Newton Running is proud to support Britain’s Richard Whitehead, a double amputee who uses our Action/Reaction™ Newton soles on his running prosthetics.

This past weekend Richard ran the Workingham Half Marathon in an crazy fast time of of 1:17:45, a new PR and a new amputee world record!

Congratulations Richard – you are an inspiration!

(photo lovingly ripped from Competitor.com and @Delly Carr)

It was a great day for Newton Running at the Ironman 70.3 Geelong event in Australia on Saturday.   With the fastest run split of the day by almost a minute and a half, Craig Alexander took top honors proving that he will once again be a force to be reckoned with in 2010. Fellow Aussie Tim Berkel also had a great run and finished in 3rd place to round out the podium. Read the full race recap at Competitor.com.

Men
1. Craig Alexander (AUS) 3:53:15
2. Leon Griffin (AUS) 3:54:35
3. Tim Berkel (AUS) 3:56:10
4. Peter Schokman (AUS) 3:56:25
5. Clayton Fettell (AUS) 3:56:39

Women
1. Caroline Steffen (SUI) 4:14:32
2. Carrie Lester (AUS) 4:19:32
3. Lisa Marangon (AUS) 4:19:49
4. Samantha Warriner (NZL) 4:23:01
5. Suzanne Alway (AUS) 4:28:33

Photo credit: Nils Nilsen

Newton Running shoes were spotted all over the place last week on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. As runners descended on Waikiki for the Dec. 13 Honolulu Marathon, dozens of runners were seen sporting Newton Running racers and trainers, both in pre-race shag runs and during the race. And a week prior to the marathon, Newton runners could be seen in the Xterra Trail Run World Championships, an event that drew 1,100 runners to the pristine mountain and rainforest terrain of Kualoa Ranch on the north side of the island. (If you’ve seen the movies Jurassic Park, Windtalkers, Pearl Harbor, Godzilla, Tears of the Sun or 50 First Dates or the hit TV show LOST (which were all filmed on this 400-acre working cattle ranch) then you have an idea of the kind of terrain trail runners encountered. Heather Fuhr (third among women, 1:38:01) and Rachel Cieslewicz (seventh, 1:42:13) were among the top Newton runners in the event. Aloha, baby! Check out the full Xterra results here.

There are a lot of crazy ultra-events out there, but this one might take the cake. The DECA Ironman in Monterrey, Mexico is a race to finish 10 Ironman-distance triathlons in 10 days. The fastest cumulative time wins.

Here’s a description from the Competitor website:

Each day, all of the racers head over to the University of Nuevo Leon. Once athletes complete the 2.4 miles of swimming in the pool, they take to the bike and ride over to the local track about 1.2 miles away. The track is located in the Parque Ninos Heroes. Once at the park, athletes must complete 93 laps around the track to obtain the 180 km of riding. After the bike, athletes run the opposite direction around the same track. The 26.2 marathon is made up of 22 laps.

Sounds fun, right?

Eighteen crazy people athletes from around the world started the race and an impressive 11 people finished. The first and only American to enter, Wayne Kurtz, a CFP from Pittsburgh, finished in 5th place with a cumulative time of 141:28:26. He credits his daily recovery and steady running pace to his trusty Newton Gravity’s. We’re proud of you Wayne!!!

The race website with full results is here. Read the recap from Competitor.com here. Next year, they’re offering a double DECA. That’s 76 km of swimming, 3,600 km cycling and 844 km of running. Sign me up!

Newton is proud to have some outstanding masters runners in our shoes. Three athletes in particular have had a great year – balancing families, full-time jobs and training to achieve some really impressive race results.

Bob Weiner is a father and a full-time attorney. Just a few weeks ago he finished third in the National Masters Marathon Championship at the Twin Cities Marathon with a time of 2:26. After the race Bob said, “My feet felt great and I had no toe issues at all. My Newtons generated lots of comments.”

Pam Reed is a renowned ultrarunner, a race director and a mother. This year she set an American record for running 496 miles in six days in June, and was the second place female finisher at the Badwater Ultra Marathon in July, finishing in just over 29 hours.

Dr. Mark Cucuzella is a father, a family physician and an expert in exercise physiology and running bio-mechanics. This year he ran Boston in 2:37, the Air Force Marathon in 2:36, and will defend his Masters Championship this November at the JFK 50-miler. In his spare time (!?) Mark loves to give back to the sport of running and he is involved in numerous community and children’s running programs. He also served as the race director for the inaugural (and very successful) Freedom’s Run in Shepardstown, WV earlier this month.

Congratulations to all of these athletes on their outstanding accomplishments in 2009. You’re an inspiration to us all!

Proving once again that he can run down anyone, Crowie smoked the field in the marathon to win the 2009 Ford Ironman World Championships with a time of 8:20:21. Crowie came out of T2 in 10th place and more than 12 minutes behind the leader Chris Lieto. Digging deep and throwing down at 2:48 marathon, Crowie chased down such stars as Normann Stadler and Chris McCormack, broke away from Andreas Raelert at the Energy Lab, and passed Chris Lieto at mile 21 to go on to victory. The conditions were tough – hotter than hell and not a breeze to be found. It was an outstanding race – congratulations to all competitors!

Chris Legh continues to solidify his reputation triathlon’s “comeback kid” and one of the sport’s most indomitable spirits.  This weekend he continued down the comeback trail with an impressive 2nd place finish at the Ironman 70.3 Augusta.

