NEW NAME FOR ISTANBUL MARATHON

ISTANBUL (TUR): The new official name of the top Turkish marathon is 34th Vodafone Istanbul Eurasia Marathon. It is after signing a three years title sponsorship with Vodafone. Prize money for winners is equal 50 000 USD for top male and female runner on Sunday November 11. Time bonuses are starting from 5000 USD for sub 2:09 through 10 000 for sub 2:08 and 15 000 for sub 2:07 and ending with 30 000 for sub 2:06, 65 000 for sub 2:05 and 150 000 for new world record. Women time bonuses are starting with 5000 for sub 2:20. In current elite athletes entries four runners have sub 2:10 bests, two Kenyans Stephen Chebogut and Evans Kiplagat with Nicholas Kemboi who runs for Qatar and Ethiopian Megerse Bacha. Interesting Europeans in the field are Spanish Carles Castillejo and Romanian Marius Ionescu. Title defender Alemitu Abera returns for the women race, other top Ethiopians in the field are Yal Koren and Amane Gobena. Strong European group with sub 2:30 bests is headed by Ukrainian Tetyana Gamera-Shmyrko, Lithuanian Rasa Drazdauskaite, Hungarian Aniko Kalovics and home Sultan Haydar. Interesting debut is set for former Russian track medalist at world and European stage Olesya Syreva. She clocked for example in 2006 indoors 8:29.00 in the 3000 m and that year was 5th at World Indoor Championships in Moscow. Big star of the accompanying 15 km race is olympic medalist Elvan Abeylegesse.

HAILE WITH HIS MARATHON IN 2013

ADDIS ABABA (ETH): Legendary Haile Gebrselassie launched a new initiative, his marathon. „After traveling and competing internationally for the past 20 years, I am very excited to finally invite the world to my homeland of Ethiopia for the very first Haile Gebrselassie Marathon. We have put together a great team of race organizers, from Ethiopia, America, and Europe, who are among the most experienced and professional in the business. This will be a marathon like no other: world class, but uniquely Ethiopian. While you are here, I want you to discover Ethiopia's incredible history and culture, so we have created a series of tours designed exclusively for our runners. There are certain competitions that will always stand out in my memory, and I want my marathon to be that way for each of you. I look forward to welcoming you to Hawassa, Ethiopia in 2013, when we bring the best of marathoning to the land of the long distance runner," he says on the website www.hailemarathon.com. The race is scheduled for October 20, 2013.

MAJEWSKI AND WLODARCZYK

BYDGOSZCZ (POL): Shot put olympic winner Tomasz Majewski and hammer silver medalist Anita Wlodarczyk won the traditional Golden Spikes award for the 2012. In the Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz the traditional gala evening to award the best Polish athletes in 2012 was held. In the 43rd edition of the awards second place for hammer thrower Szymon Ziolkowski and third for hurdler Artur Noga. On the women side second Daria Korczynska and third Marika Popowicz, sprinters from succesful 4x100 m relay team. The votes came from daily Sport poll and from Polish Athletics Federation PZLA. Coach of the year in Poland is Henryk Olszewski (Majewski). Special award for hurdler Anna Jesien who ended her career.

GSC TO SUPPORT RACES IN INDIA

NIJMEGEN (NED): Global Sports Communication (GSC), an internationally reputed elite athlete agency and organiser of international road races and track & field events, has entered into a strategic partnership with Procam International, promoters of the biggest road races in India. GSC will be responsible for the elite athletes field for the IAAF Gold Label events, the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon and the TCS World 10K Bangalore, besides the new entrant into the Procam International fold, the Jamba Cloud Hyderabad 10 K. Hermens and his team are involved in many international road races like the Amsterdam Marathon, Hamburg Marathon and the Cologne Marathon. Although the Procam International events already have had star athletes in their previous editions, Hermens likes to take the challenge to improve the course records and bring on more star athletes to the events. Furthermore, GSC will assist in improving the running experience for recreational runners and elite athletes. Together with Procam International they are committed to taking Indian road races to the next level. GSC informs in a release.

OTHER NEWS

MADRID (ESP): 2006 European champion at 5000 m Jesus Espana (and silver in 2010) informed that he will continue his career at the 5000 m distance until 2014. His goals are World Championships in Moscow and European Championships in Zurich with the aim to run under 13 minutes during the next two years. Because of achilles injury he missed the London Games and was forced to undergo a surgery. His current best is 13:04.73 from 2011. So far four European runners achieved sub 13 times in the 5000 m (Mourhit, Farah, Baumann, Bezabeh).

LONDON (GBR): BBC informs that olympic heptathlon gold medalist Jessica Ennis is planning to compete at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, according to her coach. Toni Minichiello said the 26-year-old is excited by the prospect. „Jessica will be at Glasgow 2014 - definitely," he said. „That is absolutely the competition plan for us looking ahead. It is tight in terms of the schedule with Glasgow 2014 coming about a fortnight before the European Championships but we certainly intend to come to Scotland," said Minichiello.

FRANKFURT (GER): Leichtathletik magazine writes that top German high jumper Ariane Friedrich is not sure about her indoor season 2013. She wants to decide whether to compete in winter only at the beginning of next year. „My main goal is summer and World Championships in Moscow. There I want to be totally fit and ready for top results," she said.

