Before I write up an article about the race, here's a snippet from the Salt Lake Tribune's online edition:
Just short of a world record
Joggler Michal Kapral came within a minute and a few seconds of the world
record by finishing the Salt Lake City Marathon in 2:53:28.
The record for "fastest marathon while juggling three objects" is 2:52:15,
set at the Philadelphia Marathon in November 2006 by Zach Warren.
On Saturday, Warren clocked in at 2:57:02. Kapral and
Warren stayed with each other for most of the race and alternated leads. From
miles 12-15, Warren had the lead. Then Kapral was ahead for the next two miles.
For about five miles, the runners were even until Kapral took advantage when
Warren took a water break. At the 22-mile mark, Kapral took off.
"At the 24th mile, everything went blank. I was hallucinating. I just
couldn't move forward," Kapral said. "Focusing on juggling, it did help me
relax, but at some point, it does get frustrating. I just wanted to throw the
balls on the side of the road."
Warren hit that point of frustration, too.
"It's psychological warfare," Warren said. "It's so tempting to give
up. I was feeling terrible at mile 12." Even though there is
a rivalry between the runners, there's also respect. "It was
a really good battle," Kapral said. "It was back and forth."
Elite athletes coordinator Larry Barthlow said Kapral would have gotten a
world record Saturday if it wasn't for the altitude.
"He probably lost five or six minutes because of the altitude," Barthlow
said.