The strange and surprising running headlines of 2019

Some headlines are shocking, some are disheartening, some are silly and some are so surprising you couldn’t make them up. Here’s a look back at the headlines of 2019 that we couldn’t believe we were writing.

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Johnny Manziel’s wife produces fishy race results

Bre Tiesi-Manziel, wife of former CFL player Johnny Manziel, produced some race results in the Run Like a Diva Half-Marathon on February 16 that raised eyebrows. According to Deadspin, she and a friend ran a 1:58:22 in their first half-marathons ever. Tiesi-Manziel is an model and fitness blogger.

Tiesi-Manziel came through the second half of the race much faster than the first. Her 6.4 mile split was 1:31:29 at 14:15 minute per mile pace, which is almost nine minute per kilometre pace. She missed her 11 mile split and finished only 27 minutes after her 6.4 mile split. That means that she covered 6.7 miles in 27 minutes, which for context is 2:30 per kilometre and way faster than Eliud Kipchoge’s pace in the world record marathon.

Results from the NCAA Northeast regional cross-country road race

And there off!! Hosting @NCAA Cross Country Northeast Regional!! Had to call an audible and host on @UBuffalo campus. So proud of our staff and the great partnerships on campus to make this happen! Let’s Go @UB_XCTF!! ??#UBFam pic.twitter.com/Yvk6beERzS

— Mark Alnutt (@Alnutt41) November 15, 2019

The NCAA Division I Northeast Regional Conference final, scheduled to be run on the Audubon Golf Course in Buffalo, NY on Friday, November 15, was moved to the roads on the SUNY Buffalo campus because of unsafe conditions on the golf course. So, 500 cross-country runners lined up for (for most) their first-ever road race.

Gabriela DeBues-Stafford smashes Worlds meeting record, comes sixth

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3QcXPpn1S6/

Gabriela DeBues-Stafford broke the World Championship 1,500m meet record this summer but found herself in sixth place. This year’s meet saw one of the fastest 1,500m races in history and a Canadian was a contender. The runner set a new Canadian record in the race, finishing in 3:56.12. The championship was won by Sifan Hassan in 3:51.95.

A man in a banana suit was a Toronto Marathon frontrunner

A man in a banana suit ran with the lead Canadian women at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon. Banana Man, as he was called by spectators, was wearing Nike Next%’s and moving at a very impressive clip (with or without a banana suit). The Banana Man’s name is Melvin Nyairo of the US and he finished in 1:15:35, setting the unofficial world record for fastest half-marathon dressed as a fruit.

Kosgei and Farah ran the same pace for part of Chicago Marathon

At the 2019 Chicago Marathon, Mo Farah had a rough day and Brigid Kosgei had an amazing day–actually, the best day ever by a marathoning woman.

If you look at Kosgei’s splits side-by-side with Farah, the pair ran the same pace from kilometre 30 to kilometre 35. Their 5K times were 15:53 for Farah to Kosgei’s 15:58, Farah at 5:07 per mile and Kosgei at 5:08 per mile. Kosgei beat the second-place woman, Ababel Yeshaneh of Ethiopia, by an unbelievable six minutes. She ran the new women’s world record of 2:14:04.

VIDEO: Man runs 3:59 mile tied to a dog

Anthony Famiglietti, two-time American Olympian and 3:55 miler, ran a sub-4 minute mile with Bailey the dog. The pair reportedly ran on a wheel-measured greenway on February 9, 2019. According to their YouTube channel, “This course measured just a bit longer than 5,280, which is exactly a mile. It measured 5,285 feet at the shortest possible route. Bailey took a longer route, as she did not always use the tangents. The wheel measurement of the course is in an additional video on this page.” February 9 was Bailey and Anthony’s first time meeting.

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