Fitness

Thomas Stanley was struck by lightning and died while competing in the FlatRock 50K at Elk City State Park in Kansas, according to KWCH12. 

Stanley, 33, was about a quarter-mile from the finish line of the more than 30-mile trail race Saturday when he was hit by lightning and died as a result of his injuries.

"He was unable to cross the finish line, unfortunately, but he is one of our finishers," said Carolyn Robinson, the FlatRock Race Director.

His wife, Ashley Stanley, and his three children—ages two, four and six—were at home during the race. Ashley said she expected him to finish the race in seven hours but only heard about the accident when Robinson reached out to her. 

"Thomas was full of love and full of passion, I think everyone just feels shaken and shocked and heartbroken," co-worker Sam Smith said Sunday.

More than 27,000 people will run through the streets of San Francisco on Sunday morning in the 42nd San Francisco Marathon.

The race, which is a qualifier for the Boston Marathon and Olympic Time Trials, has been won by the same person each of the last two years.

Jorge Maravilla finished first in 2017 and 2018, posting a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes and 56 seconds last year. Bonnie Tran won on the women's side in 2018 with a time of 2:54.09.

The course record on both the men's and women's sides were set in 2013 by Francois Lhuissier (2:25.15) and Anna Bretan (2:42.26), respectively, and the latter won three straight years from 2013-15.

Heading into this year's race, here's a look at the map, road-closure information and the different events set for Sunday.

      

2019 San Francisco Marathon Information

When: Sunday, July 28

Start time: 5:30 a.m. PT/8:30 a.m. ET

Starting location: The waterfront at Mission Street and The Embarcadero

Course maps: Available on TheSFMarathon.com

     

While Sunday's marathon is the premier event, there are several other races that will take place later in the morning. There will be two half marathons, which start at 6:30 a.m. and 6:45 a.m. PT, and a 5K race, which begins at 7:45 a.m. PT.

In addition to those races, there is an ultramarathon, which sees participants running the marathon course two straight times, either solo or as a member of a two- or four-person team. The runners will start at 11 p.m. PT on Saturday night, then join the other runners for the start of the marathon at 5:30 a.m. PT.

For the runners in the marathon, there will be many iconic landmarks along the course, most notably the Golden Gate Bridge, which the runners will go across during the race.

All participants in the marathon receive a long-sleeved shirt, while finishers will receive a medal and certificate.

The awards ceremony will take place at 9:30 a.m. PT at Embarcadero Plaza.

       

Street Closures

Due to the race, there will be numerous streets that will be closed throughout the event. Here's a full map of the road closures.

Several road-closure notices have been posted around the city this week in the leadup to the marathon, and more will be posted on Sunday. It will be important for people driving around the city to map their routes to avoid encountering a closed street.

        

Muni Reroutes and Directions

There will also be some alterations to the Muni schedule due to the marathon this weekend.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency released a notice earlier this week detailing the transit impacts for Saturday and Sunday. The full list of those affected lines can be found here.   

A selection of the strongest men on the planet will be at Verulamium Park in St. Albans, England, on Friday as the 2019 UK's Strongest Man finals get under way.

The quarter-finals open the tournament as the participants seek to book their place in Sunday's final, where Pa O'Dwyer will attempt to successfully defend his title.

O'Dwyer became the first Irishman to win the competition last year.

      

Start Date: Friday, July 26

End Date: Sunday, July 28

Venue: Verulamium Park, St. Albans, England

Live Stream: Ultimate Strongman website

     

Pa O'Dwyer

The battle lines have been drawn between O'Dwyer and a competition field looking to take back the crown from the champion.

O'Dwyer showed RTE Sport last year the kind of breakfast that is required to build championship muscle:

🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥩🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚 Six steak dinners a day. Seven eggs for breakfast. That's what fuels Pa O'Dwyer, Ireland's strongest man. pic.twitter.com/6STg7eGMzY

— RTÉ News (@rtenews) May 30, 2018

The Irishman turned 34 on Thursday and will hope for a further celebration with a successful title defence this weekend.

       

Graham Hicks

Britain's Strongest Man titleholder Graham Hicks is viewed as the man most likely to challenge O'Dwyer for the winner's medal in St. Albans, which would also be his first UK's Strongest Man victory.

In his day job, the 34-year-old helps design and build fighter jets, via World's Strongest:

Graham Hicks, Great Britain, made his 5th appearance at the 2018 @TachiPalace World’s Strongest Man. 🇬🇧 When he isn’t training, Graham works as a design support engineer for BAE systems – working on fighter jets. pic.twitter.com/s1oHL1rRM3

— SBD World's Strongest Man (@WorldsStrongest) November 20, 2018

Hicks won Britain's Strongest Man for the first time this year following back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2017 and 2018. The pressing events are where he is at his best, such as the axle, dumbbell and log clean and press.

