathlete to Michael Capiraso, president and CEO of NYRR.

“I’m curious to see how much my heart rate goes up in those miles where I tend to struggle, which is from 19 to 21,” said Capiraso. “The more data people have, the more it informs you, and maybe ultimately helps you optimize some things.”

Source: TCS New York City Marathon – Barbara Huebner