BALTIMORE (USA): World and olympic long jump winner Brittney Reese plans a short indoor campaign 2013. As her management confirmed she will compete only two or three times. Also a possibility is that she might try another event at US Indoor Championships. In a season without World Indoor Championships there is no clear goal for winter for US athletes. The nationals will be held in Albuquerque on March 2-3, the same weekend as European Indoor Championships in Goteborg.

NEW YORK (USA): RRW informs that American Olympian Amy Hastings is still riding the Olympic wave, some three months after the cauldron was extinguished in London. The 28-year-old is focused on Sunday's ING New York City Marathon, a race she considers to be just as exciting and grand as the Olympic Games, where she finished eleventh in the 10 000 m. „It's that same excitement you get," Hastings told Race Results Weekly in an interview. „The energy is very similar. The city has an energy all of its own. With the Marathon especially, it's just a feeling that I can't really describe."

NEW YORK (USA): Molly Pritz is truly driven. The top American finisher at last year's ING New York City Marathon, Pritz has returned here after a whirlwind twelve months, capped off by this week's arrival of Hurricane Sandy. Much has changed since the 24-year-old crossed the finish line in Central Park a year ago, finishing her debut marathon in 2:31:52. The Pennsylvania native, who is now sponsored by Asics and living in Boulder, Co., and has another year of running under her belt. But most importantly, training has gone substantially better than it had in 2011. „I'm definitely in a better position than last year," Pritz told Race Results Weekly, visibly excited for Sunday's race. „Worlds better training wise."

LONDON (GBR): Skysports.com writes that 5/10 km olympic winner Mo Farah doubts whether it will be possible to run the 10,000 meters and marathon in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Farah knows there is a substantial difference between the two events and is currently of the mindset that attempting them in Rio could be out of reach. When quizzed about his thoughts on Rio, Farah told Sky Sports: „I don't know. I haven't even talked to him. I've turned my phone off and am enjoying time with my family. I'm flying to the USA. I'm looking forward to catching up with the rest of my training partners and Alberto. We'll sit down and come up with a plan."

LONDON (GBR): Telegraph.co.uk writes that the world's best distance runners, who regularly converge to train in the rarefied highlands of Kenya, have done so without being blood tested for the banned endurance booster erythropoietin (EPO), sophisticated blood transfusions or human growth hormone. Telegraph Sport disclosed that the Kenyan authorities, as well as international drug testers, have only sought urine samples from the athletes training within Kenya and have never taken blood tests. The revelation comes as one of Kenya's most promising athletes, Mathew Kisorio, recently caught taking steroids, has alleged widespread abuse of EPO within the country. The Kisorio evidence follows dramatic footage where a Kenyan doctor was caught in a sting operation by undercover German television reporters. WADA said in a statement to The Daily Telegraph: "The reality is that the anti-doping organisations that do conduct testing in Kenya - including the IAAF and Wada's Regional Anti-Doping Organisation Africa Zone V - only test for urine. The IAAF chooses to take blood samples from Kenyan athletes when they are either competing or training abroad.''

INDIANAPOLIS (USA): The NCAA has named 73 sites to serve as hosts for championships from 2013 through 2015. Representing 18 sports, this is the largest single announcement of sites ever done by the NCAA. Informs NCAA website. Interesting to note the altitude Albuquerque as site for division I track and field championships indoors 2014. The 2013 indoor event will be held in Fayetteville and outdoor in Eugene.

LONDON (GBR): Mammoth Track Club head coach Terrence Mahon has accepted a position with UK Athletics to become Great Britain's new national distance running coach, according to The London Telegraph. Mahon's departure follows Deena Kastor's announcement earlier this week on Runner's World Newswirethat she and her husband, Andrew, will take over day-to-day leadership of the group. A press conference outlining these changes is scheduled for Friday in conjunction with the New York City Marathon Media Day.

LONDON (GBR): Tickets are now on general sale for the 2013 British Athletics Series with events taking place in Glasgow, Birmingham, Sheffield and London. Three indoor events, the match in Glasgow, European trials in Sheffield and British Grand Prix in Birmingham. Outdoors also three events. Diamond League meetings in Birmingham and London and UK World Trials also in Birmingham. Interestingly not in the package the European Team Championships which will be staged in June in Gateshead.

PRAHA (CZE): Javelin olympic winner Barbora Spotakova was elected top Army sports person in the country for 2012. She repeated her first place from 2008. Second another olympic winner, David Svoboda from modern pentathlon. In the top ten other track representatives were included: javelin thrower Vitezslav Vesely was 5th, hammer thrower Lukas Melich 8th, runners Pavel Maslak with Jakub Holusa 9th and 10th. Jan Zelezny was voted coach of the year.

PRAHA (CZE): Czech Olympic Committee has a new president after 16 years. Milan Jirasek who was not bidding to continue was replaced by 42 years old former rower and current vice president Jiri Kejval. Success for athletics as Czech Athletics Federation President Libor Varhanik was elected vice president for marketing and economy.

NEW YORK (USA): In latest development around ING New York City Marathon the organisers informed that to keep Central Park as clear as possible for cleanup efforts before the race, New York Road Runners has announced the cancellation of Friday night's Opening Ceremony and Parade of Nations and Saturday's NYRR Dash to the Finish Line 5K. "Mayor Bloomberg has said that the marathon will go on, and New York Road Runners and all of its resources are here to support the city and put on a special running of the 43rd ING New York City Marathon," said Richard Finn, NYRR spokesperson. "Our focus right now needs to be directed entirely toward Sunday's race." Informs the event website.