RUNNING INDUSTRY AND EVENT NEWS SUMMARY
By David Monti
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved (Used by permission)

Here is a summary of running industry and event news which has crossed your editor's desk recently:

COMPETITOR GROUP CONTINUES EUROPEAN EXPANSION:
Competitor Group Inc., the San Diego-based endurance sports event organizer and publisher, has pushed further into the European market for running events.  On the heels of their announcement that they had purchased the Madrid Marathon, the company said yesterday that they had purchased the ADT Edinburgh Half-Marathon and would rebrand the event, the Rock 'n' Roll Edinburgh Half-Marathon.  The race is scheduled for April 15, 2012, and will feature the participation of 1991 ING New York City Marathon champion Liz McColgan.  "Under the grand backdrop of the city's momentous castles and iconic history, we will create an event weekend experience unlike any other," explained CGI president Scott Dickey through a statement.  "This expansion will create new opportunities for partners to reach the United Kingdom’s vast number of affluent participants in the running sector."

TOP FINISHERS RETURN TO CRAZY 8'S 8-K:
The top two finishers from last year's Indian Path Medical Center & SunTrust Bank Crazy 8s 8K Run in Kingsport, Tenn., plan to compete again in that event on Saturday, July 16, organizers reported.  Shadrack Kosgei of Kenya ran 22:26.5 to win last year's contest, prevailing over Ahmed Baday of Morocco (22:30.1) in a sprint finish on the football field at J. Fred Johnson Stadium.  "We're excited that Shadrack is coming back," said Hank Brown, co-event director and elite athlete recruiter through a news release.  "He's an exciting runner, and goes all out.  I think he'll make a run for the world record."  The IAAF does not recognize world records at the 8 km distance, but the independent Association of Road Racing Statisticians (ARRS) does.  On July 20, 1996, Kenya's Peter Githuka ran 22:02.2 in Kingsport, and that mark has yet to be beaten on the finish line of an 8 km road race with a certified course (Deriba Merga of Ethiopia passed the 8 km split at the 2011 RAK Half-Marathon in a much faster 21:31, but the ARRS doesn't yet recognize en route times for records).

TWO RUNNERS VIE FOR PRRO CIRCUIT AWARD AT PEACHTREE:
At Monday's AJC Peachtree Road Race 10-K in Atlanta, Ga., two runners have a chance to earn the $10,000 Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO) circuit bonus.  Should either Kenya's Sammy Kitwara or Ethiopia's Misiker Mekonnin Demissie win Monday's race, they will realize total winnings of $25,000, representing the PRRO bonus plus the $15,000 Peachtree  winner's check.  The PRRO bonus is paid to any athlete, male or female, who can win one of the four PRRO circuit events beginning with last July's Utica Boilermaker 15-K in Utica, N.Y., and then the Peachtree the following year.  Kitwara won the World's Best 10-K last February in San Juan, P.R., while Mekonnin won the Lilac Bloomsday Run 12-K in Spokane, Wash., last May, making both eligible for the award.  The bonus is split if an eligible male and female both win the Championship at Peachtree.  If no eligible athlete wins, then the bonus grows by an additional $5,000 for the following season.

MORAN TO DEFEND NATIONAL 10-K TITLE AT PEACHTREE:
Ed Moran, who finished sixth at last Friday's USA Outdoor Championships at 5000m, will defend his national 10-K road running title at the AJC Peachtree Road Race on Monday, USATF announced.  Moran, who grew up in New Jersey but lives and trains in Williamsburg, Va., finished tenth overall at Peachtree last year in a personal best 28:19, winning his first-ever USA open title.  Moran will face a very strong USA field, headed by American half-marathon record holder Ryan Hall, and USA Outdoor Championships 10,000m third place finisher Scott Bauhs.  The race can be watched LIVE on-line at www.USARunningCircuit.com on Monday at 7:30 a.m. EDT.

ARMORY CHOOSES FLYNN AS MILLROSE MEET DIRECTOR:
Officials of the New Balance Track & Field Center at the Armory in New York City tapped Irish mile record holder and prominent athletes' agent Ray Flynn to be the meet director of the 2012 Millrose Games, scheduled for Saturday, February 11.  As meet director, Flynn will assemble the elite fields for the meet.  "The Armory Foundation is very pleased that Ray Flynn, an athlete and agent with a great Millrose Games history, has joined the Millrose Games at the Armory in 2012," said Armory Foundation Executive Director, Dr. Norbert Sander, through a news release.  "Ray Flynn's vast experience and professionalism will be added benefits for the Millrose Games."  The Millrose Games, the longest-running indoor track and field meet in the United States, will move from it's original home in Madison Square Garden to the Armory for the first time next year.  The 2012 Games will be the 105th edition of the meet.

REGISTRATION OPENS FOR GRANDMA'S MARATHON TODAY:
With the ink barely dry on the 2011 Grandma's Marathon results, the race announced this week that registration for the 2012 edition of their event would open today, July 1.  The first 10,000 runners to register will be accepted into the Two Harbors-to-Duluth race which is scheduled for Saturday, June 16, 2012 at 7:30 a.m.  Race director Scott Keenan said that no price increases were planned for entry; early registration costs USD 80 before September 30.  Visit www.GrandmasMarathon.com for more information or to register.

MARTIN DONATES RESEARCH MATERIALS TO BERLIN SPORTS MUSEUM:
David Martin (Ph.D., FACSM), the legendary exercise physiology professor from Georgia State University whose research on marathons is unmatched for both volume and depth, has donated an amazing 900 kg of materials filling 34 running meters of shelving to the AIMS Marathon-Museum of Running in Berlin.  The museum is part of the Berlin Sports Museum.  The approximately 800 books, which were packed in 31 cartons, are comprised of three-fifths bound magazines and two-fifths yearbooks on running, international athletics, and numerous trade publications about running. The Atlanta Track Club generously took inventory of the books and packed them in Dr. Martin's house in Decatur, an Atlanta suburb, where they were then picked up on March 3, 2011, put on board a container ship on March 26 in Savannah, and finally arrived in Bremerhaven on April 9. After the shipment cleared customs, it was handed over to the Berlin Sports Museum on May 9th. Now, since the beginning of June, the David E. Martin Collection is on exhibit in the Gerhard Schlegel Room, where it can be used upon request. Martin, who has Parkinson's Disease, recently wrote on his Facebook page: "My struggle against Parkinson's continues, but it has not gotten the better of me yet. It has curtailed my ability to travel, which is why I am so grateful to have the Facebook connection.  I am looking forward to an excellent showing by our USA men and women marathoners in London 2012."

CANADIAN NATIONAL TRACK LEAGUE OPENER CANCELLED DUE TO EXTREME WEATHER:
The kick-off event for the new Canadian National Track League, the Edmonton International Track Classic, was cancelled on June 30, due to extreme weather.  According to an account in The Province newspaper by reporter John Mackinnon, only shot-putter Dylan Armstrong was able to compete (he got in 6 rapid throws) before rain, thunder and lightning intensified to the point where it was just too dangerous to hold the meet.  One hundred forty athletes from 14 countries had assembled to compete.  The series continues tonight, Friday, July 1, in Burnaby, B.C., with the Harry Jerome International Track Classic. That meet will be streamed LIVE at this link at 5:00 p.m. EDT:
www.flotrack.org