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Press Release - Los Angeles Marathon - 2/6/11

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

        Two World Records to be attempted at 2011 Honda LA Marathon

       Guinness World Record Standards to be Followed in Both Events

LOS ANGELES, February 6, 2011 - Two-time defending champion Wesley Korir 
says he is in the best shape of his life and is ready to challenge his own 
race record at the 2011 Honda LA Marathon presented by K-Swiss. But he 
isn't the only one aiming to set a record during the 26th edition of the 
race on March 20.

Two world-record attempts will be made, based on standards set by the 
Guinness World Records staff, for the "Heaviest Person to Complete a 
Marathon" and the "Largest Cheerleading Dance."

The heaviest-finisher effort will be made by 40-year-old Kelly Gneiting of 
Ft. Defiance, Arizona, a three-time U.S. Sumo champion and former long-haul 
trucker, who actually completed the 2008 race in 11:52:11 on a whim. "A 
couple of buddies met me in Las Vegas and then we flew to Los Angeles," he 
said, noting that his friends filmed him during the race; he finished at 
8:14 p.m. "If you go to YouTube and enter my name and ‘marathon,' there's a 
ten-minute film of me running. I completed the LA Marathon three years ago 
at 430 pounds, and will complete it again."

Currently weighing 410 pounds, the six-foot-tall Gneiting says he trains 
everyday, with a six-mile jog on Saturdays, in addition to walking a 
mile-and-a-half each way to his job as a statistician at the Ft. Defiance 
Indian Hospital.

The Guinness World Records requirements state that Gneiting must be 
weighted immediately before and immediately after the race and the entire 
race must be filmed. The current record is 275 pounds, and although 
Gneiting's 2008 effort would have set the record, he didn't apply for it. 

He said that the 2008 race "was the hardest day of my life," but is more 
than ready for the 2011 challenge on the Stadium to the Sea course. And 
with a wrestler's bravado, he growled that "I train at 7,000 feet on broken 
glass shards and cattle wire, so a few uppity hills into Santa Monica don't 
scare me."

He expects to complete the race between 9-11 hours, jogging about half of 
the course and walking the rest.

The "largest cheerleading dance" record attempt will take less time, as the 
requirements call for a routine of six minutes in length. The world-record 
attempt is being included in the race's "Cheer Alley" program, where squads 
from all over Southern California will gather on Santa Monica Boulevard and 
Moreno Drive (Mile 18), just west of the Beverly Hills border to compete 
for prizes and to cheer on the runners as they reach the two-thirds mark of 
the race.

The cheer routine will be choreographed by Sharp International and 
distributed to each squad after registration (at www.LAMarathon.com). The 
current record is 297 cheerleaders for a routine lasting 5:43, achieved on 
November 7, 2009 at the UCA Mid-South Regional Championships in Memphis, 
Tennessee.

"We had nearly 300 cheerleaders from 11 squads at last year's race," noted 
LA MARATHON LLC Director of Community Relations Ginger Williams, "and we're 
already approaching that number with seven weeks to go. It's going to be a 
record-setting day for the runners and for the cheerleaders."

Following the world-record attempt routine, each squad will do its own 
cheers in a judged competition, with extra points awarded for a 
Marathon-specific element or cheer. It's the third year for the 
cheerleading competition, with $2,500 in prize money ($1,250 for first, 
$750 for second, $500 for third) awarded to the top three finishers.

Korir, Gneiting and the cheerleaders likely won't be the only 
record-setters at the 2011 race, as registration for the Stadium to the Sea 
course continues at a brisk pace, threatening the record number of entrants 
- 26,054 - from 2010. Registration will not be available on race day, but 
remains open for now at www.LAmarathon.com. 

About LA MARATHON LLC:
We inspire athletes and connect communities. With thousands of volunteers, 
tens of thousands of participants and hundreds of thousands of spectators, 
the Honda Los Angeles Marathon presented by K-Swiss is one of the largest 
organized road races in the country. For more information, visit 
www.lamarathon.com. 

                                 ###

 

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