by Larry Eder
Elisha Barno, 2017 Skechers Performance LA Marathon champion, photo by Larry Eder
In the final miles of a marathon, when the heart is willing, but, the body screams, how does one master the muscles with the focus of the heart? Elisha Barno gets that, having won the 2017 Skechers Performance LA Marathon, is back and he wants to win once again. Problem is, like in all marathoners, several runners share those dreams.
In 2015, Elisha Barno roared in like a lion, won Big Sur Marathon (April 2015), Grandma’s (June 2015) and Cal International (December 2015). In 2017, after his LA marathon win, Elisha won Grandma’s for a second time.
A past marathon PB of 2:09:45 is from the Kosice International Peace Marathon, in the Czech Republic, one of the oldest and most respected of European marathons, Elisha broke that in January. With a best over the half marathon of 1:01:45, Elisha is a threat in the marathons he runs. He recently ran the Houston marathon on 14 January 2018, where he finished third and ran a PB of 2:09:32.
Eilisha Barno, Houston 2018, photo by PhotoRun.net
Elisha respects the LA Marathon course. “It is tough in the first half.” Elish confided in me during our interview. A fine athlete, Elisha told @runblogrun that he is recovered and ready to race. He reminds me of athletes like Dick Beardsley, who could run five, six marathons in a season and continue to run well.
We will just have to wait a few hours to see if Elisha can make his dreams come true.
