2013 media guide - LA Marathon

THE COMPETITORS
THE COMPETITORS
VITALIY SHAFAR
UKRAINE
Age: 31 (Date of Birth: January 27, 1982)
Residence: Kiev, Ukraine
Personal Best: 2:12:07 (Eindhoven, 2007)
Affiliation: Nike
Shafar competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics, finishing in 29 th place in the
men's marathon. Running the 2012 Barcelona Marathon in a time of 2:14:22,
Shafar came in 12 th place. He ran the 2011 Bila Tserkva Marathon in 2:15:20 and
the 2009 Fukuoka Marathon in 2:15:07, but reached his personal best in
Eindhoven in 2007.
JASON SIMPSON
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Age: 28 (Date of Birth: July 5, 1984)
Residence: Monument, Colorado, USA
Personal Best: 2:26:55 (Duluth, 2012)
Affiliation: Unattached
Simpson earned multiple all-­‐conference honors when he ran for Truman State
University. He also posted a personal best time of 2:26:55 last summer at
Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota and recorded a 4:14 mile a year ago
at the NYC Fifth Avenue Mile. He is married to two-­‐time Olympic qualifier and
fellow runner, Jenny (Barrington) Simpson.
CHRIS CHAVEZ
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Age: 26 (Date of Birth: May 9, 1986)
Residence: Menlo Park, California, USA
Personal Best: 2:20:19 (Olympic Trials, Houston ’12)
Affiliation: Bay Area Track Club
Chavez ran on the University of California, Berkeley track and cross country team
for four years and was a member of their 2007 cross country team that placed
16th at the NCAA championships. It wasn’t until he left Cal that Chavez began
focusing on long-­‐distance races. Since then he ran the 2009 San Jose Half
Marathon in 1:05:13 and placed 15th at the 2010 Half Marathon National
Championships in Houston with a time of 1:04:35.
64 ASICS LA MARATHON
MEDIA GUIDE
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