It’s been kind of a tough week for the running world. The news was dominated this week by the fiasco at the Chicago Marathon, where one runner died and hundreds were sent to hospitals. Also this week, Marion Jones returned her medals from the Sydney Olympics as her steroid woes continue to grow. On the brighter side, there are lots and lots of marathons coming in the next couple of weeks, including the Ironman World Championships, Nike Women’s Marathon, US Men’s Olympic Marathon Trials and the ING New York City Marathon. It will be an exciting time the next few weeks.

Chicago Marathon - You can read my review of the situation of from the Chicago Marathon here. The folks at Marathon Guide did some great analysis of the numbers showing just how bad the day was for the runners out there: 48,165 registered runners, 35,798 starters, 35,300 runners with a 10K split and only 25,989 definitive finishers. In 2006, there were 33,600 finishers. That’s an amazing drop.

In related news, the Denver Marathon is offering free entry to anyone that ran in the Chicago Marathon that was not able to finish (with proof of entry). The race is taking place this weekend on October 14th, so it may be a little late for most people to make the trip out to Denver. Although if you live in Chicago, you could probably grab a flight on United, as Chicago and Denver are two of United’s biggest hubs. More information is available at www.DenverMarathon.com.

Marion Jones – Many of you already know that Marion Jones handed back her five Olympic Medals this week after admitting taking steroids prior to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. But, as if that wasn’t bad enough, this week the USOC is asking that he relay teammates on her 1,600M and 400M relays also give back their medals. It is a tragedy that runners up in the various event were robbed of the exposure they might have had when winning the events back in 2000, but to take medals away from her teammates is just tremendously sad for them. In the years since the 2000 Olympics the IAAF has amended rules punishing all members of relay teams where a member of the team committed a doping violation. However, they also added language to their rules seeking fairness for athletes in such situations.

Ironman World Championships - The world championships of Ironman Triathlon take place this weekend in Kona, Hawaii. The event starts at 6:45AM Hawaii time on October 13th, 2007 as 1,800 professional and qualified age group athletes set out on the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run courses. Coverage information can be found here.

Upcoming: other upcoming races in the next three weeks: Nike Women’s Marathon and half-marathon is up next on October 21st and then the US Men’s Olympic Trials and ING New York City Marathon on November 3/4th respectively. Check back here for complete coverage of these events, including a Nike Women’s Marathon course preview early next week!

Coach Joe English, Portland Oregon USA

Running Wild is a free column from runners and triathletes from running coach Joe English. Check out our archives of training and motivation articles!

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