Kastor Tries To Bridge The Gap on Lewy-Boulet
Posted April 20th, 2008 at 9:33 AM by Jimmie R. Markham
Section: News & Results, Marathons
In the 2008 USA Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials, the race was now for third place. Magdalena Lewy-Boulet had a 1:47 lead over Deena Kastor, who had closed the gap a bit. Blake Russell, who finished a heartbreaking 4th at the 2004 trials, was neck and neck with Mary Akor. Suddenly, Russell began to pull away from Akor and soon opened up a gap of 50 yards.
Kastor had a 7-second lead on Russell. Up front, Lewy-Boulet reeled off another mile in 5:38 and her form was still looking good. The Olympic team seemed to have chosen itself at this point. Lewy-Boulet had taken the lead from the gun and was way up front, 1:43 ahead of Kastor. Kastor had a 10-second lead on Russell. Desiree Davila passed Akor for 4th. Akor seemed to be done.
Mile 18 was passed by Lewy-Boulet in 1:42:16. Kastor was 1:40 behind her and ten seconds up on Russell. Desiree Davila was now quickly gaining ground on Russell. The battle was still on for third. Akor and Soila Gomez were in 5th place. Kastor was certainly not out of reach with her 20 second lead over Russell. Russell had 7 seconds on Gomez.
Lewy-Boulet was still on a 2:29 pace and clicking off miles in the 5:35 to 5:40 range. Unless something catastrophic happened, Lewy-Boulet was going to be the winner. She began showing signs of working hard, though, and her lead was down to 1:32. Kastor was obviously going to try for a negative split and close that huge gap. Her form looked great. She would need to run 15 seconds per mile faster than Lewy-Boulet for the rest of the race. This appeared unlikely. She now had a 35-second lead on Russell. Davila was still within striking distance of Russell.
With exactly one 6-mile loop remaining, Kastor was now only 1:13 behind Lewy-Boulet. Russell was still in 3rd. Davila still had Russell in her sights.
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Tags: 2008 U.S. Olympic women’s marathon trials, 2008 USA Olympic women’s marathon trials, Beijing, blake russell, deena kastor, entry list, Magdalena Lewy Boulet, marathon, marathonguide.com, Olympic Trials, Olympicwomensmarathontrials2008, Olympicwomensmarathontrials2008news, US Olympic Trials, usa Olympic team trials – women’s marathon
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The Final Sprint