Tokyo Olympics 2020, in 2021. The Men's and Women's Marathons.

Based in Bergen County, New Jersey, Jennifer Heiner serves as a retail director at a New Jersey running company, and is an avid runner who has competed in six marathons. Jennifer Heiner volunteers with the New York Road Runners, and has helped organized numerous group training runs focused on preparing runners for the New York City Marathon. The New York City Marathon began 50 years ago, and is the world’s largest marathon. The race is also the main event of the New York Road Runners (NYRR) organization, a premier community running entity. Held each year in November, the event draws more than 50,000 professional and amateur runners from more than 125 countries. The 26.2-mile running route passes through five of New York’s neighborhoods, including Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Manhattan. Over 10,000 volunteers and a million spectators watch the marathon's runners compete from New York’s streets, while millions more watch the event on television. The New York City Marathon is a part of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, a group of major marathons that take place in New York, Tokyo, Boston, London, Berlin, and Chicago.

Right now, however, all of the focus is on the Tokyo 2020 (2021) Olympics.  One of the highlights of the running events is the Olympic Marathon, which will take place over the last two days of competition, August 7th for the women and August 8th for the men. And while most of the Olympic competition is occurring in Tokyo itself, the marathon races will be staged in Sapporo, which is located 500 miles north of the host city. This is in part due to the high temperatures Tokyo is experiencing - such heat would be too much for the athletes to endure for over two hours during competition. 

Some of the favorites to watch are: 

• Eliud Kipchoge who holds the men’s world record for the marathon, will be looking to defend his Olympic title in Tokyo. 

• Brigid Kosgei 

• Ruth Chepngetich who holds the world record in the Half Marathon

• Molly Seidel

• Abdi Abdirahman, at 44 will be the oldest competitor and participating in his 5th Olympics

The U.S. team, consisting of Aliphine Tuliamuk, Molly Seidel, Sally Kipyego, Galen Rupp, Jake Riley, and Abdi Abdirahman are expected to make a strong showing, and all of the runners have been waiting since February 2020 at the Olympic Trials to get the chance to race. A lot will happen in the Olympics before the Marathon starts, and it will be a fun few weeks of competition. 

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