NEW YORK – The inaugural Armory NYC Indoor Marathon takes place this weekend, April 8-10 at the New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory.
More than 200 runners will be competing in the team relay portion of the event while seven accomplished male marathoners attempt to break the men’s indoor mark of 2:27.21 while Manhattan’s Allie Kieffer, 28, will attempt to surpass the women’s indoor mark of 2:53:53.
“We can’t imagine a better place than The Armory in NYC to host an expected World Indoor Marathon Record alongside corporate and recreational runners teaming up to complete the same distance on our track,” remarked Jonathan Schindel, Executive Vice President of the Armory Foundation.
Nearly 40 relay teams – each squad comprised from two to eight runners competing in men’s, women’s and mixed-gender divisions – will start during different time slots this weekend. Relay starting times for Friday are at 8 a.m., noon, 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. On Saturday and Sunday starting times are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. and 9 a.m., respectively.
Each of the overall fastest men’s, women’s and mixed gender team to complete 26.2 miles at the historic Armory will win $1,000.
Among the relay participants are two TCS New York City Marathon champions: Long Island resident Gary Muhrcke, who in 1970 won the first-ever NYC Marathon (2:31.38) and Armory Foundation President and Hastings-On-Hudson resident Dr. Norbert Sander, who captured the 1974 NYC Marathon (2:26.30). Muhrcke and Dr. Sander will be on the Hastings Striders team competing Saturday morning.
“The inaugural NYC Indoor Marathon here at the Armory is both a throwback to the great endurance runs of the early 1900’s at Madison Square Garden and a ‘fast foot’ forward to the super marathon racing of today,” Dr. Sander said.
“A wide spectrum of relay marathon competitions for the average devoted road runner to the highlight: a real attempt at the indoor marathon world record by some of America’s best runners. What could be better than running on a relay team with Gary Muhrcke winner of the first NYC Marathon? It’s memory lane at its best.”
Others in the team relay include: New York Road Runners with President & CEO Michael Capiraso and President, Events and TCS New York City Marathon Race Director Peter Ciaccia; representatives from CITI, Skadden, Scopia Capital, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and the 2015 North American Soccer League champions New York Cosmos.
The Armory Indoor Marathon World Record Challenge is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Seven men marathoners will be trying to win the Marathon World Challenge and at the same time rewrite American Michael Wardian’s 2:27.21 mark in Arlington, Va. set in 2010. Kieffer eyes the women’s record set by Monika Kalicinska in 2014 in Toronto.
If Saturday’s winners break the indoor world records he or she will receive a bonus of $5,000. The top three finishing men earn $1,000, $500 and $250, respectively. Allie Kieffer has the inside track to capture the women’s first-place $1,000 prize.
The World Record is in danger as the seven runners will compete on the surface labeled “the world’s fastest track.” Drew Hunter, the high school phenom from Purcellville, Va., set in January the boys’ high school indoor record in the mile with a 3:58.25 at the Armory Track Invitational. Two weeks later at the 109th NYRR Millrose Games, Hunter established a new boys’ record with a 3:57.81 in the Armory Invitational Men’s Mile.
Here are the eight runners entered in The Armory’s Indoor Marathon World Challenge:
· Allie Kieffer of Manhattan. Is a former standout runner for Wake Forest University and West Islip High School. In January this elite runner finished atop the women’s field in the Miami Marathon with a winning time of 2:55.31. http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/other-sports/article56343045.html
· Calum Neff of Houston, Texas. His marathon PR is 2:23 and he also is the Guinness World Record holder for Half Marathon pushing a stroller in 1:11.27 while winning in Katy, Texas recently: http://www.runnersworld.com/general-interest/dad-and-his-11-month-old-smash-stroller-half-marathon-record
- Tony Migliozzi of North Canton, Ohio (the current world 50K champion): http://www.ultrarunning.com/features/interviews/quick-dirty-tony-migliozzi-50k-world-champion/
· Malcolm Richards, a school teacher San Francisco, CA, who recently ran in the US Olympic Trials and also sports a 1:03:26 half-marathon PR and competes for the West Valley Track Club. There is an excerpt about Richards: http://running.competitor.com/2016/01/olympic-trials/one-month-an-counting-the-2016-u-s-olympic-trials-marathon_143020 :
· Stephen England of New York, New York, a very accomplished athlete who is also very public about competing with diabetes. http://www.diabetic-cyclist.com/blog/an-interview-with-stephen-england
· Ben Leese of Brooklyn, New York, a local athlete who won the Brooklyn Marathon in 2012 : http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/35/47/all_bkmarathon_2012_11_21_bk.html
- Chris Solarz, of New York, NY, who has competed in more than 200 marathons. http://theweek.com/articles/461138/interview-chris-solarz-runner-more-than-200-marathons
- Gerald Tabios, of Elmhurst, New York. Born in the Philippines, Gerald has completed 44 ultra marathons, including one that was non-stop 171 miles. http://www.geraldtabios.com/p/bio.html
