On Saturday night July 11^th, at the witching hour of 9:58 pm, the streets of Kingsport will once again be lit with candles and swarming with runners for the 20^th running of the Indian Path Medical Center & SunTrust Bank Crazy 8s 8K Run.  Crazy 8s, the World’s Fastest 8K, is the largest road race in Northeast Tennessee, and one of the most popular events in Kingsport’s Fun Fest.

 The Indian Path Medical Center & SunTrust Bank Crazy 8s 8K Run is
recognized around the world for holding both the men's and women's 8
kilometer world records.  Ethiopian Demssew Tsega has let it be known
that he intends to go after Peter Githuka's long-standing 22:03 world
mark, and collect the $10,008 Regional Eye Center World Record Bonus.
The race is set to take off Saturday night on the candle-lit streets of
Kingsport.  

 Two runners with plenty of experience on the candle-lit streets of
Kingsport will return to run the Indian Path Medical Center & SunTrust
Bank Crazy 8s 8k Run on July 12th.  2006 champion, Julius Kiptoo from
Kenya, and 2007 runner-up Karim ElMabchour from Morocco announced their
commitments to run the world-famous figure-8 course in Kingsport.

Crazy 8s is going back to school.  The Indian Path Medical Center &
SunTrust Bank Crazy 8s 8K Run is launching a new event, the Foot Rx
Invitational High School Mile on Friday evening, July 11th, at 6:15 PM.
The Invitational High School Mile and the Lively

 State Farm Crazy Mile
will be run in downtown Kingsport just prior to the Fun Fest Parade.

  At exactly 9:58 pm on Saturday night, July 12th, runners will once again
hold their own version of a late night party on the candle-lit streets
of Kingsport at the Indian Path Medical Center & SunTrust Bank Crazy 8s
8K Run.  Crazy 8s - the World's Fastest 8K, is the largest road race in
Northeast Tennessee, and one of the most popular events in Kingsport's
Fun Fest.

 Kingsport, TN

Friday, Jul 11^th, 6:15 pm

The Crazy 8s Road Race in Kingsport, TN introduces the inaugural Foot Rx Invitational High School Mile.  Date is Friday, July 11^th at 6:15 pm, the day before the Crazy 8s 8k Run.  The High School Mile is a road mile held prior to the Fun Fest Parade.  The race will invite up to 10 boys (4:39 or better) and 10 girls (5:30 or better). 

 The World's Fastest 8k just got a new pair of shoes. Race officials from
the Indian Path Medical Center & SunTrust Bank Crazy 8s 8k Run announced
today that they have joined forces with Reebok as the Official Outfitter
of Crazy 8s. Race date for the 2008 race is July 12 in Kingsport, TN.

Indian Path Medical Center & SunTrust Bank Crazy 8s 8k Run

Saturday night, July 14

See story at 

http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9002044

The Indian Path Medical Center & SunTrust Bank Crazy 8s 8k Run received good news today with the addition of Kenyan superstar Simon Ndirangu to the elite field.  A small army of talented Kenyan distance runners will join Ndirangu Saturday night, July 14th on the candle-lit streets of Kingsport.  They will all battle for a common goal – The Gastroenterology Associates $5000 Dash For The Gold for the 1^st male finisher, plus the Regional Eye Center $10,008 World Record Bonus.

The Ethiopian ladies are Alemtsehay Misganaw, Maskerem Legesse, and Belainesh Gebre; the Kenyans are sisters Gladys and Neriah Asiba, Magdalene Mukunzi, Caroline Cheptanui, and Angelina Mutuku.  All are marquee names with excellent credentials.

Harroufi won't have to look far to find some fellow Africans in the lead pack.  Also committing to run the candle-lit streets of Kingsport are a very talented group of Ethiopians – Alene Emere Reta, Abera Ertiban, Demesse Tefera, and Dagne Alemu.  All will be chasing the coveted Crazy 8s title, and the Gastroenterology Associates $5000 Dash For The Gold.  If any of these men can break Peter Githuka's long-standing world record of 22:02.2, set here in 1996, they will pocket the Regional Eye Center $10,008 World Record Bonus.

Thanks to an extraordinarily dense and tenacious elite field, Kenya\'s Julius Kiptoo was able to stay concealed until Morroco\'s Mohamed Fadil forced him to make his move. Kiptoo then lived up to his top billing, winning the Indian Path Medical Center & Sun Trust Bank Crazy 8\'s 8K run in 23:00 flat at J. Fred Johnson Stadium Saturday night.

\"We always attract a top group from Kenya,\" said co-race director and elite athlete recruiter Hank Brown. \"This year is no exception. We don\'t have to advertise ourselves to the Kenyans. They know all about Crazy 8\'s.\"

Race organizers announced today the commitments of six American men and two American women to compete for the Crazy 8\'s title and make a run for the Regional Eye Center World Record Bonus. Race date is Saturday evening, July 15.

Four athletes from the Kingdom of Morocco will get the royal treatment in Kingsport for the 2006 edition of the Indian Path Medical Center & SunTrust Bank Crazy 8\'s 8k Run.

On July 15th, Saturday night in Kingsport, TN, at precisely 9:58 pm, Crazy 8\'s organizers will pull back the curtain on a brand new 8k course for the Indian Path Medical Center & SunTrust Bank Crazy 8\'s 8k Run. They hope the new surroundings will produce yet another world record, just like Peter Githuka\'s shocking 22:03 set ten years ago, or the world shattering 24:28 set by Morocco\'s Asmae Leghzaoui in 2002.

The ?world?s fastest 8k? will move from Green Acres Shopping Center on Eastman Road to J. Fred Johnson Stadium on Fort Henry Drive. The 8k runners will run a very similar figure-8 course as the old course, and return to finish inside the stadium.

Winning a race is not something many runners get to experience in their lifetime. I dare say that 99% of the runners who sardine their way into the starting area at a road race have no grandiose notion of breaking through the victory tape at the finish line.

Wooly Worms and Vampires! As is so often the case in life, my wife\'s 5k PR chase wasn\'t going according to script. After the Spruce Pine Calamity, it was time to regroup. As Natalie (aka Scat) put it, \"I\'m lower than a snake\'s belly.\" That\'s not exactly the optimum mental state for peak performances.

Those were also the days when I ran my fastest times

A record crowd of about 160 participants took off in frosty 30 degree temperatures from the brand new YWCA facility in downtown Bristol, straddling the Tennessee and Virginia state lines. At 26 years, the Turkey Trot is one of the oldest continuous road races in the Tri-Cities area of Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.