Tracking Uli Steidl in the marathon...

10:45 am--Uli's final time was 2:30:03, good for 37th place. I have not been down to the mixed zone to get a quote from him.

We are underway with the meet, so it's so long for now.

10:15 am--This is what I know as of now--Uli finished around 2:30 and change. I have not had a chance to talk to him, as it's my understanding from his teammate Martin Beckmann that Uli's in the medical area, probably for a heat-related issue. I don't want to speculate any further.

Got the hard copies of his splits from 25 k (1:26:36, 59th), 30 k (1:44:58, 51st); 35 k (2:03:39, 42nd), and 40 k (2:22:26, 38th). As you can see, from a placing standpoint, he made a big move from 30 to 35k.

I'll do my best to find out his status.

8:56 am--The racing's started! Luke Kibet dropped a 15:39 5k, and he leads after 35k (1:52:35), with Shami of Qatar 2nd 23 seconds down, and Kiplagat 3rd 31 seconds behind his countryman. There are two Japanese runners lurking behind the top three.

It's Kenya and Japan for the World Marathon Team Cup competition! Can you imagine how crazy the home fans will get if they can pull up?!?

Uli was 68th at the half-marathon in 1:12:37, 4:08 behind the leader. His 20k was 1:08:49.

Looks like I will have to bail and walk to the track to get finish photos, and start working on quotes.

8:39 am--30k split is 1:36:56 (15:45), and it's now down to four. Kibet, Shami of Qatar, Kiplagat, and Asmeron.

8:22 am--25 k split was 1:21:11, with Ali Mabrouk El Zaidi the leader and a group of 10-12 as the leaders pass the Osaka Castle.

Uli's split at 15k was 51:26, and he stood 78th at that point.

8:10 am--Crossed the half-marathon point in 1:08:30, with Uganda's Alex Malinga the leader. 20k was crossed in 1:04:59, with about 10-12 runners. The last 5k was covered in 16:20, so it's slowed slightly.

Uli's 10k split was 33:35, and he was in 81st place, 1:03 behind the leader.

Weather now is 84 degrees, 65% humidity, and heat index is 89.

7:50 am--Pace has picked up a little bit. Kiplagat and Luke Kibet of Kenya lead a group of eight thru 15k at 48:39, the last 5k run in 15:48, down from 16:14.

Have not seen complete 10k splits yet, so I don't have an official split for Uli.

7:35 am--Lead group crossed 10k at 32:51, led by William Kiplagat of Kenya, and a group of about 35 runners behind. Rough guess from the TV pictures, but I'm thinking Uli is about 30-45 seconds back. They only showed splits for the top 50 on the world feed.



7:20 am--The marathon is underway. Uli entered the stadium wearing a cooling vest, and seemed in good spirits when I said hello.

The runners ran 1300 meters of the track before heading out on the roads. The turnaround point is by the Osaka Castle, one of the city's landmarks.

From watching the world feed here in the press center, it looks like the shots are of the leaders. While they were on the track, Uli dropped to the rear of the pack.

By the way, it's getting humid. I'm thinking we'll have a 20-25% dropout rate, but I could be wrong.

6:15 am--Good morning (or good Friday afternoon in the Pacific Northwest)...welcome to Northwest Runner's coverage of the IAAF World Track & Field Championships from Osaka. We're 45 minutes from the start of the men's marathon, where eight-time Seattle Marathon winner Uli Steidl will be running for his native Germany.

I am in the main press center next door to Nagai Stadium. I'll be tracking how he's doing here in the MMC by watching the world feed on the TV monitors (it should be the same as the wcsn.com coverage).

The plan is for me to take pictures of the start of the race at the stadium, then track the progress here at MMC.

I am literally flying by the seat of my pants on the marathon coverage. If any of you have any questions, please leave a comment.

Now off to the stadium to take warmup pictures and the start!