Many of you probably knows Chris from his dramatic collapse at the 1997 Ironman Worlds, made famous in this popular Gatorade commercial.  What many people don’t know is that was just the first of three incredible setbacks for Chris in the past 10 years.

This is from a recent interview with Chris on Slowtwitch.com

Chris Legh made one of the sport’s great comebacks when he recovered from a dehydration-induced bowel shutdown at Ironman Hawaii in 1997. After surgeons cut out 12 inches of his colon, Legh was back the very next year in an epic duel with Peter Reid at Ironman Australia, losing a finish line sprint. Legh also engaged Reid in another classic duel at Ironman Australia the very next year, and turned the trick at to win Ironman California in 2000.

Things went well for one of the most talented men in the sport until 2003, when Legh faced a second showdown with his body. Racing exposed a congenital defect – a tiny hole in the wall of his heart — which struck around the 5 hour mark of a triathlon. After carefully adapting his hydration and nutrition, Legh managed to finesse his way around the problem with an amazing win at Ironman Coeur d’Alene in 2004 — headlined by a famous Gatorade ad. But this second comeback was not to last. For the next two years, the syndrome shut him down like clockwork at 120km into an Ironman bike.

Finally, the new Ironman 70.3 series provided a proper competitive outlet for one of the most talented men in triathlon history. In three years, Legh scored nine Ironman 70.3 wins. The only thing lacking was a podium solution for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship at Clearwater. Legh got a 4th there and was coming closer in training to the strategy – until he was faced with a third medical challenge late last year. An inflamed area around his pubic bone put one of the swiftest legs in the game out of action for eight months.

A week ago (interviewed on August 28), Legh faced his first test in eight months at the Timberman 70.3. His 5th place finish was not to his standards – 10 minutes 34 seconds behind Andy Potts. His swim was 5 minutes back of Potts. His 2:12:45 bike was better, 2:40 behind Potts. And his run, usually his ace in the hole but now the most susceptible to his injury, was a third-best 1:19:10, 3 minutes behind Potts.

Given he had only had six weeks of training, not a bad start to another comeback. Legh spoke to Slowtwitch as he was planning the rest of his 2009 campaign.

Read the rest of the interview here.

Chris is local Boulder superstar and a terrific friend to Newton. We’re incredibly proud of his season so far this year and wish him the best as he sets his sights on the Ironman 70.3 Championships in Clearwater on Nov. 14.

If you live in the mid-Atlantic, this is a race you should really check out – the inaugural Freedom’s Run in Shepardstown, WV on Saturday, Oct. 3. The marathon course winds through four national parks (that’s gotta be a first) and there’s also a half marathon, a 10K and 5K. Newton Running is a proud sponsor of this race that seeks to promote healthy living and the incredible heritage of the area.

Here’s a short video about the race.

Our friend and fellow natural running fanatic, Dr. Marc Cucuzzella, is the race director. He’s a major proponent of Chi Running one of the country’s foremost experts on running biomechanics and proper running form.

Check out this video of Dr. Mark using a Razor Scooter to demonstrate proper running form at a local fun run. Pretty cool!

It was a big weekend for Team Newton athletes with races across the globe. We’ll be posting race results and recaps throughout the day, but let’s start with one of the longest races of the weekend…

Newton Running Lab manager Paul South and Newton president Stephen Gartside were part of a 10-person team for the 12th annual Colorado Relay.  The “Robe Runners” took first place overall in the 170-mile relay race from Georgetown to Carbondale with a time of 19 hours and 35 minutes.

Team Robe Runners before the race- Paul in green, Stephen in the yellow visor

And Team Robe Runners after 170-miles. Still smilin’!

In addition to the Leadville 100, there were a couple of other big races for Newton athletes this weekend.

After almost a year off with a hip injury, Newton pro Chris Legh returned to racing yesterday at the Timberman Iromanman 70.3. Chris had a strong all-around performance and finished in 5th place against a super-competitive field. Also in the top 10 was Mike Caiazzo, who followed up his great race at the Ford Ironman lake Placid event with an 8th place finish in the pro men’s field at Timberman. Read a full report here.

Top 10 men
1. Andy Potts (USA) 3:51:19
2. Alberto Casadei (ITA) 3:58:52
3. Massimo Cigana (ITA) 3:59:32
4. Michael Lovato (USA) 4:01:29
5. Christopher Legh (AUS) 4:01:53
6. Bjorn Andersson (SWE) 4:02:32
7. Janda Ricci-Munn (USA) 4:09:30
8. Christopher Thomas (USA) 4:10:54 * AG M35-39
9. Mike Caiazzo (USA) 4:11:49
10. TJ Tollakson (USA) 4:12:20

On the other side of the globe, at the inaugural Cobra Energy Drink Ironman 70.3 in the Philippines, Australian Pete Jacobs had a another strong showing in his Newtons, finishing in 4th place against some of the world’s best triathletes. Read the full story here.

Top 10 men
1. Terenzo Bozzone (NZL) 3:51:25
2. Chris McCormack (AUS) 3:52:18
3. Cam Brown (NZL) 3:52:31
4. Pete Jacobs (AUS) 3:56:51
5. Timothy Marr (USA) 4:02:52
6. Frederik Croneborg (SWE) 4:10:18 * AG M25-29
7. Daiki Masuda (JAP) 4:17:06
8. Mao Yung Yang (AUS) 4:20:11 * AG M18-24
9. Allister Knox (AUS) 4:20:40 * AG M35-39
10. Kristian Manietta (AUS) 4:26:34 * AG M30-34