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Steve Moneghetti in Berlin 1990 ©Sportmuseum Berlin - MARATHONEUM
Steve Moneghetti to be Honoured in Berlin 2017 – Welcome to RunFun Travel
The IAAF World Champs start this weekend in London. Will we see Bolt bolt, as he always does, in his final appearance on the international stage before retirement? And the great Mo Farah is moving up to the marathon ….. the World Champs being his penultimate competition at the lesser distance.
Learn everything you ever wanted to know about the Beer Mile also. See Dave's preview below.
At the pointy end of the marathon field it's all Berlin, Berlin, Berlin. Another week, another announcement from the organisers of the fastest marathon in the world. Read on for yet another HUGE announcement.
A fun fact about our trip to Berlin – we have another Champion in our midst, as Lou Mackinlay is once again joining our group (having travelled to NY with us last November). Lou is a previous winner of the European Olympic Distance Triathlon, held in Germany in 1999. This will be Lou's first trip back to Germany since her epic win. Takes a long time for champions to return (Mona hasn't been back to Berlin since his win in 1990).
For those who are seeking adventure, we have a change of pace with some interesting offers regarding trips in Uganda. It's certainly on my bucket list!
Fran Seton & Dave Cundy
Your Marathon & Lifestyle Travel Gurus
Steve Moneghetti to be Honoured
Steve Moneghetti is everyone's favourite marathon runner and we (and many of you) are very excited that he will be joining us on our trip to the Berlin Marathon.
To the organisers of the Berlin Marathon, Mona is the runner who "put the Berlin Marathon on the map" with his win in 1990. Mona's time of 2:08:16 was momentous for a number of reasons:
- The first sub-2:10 run in Berlin
- The first marathon after the wall came down
- The fastest marathon in the world that year
While in Berlin this year Mona will receive a special acknowledgement for his role in establishing Berlin as the fastest marathon in the world.
Our Berlin Marathon trip will be hugely memorable for so many reasons and the 'Mona Honour' will be one of them.
Kipsang Returns to Berlin
Former World Record holder, Wilson Kipsang, is set to return to Berlin this year to try and go one better than his second placing last year (2:03:13).
Kipsang's most memorable day was in Berlin 4 years ago when he ran a World Record of 2:03:23, taking 15 seconds off the time set on the same course by Patrick Makau. Eliud Kipchoge was only a minute behind in his first marathon and the only one he has ever been beaten in.
Although a mighty record, it didn't last long as Dennis Kimetto stopped the clock at 2:02:57 the following year, to become the first man to break 2:03 for the marathon.
It will be a superb race up front, with Kipchoge looking to break the World Record and Kipsang knowing exactly what has to be done. It's going to be an exciting day in Berlin!
Beer Mile Record Holder Gets Serious
Australia is sending its largest team yet to an IAAF World Championships, which starts this weekend at the Olympic Stadium in London. Most of you will be interested in the marathon and here we have good news – full teams of three men and three women. Both races will be held this Sunday – the men at 10.55am London time and the women at 2.00pm. If you're lucky enough to have access to Eurosport, you can work out the start times at your location and watch the action live.
The men's team boasts three making their international debuts – Brad Milosevic, Josh Harris and Jack Colreavy – while the women's team is more experienced with Milly Clark, Jess Trengove and Sinead Diver.
The men's team may be new to the international stage but Josh Harris already has a world class reputation as a former world record holder for the Beer Mile! Never heard of the beer mile – give it a try sometime. All you need to do is run four and a bit laps of a track, drinking four beers in the process. So you start with a beer, run a lap, drink another, and so on. Josh ran an impressive 5.04 for his world record – the record now stands at 4.43. As a marathon runner, Josh ran 2.17.08 at Lake Biwa in Japan in March to qualify for London. If he can go without the beer on Sunday but still run 5.04 per mile, he'll walk away with a 2.12!
Brad may be best known for his City to Surf and Melbourne Marathon wins in 2015 but it was a 2.16.24 in Hamburg in April that got him selected. Jack is a late addition following the withdrawal of Jeff Hunt and he, too, qualified at Lake Biwa with a 2.18.32.
A feature of athletics over recent years has been the performances of our female distance runners and, again, they look strong going into London. Jess warmed up with a top 10 performance and a new PB of 2.27.01 in the Virgin Money London Marathon in April and, of course, is now a veteran of two Olympic Games and the 2013 Moscow World Championships. Milly ran that sensational 2.29.07 in Amsterdam in 2015 before going on to be our first finisher, and 18th outright, in Rio last year. Sinead represented Australia at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and ran a PB in Nagoya in March with a 2.3137.
Good luck to all of our team and, if you're lucky enough, happy viewing.
Christmas in Uganda Maybe?
You never know what life throws at you so why not think about Christmas in Uganda.
Our fabulous partners at Wild Frontiers have a couple of super trips available:
- Gorilla Express (6 days) – this trip is short on time but definitely not short on thrills.
- Best of Uganda (8 days) – come and take in the best sights and scenes that Uganda has to offer.
- Classical Uganda (10 days) – cross almost everything off your Uganda travel list on this comprehensive safari.
If New Year is more your thing, then Tanzania is calling:
- The Herd Tracker (6 days) – ring in the new year by exploring one of the last great expanses of wilderness in the world – the Serengeti.
Sunshine Coast Marathon
Australia is blessed with some magnificent venues for road races and they don't come much better than Queensland's Sunshine Coast. So why not add the Sunshine Coast Marathon to your race list.
You can opt for the marathon, half, 10km, 5km or even 2km. This year's race will incorporate the Australian Half Marathon Championships on a new and improved out and back course along the waterways stretching from Mooloolaba to Maroochydore.
There's not much time left – race day is 20 August – but hopefully you're still in great shape from training for Gold Coast, City to Surf or another of our great Australian races. There's big incentive money to break the Australian All-Comers half marathon records so let's see if the Sunshine Coast can lay claim to the fastest half in Australia.
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