             

Tom and Luke Stoltman

It's not often two siblings make it to the pinnacle of professional sport together, but Luke and Tom Stoltman are frequent fixtures in the latter stages of Strongman competitions.

Tom, 25, impressed with a run to second place at the 2017 UK's Strongest Man, while 34-year-old Luke dazzled more recently with a fourth-placed finish at 2019 Giants Live:

The brothers boast six Scotland's Strongest Man medals between them.

A tradition that dates back over a century will take over the city of San Francisco on Sunday.

The 108th edition of the Bay to Breakers race will bring a portion of downtown to a halt as thousands of runners—both competitive and recreational—plan to log 12,000 kilometers (7.53 miles).

Prizes will be awarded to the top finishers in the elite divisions, so the stakes will be high for some of the entrants as they step to the starting line.

For others, though, the occasion is more celebratory. A number of people—some costumed—savor the scene and pace themselves. Even though alcohol is officially banned in the Bay to Breakers, that hasn't stopped runners from discreetly imbibing in the past.

Here's all of the relevant info for the 2019 race.

        

Route

As is traditionally the case, the event begins at the intersection of Howard and Main St. in the northeast portion of the city. 

From there, participants will travel southwest down Howard St. until 9th St. After a brief jog northwest on 9th, it's almost a straight shot through downtown and Golden Gate Park to the finish line. The course wraps up on the Great Highway along the Pacific Ocean.

        

Course Map

The full course map is available to view on the Bay to Breakers' official site. The site also includes the route for the bonus 3K, which is available to runners who aren't content with the traditional course length.

       

Times

The race will officially begin at 8 a.m. PT. Those who aren't in the seeded division will have a staggered start depending on their specified corral.

At 1 p.m. PT, event organizers will close the finish line, and those still out on the course won't receive an official finisher's medal.

Anybody hoping to travel through Golden Gate Park will also have to do so before 12:30 p.m. PT. The course will close starting at Chain of Lakes Dr., with runners diverted out of the park to complete the remainder of the course.

       

Road Closures

For those looking to travel through downtown San Francisco, the Bay to Breakers provided a full list of road closures resulting from the race. Some roads near the race's starting point will close as early as 7 p.m. PT on Saturday, so locals will want to make sure they're aware whether they're area is affected.

       

More Info

Mother Nature doesn't appear to be cooperating. According to The Weather Channel, Sunday's forecast calls for a high of 58 degrees and a 90 percent chance of rain early in the day. Runners may also have to cope with winds between 15 and 25 mph.

Those who plan on really dressing up probably have the right idea since the additional layers will help with the conditions.

For the last two years, Philemon Cheboi and Jane Kibii reigned supreme in the elite men's and women's Bay to Breakers races. Cheboi crossed the finish line in 35 minutes, 41 seconds in 2018, with Kibii hitting the tape at 40:31.

In an interview with ESPN's E:60, Game of Thrones star and World's Strongest Man Hafthor Julius Bjornsson says he's used steroids, noting he'll do whatever is necessary to find success.

In the interview, which took place in 2017 and aired Sunday, he said, "When you want to be the best, you do whatever it takes."

Bjornsson, who plays Gregor Clegane―better known as "The Mountain"―on the HBO hit show Game of Thrones, has been a top competitor in strongman events for a decade.

He won his first World's Strongest Man title in 2018 after three second-place and three third-place finishes and is a five-time winner of the Europe's Strongest Man contest.

E:60 shared part of the interview where Bjornsson explained his motivation for turning to strongman:

Before he was “The Mountain” on #GameofThrones, @ThorBjornsson_ was an athlete with a mission: become the strongest man ever to walk the earth. pic.twitter.com/igeoSeWlzy

— E60 (@E60) April 10, 2019

Per ESPN, the use of performance-enhancing drugs has long plagued the strongman sport. While the 30-year-old admitted to using steroids, he didn't elaborate on when or how long, and when asked if he still takes steroids today, he said, "Can we just skip those questions?"

Bjornsson turned to weightlifting after ankle injuries prematurely ended his career in basketball. The Game of Thrones producers approached him to take part in the show, which has been partly filmed in his home country of Iceland, and he has played Gregor Clegane since Season 4.

