The remarkable Julius Yego of Kenya

When you think of athletics and Kenya, the first thing that springs to mind is of course running. From 800m to the Marathon, Kenyan athletes are very much to the fore.

One of the most famous up and coming stars in the world of athletics is Julius Yego of Kenya. In an country full of runners, his chosen specialty is the javelin.

Having decided at the ago of 13 that he was never going to make it as a runner, he started off with a wooden javelin. With no-one locally to coach him properly in the sport, he took to watching video clips on Youtube to improve his technique.

By 2006, he had set a Kenyan junior record. By 2010, he won a bronze at the African championships. After getting a sports scholarship to train with some of the best javelin throwers in Finland, he qualified for the London Olympics in 2012 where he finished 12th. At the World Championships in Moscow in 2013, he set a new Kenyan national record to finish an impressive 4th. Finally in 2014, he won Gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. A remarkable journey for someone who started out watching clips on Youtube.

There is a full article on Julius Yego on the IAAF website.

Video clip in this earlier post from 2012.

Video clips of the 2009 Dublin City Marathon...
Now that almost a week has passed since the Dublin City Marathon, a number of video clips have appeared.


The first video clip above was taken a few hundred metres after the start (...and I even managed to make an appearance in this one ;o)
When I arrived at the start of the race, it was obvious that the crowd was big but it was difficult to judge how big it was. By the time I had passed the point where the camera was (....~1:53 in the video), from my point of view, the road seemed to be packed with runners. It's only when the video clip gets to around 3:25 that you get to see the true scale of the Dublin Marathon. It's pretty amazing to that many people running together.


This 2nd short clip above shows a section which was just after O'Connell street I think?



This short clip above is near the 21 mile mark (~2h 31m mark).


...and again, another short clip at the 21 mile mark but this time around 2h 40m.

Video Clips of the Start of the 2009 Cork City Marathon...
Here is a clip of the start of the 2009 Cork City Marathon and Relay. It's easy to forget about exactly how many runners were at the start of the Marathon on Patrick's Street. It's amazing how long it takes for the whole field to pass through the start line.



The clip has a restricted view and the runners seen side on look a bit blurred.

By the way, the official photos are now out. Link is on the main Marathon results post.

Happy Days......Cork City Marathon 2008
Now for a treat! The organisers of the Cork City Marathon have put a nice 10 minute video of the 2008 Cork City Marathon up on YouTube. It's not just about the winners of the race but has shots from different sections of the race.

One thing you'll notice about it is how dull and overcast it was when the race was in Silversprings and how the sun was shining by the time some of the slower runners had reached Mahon......and you can see that the heat is beginning to take it's toll.

There are some nice shots of the finish as well........with a few of the 'well known' faces delighted at running their fastest Marathon ever.

Enjoy...!!

Videos of the 2008 Cork City Marathon...
Two weeks have now passed since the Cork City Marathon & Relay and as expected, some videos have appeared on the net of the event.

(Note...you will probably need to have broadband if you are watching these from home)

1) This first video shows a runner finishing. The quality isn't great but it gives a flavour of what the finish area was like on the day.



2) The 2nd video is a bit on the long side, almost a whole 6 minutes!! It basically is a set of still photos that are set to music. It gives an overview of the day for a group of runners who are doing the Relay & Marathon. It's a bit slow to start off but it's well made and there are some shots of the Marathon in the centre.

Ballycotton 10 road race video clips on YouTube...

You'll probably need Broadband to look at these properly. Just click on the PLAY button.

No.1) This clip is 7 seconds long. The quality isn't great but it shows the runners getting ready for the start of the Ballycotton 10 mile road race.


No.2) This clip is 76 seconds long and was taken about 500 metres from the start. It shows front half of the field as they pass. Note they are running slightly downhill.


No.3) This clip is 18 seconds long and shows some runners running slightly uphill with about 500 metres to go.


No.4) This clip is 2 minutes and 34 seconds long and shows some scenes from the Ballycotton 10