Runner

Running seems like a simple sport: Throw on some sneakers, a T-shirt, and shorts, and go. But if you're a runner or have a runner on your holiday shopping list, you know it can be a lot more complicated than that. So I asked local running stores what's been flying out of their doors since Black Friday to give you ideas if you have an athlete on your shopping list. Let's start with a big one: a GPS running watch. Not only does this act as a stopwatch, but it will also let you know instantly how far you've run, how fast you're going, and, depending on how many bells and whistles you require (and bucks you want to spend)

The afternoon of October 20, 1981, was sunny and breezy, 60 degrees at Montgomery County Community College. The teenager out there running was a future two-time Olympic 800-meter medalist - the best middle-distance runner this area has ever produced. This 17-year-old had a resting heart rate that day of 62. Her left foot hurt her sometimes in the front "near the toes," but only when she walked, not running. (Could it have been her Adidas LA trainers?) This teenage girl ran eight miles preparing for the Suburban League cross-country championship meet two days later.

Meghan Malloy says that sometimes a cross-country race will end and she won't be sure how well she has run. "Sometimes, it just seems to go by so fast," Malloy said. Malloy finally got a chance to step back and appreciate her accomplishments at the end of her senior season. She had to concede that she enjoyed the view. Malloy, the Haddonfield senior who led the Bulldogs to a sectional title, was named South Jersey's cross-country Runner of the Year by the South Jersey Track Coaches Association.

Shawn Wilson wanted to book the longest trip of his life. But first he wanted to break a record that was close to home. Wilson, a Cherokee senior, accomplished both in the last few weeks of his high school cross-country career. Wilson set the school record in winning the state Group 4 championships Nov. 17 at Holmdel Park - breaking the mark set in 2001 by Marc Pelerin, now a Cherokee assistant coach. Wilson ran the 3.1 miles in 15 minutes, 40 seconds, surpassing Pelerin's 15:45.

Why do people run the Philadelphia Marathon? They run to honor their countries, their bodies, and loved ones they've lost. Some run because they are as swift as the wind. Others love the feeling of accomplishment that comes after. They run to beat addictions, afflictions, and their own predictions. Nearly 16,000 marathoners will start out this morning - with an additional 12,500 running the half-marathon - every one with a story. Here are six: Mike Fanelli ran his first marathon, the Philadelphia Marathon, 40 years ago, in 1972.

RUNNERS FROM all over the world came to race through the city in the Philadelphia Marathon, but in the end, a local runner was the first to cross the finish line. Mike McKeeman, of Ardmore, won the Marathon with a time of 2 hours, 17 minutes and 51 seconds, the second best time in the 19-year history of the marathon. Joseph Nderitu set the record in 2003 by completing the course in 2 hours, 16 minutes and 47 seconds. "I was just so happy; it's something I've envisioned a lot of times," McKeeman said.

Here are some names to remember as you follow the Rothman 8k on Saturday and the Philadelphia Marathon and Half-Marathon on Sunday: Marathon men Folisho Tuko: He won in 2 hours, 19 minutes, 16 seconds in 2011 and is back to defend his title. Abiyot Endale: He set a course record at 2:15:35 at the ING Hartford Marathon in October. Tarkiku Aboset Bokan: He ran 2:15 at the 2012 Pittsburgh Marathon. Marathon women Tezeta Dengersa: She finished second in the 2011 Philadelphia Marathon.

Amy McDonaugh is grateful to the organizers of the Philadelphia Marathon for the late invitation to Sunday's event. The 26.2-mile race begins at 7 a.m. and starts at 22d Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. After the New York City Marathon was canceled because of Sandy, the organizers of the Philadelphia Marathon extended an invitation to those runners even though all 14,500 spots in Philly had been sold out since Oct. 1. Philadelphia was prepared to accept another 3,000 of the runners denied the chance in New York, but just 1,454 applied.

For competitors in endurance events, the most exhilarating place to be is near the finish line. It is also the riskiest. Last year, a 40-year-old runner in superb condition collapsed and died about a quarter-mile before the end of the Philadelphia Marathon. A 21-year-old student died shortly after completing that year's half-marathon. The pattern plays out across the country, with deaths in long-distance races concentrated in the last few miles or just afterward. "We don't really know what kicks the heart off," said William O. Roberts, a professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School and a founder of the American Road Race Medical Society.

Josh Awotunde is a quarterback who looks like a defensive end. Tyrone Saud is a halfback who blocks like a pulling guard. Rob Hooks is a fullback who thinks like an offensive tackle. "In this offense, if you don't block, you don't play," Hooks said. Awotunde, Saud, and Hooks have compiled some big rushing statistics this season for Delsea (8-1), the No. 4 team in The Inquirer's South Jersey rankings and the No. 2 seed in the South Jersey Group 3 tournament. But it's not the numbers that define the Crusaders' ground game.