The 2010 Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon will see a much-anticipated Deathmatch over 26 miles and 385 yards between five local protagonists who, it is predicted, will engage in some trash talk that will rival the actual race in terms of excitement and entertainment. This thread is dedicated to that very dialog.

The protagonists:
Stewart Ellington (Age 35; UT '97) - PR: 2:23:55; 2009 Knoxville Marathon champion; Half-marathon PR: 1:07:13
http://www.runnersmarket.com/rmracing/bio/ellington.html

Alan Horton (Age 29; EKU '03) - PR: 2:21:58; 2008 Olympic Trials Marathon qualifier
http://www.runnersmarket.com/rmracing/bio/horton.html

Patrick Gildea (Age 30; UT '03) - PR: 2:24:54 (debut); PRs of 28:38 for 10,000m on the track; Half-marathon PR: 1:03:43

Andrew Press (Age 23; UT '08) - PR: 2:29:55 (in debut at the distance at Country Music Marathon '09); Half-marathon PR: 1:10:11
http://www.runnersmarket.com/rmracing/bio/press.html

Andy Baksa (Age 25; UT '07) - Marathon virgin; PRs of 14:03/29:46 for 5000m/10,000m on the track; Half-marathon: 1:07:25
http://www.runnersmarket.com/rmracing/bio/baksa.html

Current NashVegas Odds from marathonbet.com (for the win):
Gildea 3/1
Horton 4/1
Ellington 9/2
Baksa & Press 6-1

Gildea has ran a half-marathon over 3 minutes faster than any of the other guys, and his one attempt at the marathon, despite being a disappointment for him, was still almost as fast as Stew's best. Stew and Alan are models of consistency. Gildea has the wheels, but does he have the patience and the ability to cut down on his PBR consumption?

Knoxville's hilly course may well have a neutralizing effect on some of the guy's speed and make it a closer race than it might be on a Chicago-type course. Baksa and Press are wildcards.

Does anyone think that the course record of 2:22:55 (Charles Kibowot 2005) is in danger?

So, if Baksa gets hammered the night before the marathon, does that improve his odds? I would venture to say yes.

If Stu wins again it'll only because we collectively decided to be gracious and allow age before beauty...

So Baksa strikes first at the Calhoun's 10 miler edging out Ellington and Gildea for the win in 51:45! As expected, the competition pushed the pace hard and resulted in Baksa's time setting a new TN state record for 10 miles!

Check out the results on KTC's website http://www.ktc.org/Results.html

As a sidenote, Andrew Press (running for 'Team Awesome') ran the 5000m at the Niswonger Indoor Invitational in Johnson City. He ran 15:17.32. Not nearly as impressive as the top three at Calhoun's but certainly a good run off marathon-type training.

Word on the street is that even though Baksa somked everyone at Calhoun's, Horton and Gildea had to drag him through his first ever 20 miler this weekend. Andy can drink and train like it's nobody's business, but will his lack of marathon training experience be a liability? Only 8 weeks until we find out for sure! Good luck fellas!

I don't know. This kid looks like an unstoppable force to me.

With taper mode starting for the guys, the first casualty is almost a certainty now. Gildea tweaked an ankle and hasn't been running for nearly two weeks! Despite having put in a ton of solid training, this will most certainly take Gildea out of the race, if he even decides to toe the line.

Baksa continues to dominate the build-up races with a solid win at Strawberry Plains 10K in 30:43. Horton wasn't too far behind grabbing 2nd in 31:02. Ellington nabbed 3rd in 31:36 despite being on call until 2 a.m. the night before.

Baksa and Horton opted to sit back the first 10K of Whitestone, leaving Stu on his own to chase the Runners Market 3-man relay team. Ellington ran strong finishing a mere minute and forty-eight seconds behind the relay team clocking 1:41:10. Andy and Alan turned it on later and finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively with times of 1:46:20 and 1:48:08.

Horton ran the Reedy River 10K March 8th, essentially against team ZAP Fitness, and finished 6th in 31:20. Press also ran finishing 8th in 31:46. Ellington hit the roads again as well in Knoxville the same day as the honorary chair of the Inaugural Be Great Run 8K benefiting the Boys and Girls Club of Knoxville. Apparently, Max Paquette didn't get the memo that Stu was the face of this race, because he outkicked him for the win in 25:22. Stu clocked 25:24 and begrudgingly added another notch to his belt of guys he's been outkicked by.

Just two more weeks until the trash talk is put to the test on the streets of Knoxville!