He had a hard time believing the offer to play "The Mountain" was real at first:

"Getting an email like that out of nowhere from Game of Thrones? ... This has gotta be bulls---." @ThorBjornsson_ tells @e60 the unlikely story of how he became "The Mountain." pic.twitter.com/iNqovXJ28I

— ESPN (@espn) April 11, 2019

The role has made him a mainstream celebrity, leading to plenty of appearances in commercials and other events. While the increased work somewhat worries Bjornsson, he has no plans of stopping: "When you are putting yourself through all this. I've always thought about, 'What if I pass away?' It would be very hard to know that I left my family too soon. I want to be there for my family. I want to be there for my daughter. But this is my life. This is what I enjoy to do."

Per ESPN, Bjornsson said he plans on competing in this year's World's Strongest Man competition to defend his title. The competition will run in Bradenton, Florida, between June 13 and June 16.

On Monday—Patriots' Day in several states—the 123rd Boston Marathon will be held. The 30,000 participants will line up on Main Street in Hopkinton and make their way 26.2 miles through the city and its surrounding towns before racing past the finish line in Copley Square.

And they'll do so in challenging circumstances. The weather forecast for Monday, per AccuWeather, calls for rain when the first set of participants, the men's wheelchair race, line up at 9:02 a.m. ET, which has the potential to grow heavy through the other waves, with the last start time scheduled for 11:15 a.m. ET.

However, the rain won't be raw, and wind shouldn't be a big factor; the temperature will be in the mid-50s and could rise above 60 in the afternoon. It certainly won't be as trying as last year's conditions. 

As for this year, among the 30,000 participants are former New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi, NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson and husband-and-wife TV stars Jared and Genevieve Padalecki.

One of the best parts about the Boston Marathon is its humbling ability to unite runners from all walks of live; former athletes and regular folks are one and the same when it comes to 26.2 miles of what's recognized as one of the world's most challenging races.

Whether you're camping out along the route to cheer on friends and family or planning on watching remotely, here's everything you need to know about the 123rd Boston Marathon. 

                  

Boston Marathon 2019

Date: Monday, April 15

Start Times: 9:02 a.m. EST through 11:15 a.m. EST

TV: WBZ-TV (local) and NBC Sports (national)

                    

Course Map and Road Closures

The only Boston Marathon map you need https://t.co/FTBe3FS1kW pic.twitter.com/3cKMBSyBiT

— Boston.com (@BostonDotCom) April 12, 2019

The race will begin on Main Street in Hopkinton, a suburb of Boston. From there, runners will traverse through suburbs Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley and Newton (location of the infamous Heartbreak Hill) before reaching the city proper.

Once in Boston, runners will take Hereford Street toward Boylston Street to finish in Copley Square near John Hancock Tower.

Along the way, there are plenty of road closures citizens should be aware of. They will take effect from 3:30 a.m. and continue well into the evening.

The times road closures will be in effect in each town and city are below. All are in ET.

Hopkinton: 7 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Ashland: 7:15 a.m-1:45 p.m.

Framingham: 8:30 a.m.-2:15 p.m.

Natick: 8:30 a.m.-2:15 p.m.

Wellesley: 8:30 a.m.-3:15 p.m.

Newton: 8 a.m.-4:15 p.m.

Brookline: 9 a.m.-5:15 p.m

Boston: Variable-7 p.m. (Boylston Street at 8:00 p.m.)

Many of Boston's major roads will be affected by closures, including but not limited to sections of Boylston Street, Beacon Street, Newbury Street, Commonwealth Avenue, Columbus Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue. A full list of street closures can be found at Boston.gov.

Spectators or even citizens attempting to go about their days will want to make heavy use of the MBTA on Monday. The Back Bay station is just a short walk from the finish line on Boylston Street.

The Boston Athletic Association recommends using its official buses to make it out to the start in Hopkinton. More information on B.A.A. transportation can be found on its website. 

The most popular spectator locations include the start of the race in Hopkinson, the Scream Tunnel in Wellesley, Heartbreak Hill in Newton and, of course, the finish line. 

Results will be posted on the B.A.A. website as they become available. You can also sign up for text alerts on your favorite runners' progress through the AT&T Athlete Alert program, which you can access through any mobile network. 

Next week, baseball returns to Dodger Stadium. But on Sunday, the ballpark will be used as the starting line for more than 24,000 runners participating in the 34th annual Los Angeles Marathon.

The race has occurred every year since 1986, and it was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympics, which took place in L.A. It is 26.219 miles long and ends with the Finish Festival on Santa Monica Blvd.

According to the L.A. Marathon website, there will be runners from all 50 states and more than 63 countries, and this year's race has officially sold out.

