Race Info: 2011 NJ Marathon, Long Island Marathon, Flying Pig, & Big Sur

May kicks off with a number of popular marathons and associated races, and you'll find links to their websites below. Here in the New York area, I know a number of people running either the Long Island or New Jersey marathons (or the associated half marathons). Here's a quick look:

* New Jersey Marathon: Check participant information for the NJ Marathon, Long Branch Half, and marathon relays. Of particular interest is the course maps (the NJ Marathon has a new course this year, consisting of a single loop).

* Long Island Festival of Races: You'll find details on all the races (including course maps) for the marathon, half, and 10K (all taking place Sunday) and other events, which took place Saturday. You'll also find course elevation for the marathon and half.

* Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon: The nation's leading porcine-themed running event (which has a "finish swine") features a full marathon, half, marathon relay, 10K, 5K, and more. Sign up for running tracking here. See the home page for course information, road closures and parking details, etc.

* Big Sur International Marathon: All the way on the other side of the country, Big Sur offers a unique running experience along the breathtaking California coast. Check the site for race day instructions including road closure information and changes to all the races necessitated by the collapse of a part of Highway One (see race course Q&A here). The BSIM weekend includes a 21 miler and shorter distances as well.

Good luck to all runners!

Big Week for Track & Field: Drake Relays & Penn Relays - Info, Schedules, More

As if it wasn't enough that the New York City Marathon lottery was taking place (today, in fact), this week also marks two of the country's premier (and longest-running) track and field meets: The Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa and the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.

The Penn Relays
The 2011 Penn Relays will take place April 28th to the 30th. Follow them online from Franklin Field at thepennrelays.com (at this site you'll also find a link to a live blog that's updated during the meet results). You can get the schedule and results at pennrelaysonline.com, and view the schedule by day, level (high school, college, etc.), and school, and follow the meet on Twitter at @thePennRelays.

The Drake Relays
The action at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa also takes place April 28th to 30th (though some events began today, and the Grand Blue Mile was held last night). You can find out all about the competitors, the meet schedule, tickets, and more at the Drake University athletics website. Follow Drake Relays updates on Twitter at @DrakeRelays.

You'll find the Drake Relays general meet information here, and the final meet schedule (PDF document) here.

Among the elite athletes competing at the event will be Olympic hurdler Lolo Jones, who is a native of Des Moines. She'll be competing in Saturday's 100-meter hurdles invitational, which she won four straight times from 2005 to 2008. You can follow her from the event at her often-entertaining Twitter page, @FollowLolo.

Tickets for the Drake Relays can be purchased at the Drake University website, GoDrakeBulldogs.com.

2011 NYC Marathon - Are You In? Follow the Lottery LIVE Today at Noon!

The New York Road Runners Club holds the lottery for the remaining spots in the 2011 New York Marathon at 12 Noon (Eastern) today, and you can watch it live at www.nyrr.org/tv/. [UPDATE: If you go to that link you'll find a place to enter your name or entry number, and the page will telll you if you've gotten into the race.] The NYRRC is calling this the NYC Marathon "opening day," and is reminding us that it's only 192 days until the big event.

Various guests are on hand for the event in Central Park, including past NYC Marathon champion and U.S. Olympian Meb Keflezighi and actor (and NYC Marathon finisher) Ed Norton. The NYRR is also posting photos from the event at its Tumblr page, nyrr.tumblr.com.

Good luck to all who are in the lottery and hoping to get into this Fall's New York Marathon!

2011 Boston Marathon - Searchable Results

Runners have been streaming across the finish line in the 2011 Boston Marathon, and you can find complete searchable Boston Marathon race results here. You can view the overall results; narrow down your search by viewing results by gender, age group, country, etc.; or do a direct search by entering a runner's name or bib number.

For individual results of runners still on the course, check out the Boston Marathon athlete tracker.

The cool conditions have meant fast times, including some record-breakers. There was a new world-best time in the men's marathon by Geoffrey Mutai in 2:03:02. American Ryan Hall came in fourth for the men (with an American-best time), and in the women's race American Desiree Davila finished second after a thrilling back-and-forth battle with Kenyan Caroline Kilel. Kara Goucher came in fifth.

I'm glad to see that my New York area friends are doing well, and they all should be finishing with race results that meet or exceed their Boston Marathon goals.

Congrats to them, and to all the Boston Marathon finishers!

2011 London Marathon - Live Results

You'll find live results for the 2011 Virgin London Marathon here. You can search for runners you're interested in by bib number or both name. You can also view results by country, gender, age group, and other criteria. Using the links at the top of the page, you can check out overall results, the race leaderboard, and a list of runners you've chosen to track.

The overall winners of this year's London Marathon were Emmanuel Mutai of Kenya in 2:04:40 in the men's race, and Mary Keitany in 2:19:19 in the women's race.

Congrats to all finishers of the 2011 London Marathon. And if you're interested in running the 2012 race, check the website, www.virginlondonmarathon.com, because information on how to enter will be available soon.

How to Watch the 2011 London Marathon Around the World

If you can't be in London to watch the big Virgin London Marathon, you can watch it live on TV or online. See the race's TV coverage page here to find out the details, but here's an overview:

* in the U.S., you can go to that TV page and click on the big red box to watch the BBC's London Marathon live coverage, starting at 3:55 a.m. (Eastern time). If you don't want to be up that late (or that early), the on-demand replay of the race will be available starting at 9 a.m. Eastern.

* in the U.K., BBC 2 will cover the London Marathon from 8:30 to 10:15 a.m. (local time), then coverage switches to BBC 1 from 10:15 to 2:00 p.m. After that, there will be an additional hour on the Red Button. There are other viewing options available on Virgin media, Sky, Freesat, etc.

* in other parts of the world, see the London Marathon's TV coverage page for the viewing choices. These include Eurosport (in 63 countries), Eurosport Asia (in 47 countries), and Supersport (in 48 African countries).

2011 London Marathon - Course Map, Final Instructions, Road Closures, & More

The 2011 Virgin London Marathon takes place on Sunday, April 17th, and here are links to some of the important pieces of information you'll need to know.

* 2011 London Marathon race information
* interactive map
* runner information: including details on your runner number and kit bag, mile markers, a pacing guide, and final instructions
* latest news: including updates on elite athletes and profiles of runners
* London Marathon Expo
* road closures for the London Marathon

Good luck to all competitors in the 2011 Virgin London Marathon!