Hold on to your hats – today’s Rundown is going to blow you away. Tonight we have game seven of the World Series - something we’ve been training for all year. In the category of things we haven’t been training for, the (in)famous New York City Marathon is this weekend. It’s much easier to read about it than run it.
We’re tired just thinking about it,
The Last Night’s Game Team
Five things to know about New York City Marathon
- The Marathon is this Sunday, November 5th at 9 am EST on ESPN2. Like all marathons it’s 26.2 miles of pure joy. The race boasts 50,000 runners.
- Runners have to qualify to participate in the race. The times are no joke with 3:15 (3 hours, 15 minutes) for women ages 35-39 and 2:55 for men of the same age. (See how fast would you have to run to qualify). Runners are also admitted through a lottery. Either way you’re paying $255 (for U.S. runners) to run in the race.
- The first New York City Marathon took place in 1970 with 55 runners. In 1972, women ran in it for the first time. The AAU, the then-governing body of marathons, had squashed the idea of women running in marathons previously. They went as far as publishing baseless “scientific” research stating that “women who ran more than a few miles risked infertility” to keep women from lining up at the start line.
- Celebrities running in this year’s race include: Jeanette Jenkins (celebrity trainer), Tiki Barber (Former NY Giants running back and TV personality), Sean Astin (actor who starred in Rudy, Goonies and Lord of the Rings), Jacqueline Laurita (Real Housewives of New Jersey) and Richard Blais (Restaurateur and winner of Top Chef: All-Stars).
- In case you’re wondering: the fastest times are Geoffrey Mutai 2:05.06 (2011) in the men’s category and Margaret Okayo 2:22.31 (2003) for the women. For a point of reference, the average race time is 4:43.45.
MLB (Major League Baseball)
- Like a kid at Christmas. The Chicago Cubs beat the Cleveland Indians at home last night in a World Series elimination game. Tonight the Cubs and Indians are giving America an early Christmas gift by playing a winner-takes-all game in Cleveland for the title. Game Seven of the World Series is as exciting as it’s going to get, even if you don’t like baseball. Every at bat and every pitch counts; you can cut the tension with a knife. Tune in tonight at 8:08 pm EST on FOX.
NCAA Football (College)
- Your office will be buzzing about it. The first official rankings for the College Football Playoffs were released Tuesday night (and will be released every Tuesday for the rest of the season). Three undefeated teams round out the top three, but the one-loss Texas A&M team topped the undefeated Washington Huskies in the rankings.
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- Michigan Wolverines
- Clemson Tigers
- Texas A&M Aggies
Overtime
- Joe Buck has done a great job announcing the World Series on FOX, but he will always have his haters. One Cleveland fan took Buck’s admiration for Cubs’ Kyle Schwarber and turned it into an online wedding registry at Bed, Bath and Beyond. Clever.
Sideline stat
- Only six teams in MLB history have come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the World Series. (The Cubs were down 3-1 going into yesterday’s game, which they won).
Coaches’ corner
- Athletes are just like us in the fact that they dress up for Halloween. Check out Gisele's hubby and quarterback Tom Brady as Bigfoot, NFL’s Richard Sherman as Harry Potter at a team press conference and the Cleveland Cavaliers went all out for LeBron James’ Halloween bash. See Serena Williams (hello 80s) and others' costumes here.