          

Event Information

Where: Dodger Stadium to the intersection of Ocean Avenue and California Avenue in Santa Monica, California

When: Sunday, March 24

Route: Course Map

Road Closures: Complete List

            

2019 Los Angeles Marathon Schedule

6:30 a.m. Wheelchair start

6:32 a.m. Handcycle start

6:45 a.m. Professional women start

6:55 a.m. Professional men and rest of field start

            

Marathon Preview

Although there will be elite runners looking to complete the race in record time, there will be many more competitors who will be there to raise money for charity, complete their first marathon or just run for fun.

It should be a nice day for the event. As of Friday morning, Weather.com was forecasting it to be sunny with a high of 70 degrees in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Last year's winners in the elite divisions were Weldon Kirui (men's, 2 hours, 11 minutes and 47 seconds) and Sule Gedo (women's, 2:33:50). The records for the marathon were set by Markos Geneti (men's, 2:06:35) in 2011 and Lidiya Grigoryeva (women's, 2:25:10) in 2006.

Participants for the Los Angeles Marathon, which is among the largest 26-mile events in the United States, must be 16 years or older. There are 14 age divisions with the top three finishers in each section receiving a commemorative award. All finishers earn a commemorative medal.

For runners participating in this year's marathon, packets and racing bibs can be picked up at the Health & Fitness Expo being held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on Friday and Saturday.

When race day arrives on Sunday, Los Angeles will be on full display as runners travel through the city during the marathon. At the finish line, there are sure to be feelings of relief and excitement for the participants who completed the long race.

So, racers, get ready to enjoy the nice weather while running through the streets of the second-largest city in the United States.

William Bonac will defend his Arnold Classic title when the 2019 edition of the famous event takes place at the Columbus Convention Center in Battelle Grand, Ohio.

Prejudging and the finals take place on Saturday, March 2. The former will begin at noon and run until 4 p.m. ET (5 p.m. to 9 p.m. GMT).

Meanwhile, the finals will take place from 7 p.m. ET to 10 p.m. ET (12 a.m. to 3 a.m. Sunday, GMT), per the competition's official website.

Bonac is the clear favourite after winning in impressive fashion last year. He saw off five-time champion Dexter Jackson, who won't compete this weekend.

However, Cedric McMillan will be involved, and he'll hope to improve on his third-place finish 12 months ago. McMillan represents Bonac's main competition, having taken the title in 2017.

McMillan has a significant weight advantage over Bonac, yet the 280-pounder is considered more of a classic competitor. His boasts a more trim physique as opposed to the mass favoured by many participants in recent years.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, who the event is named after, is a fan of McMillan's and posed for a selfie with the then-champion two years ago. Generation Iron's Jacob Ladon noted how 41-year-old McMillan can produce the "kind of elegant posing that can earn him extra points with the judges."

McMillan is one to watch, but there are other competitors worthy of Bonac's crown. They include Roelly Winklaar, Steve Kuclo and Frenchman Lionel Beyeke, who finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively last time out.

Of those, Winklaar may be the biggest threat to Bonac. The 270-pounder beat Bonac to the prize at the 2018 Arnold Australia. He also rated higher than Bonac at Mr. Olympia, per the Arnold Sports Festival official website.

While big names such as Jackson and Kai Greene aren't involved, there is still enough competition this year to believe Bonac won't retain his title. Instead, McMillan or Winklaar look primed to claim top spot.

The 2019 Disney World Marathon will take place on Sunday morning at 5:30 a.m. ET, marking the 26th anniversary of the race, which first happened in 1994.

The race, which spans 26.2 miles, begins and ends near Epcot. The course takes runners around Walt Disney World, going past milestones such as the Magic Kingdom, the Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. It is the only race that runs through all four Walt Disney World theme parks.

A full map of the course can be seen here.

Last year, there were about 25,500 participants in the race. That included 76 people who had participated in every running of the race up to that point.

The race caps a full schedule, which began with a 5K on Thursday, followed by a 10K on Friday and a half marathon on Saturday. The "Goofy Challenge" is available for runners who wanted to participate in both the half and full marathons, while the "Dopey Challenge" will see participants take on all four races.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, there were more than 65,000 people registered for the four races, including 22,000 for the half marathon and 15,000 for the marathon. Seventy-three countries are said to be represented.

All participants in Sunday's marathon must be able to keep a 16-minute-per-mile pace. There will be food stops for runners located throughout the course.

Although it's a competitive marathon, participants and their guests are still allowed to have fun by dressing up like their favorite Disney characters. There will also be characters and entertainers throughout the course.

The race will be held rain or shine. However, as of Saturday morning, there was no rain in the forecast for Orlando on Sunday morning.

At 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, there will be an awards ceremony for the top three finishers in the men's, women's and push-rim wheelchair divisions in the Epcot parking lot.

     

Information courtesy of RunDisney.com.