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Lead Stories: Sunday, October 12, 2008

Dathan Ritzenhein: Next Stop … Beijing Olympic Marathon
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 12)

Posted August 13th, 2008 at 7:00 PM by Dathan Ritzenhein

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Dathan Ritzenhein

Welcome to the official blog of top U.S. distance runner Dathan Ritzenhein! Check back every other Tuesday for Ritz’s latest entry at http://dathanritzenhein.thefinalsprint.com as he prepares to represent the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics!

It has been a long couple of days. I left Eugene on Tuesday morning and flew to San Jose for team processing. For the second trip in a row I had a rough start. My flight was cancelled from Eugene so Nick Symmonds, Andrew Wheating and I had to drive to Portland and our flight from there ended up delayed. By the time we got to team processing everyone was already done and so we had to blast through and get caught up. The amount of gear we got was amazing, but I have to say it was all very cool. We then had to get up early and Teg [Matt Tegenkamp]and I tried to get a 60 min run in at 5:00 before we left. Once we got to Beijing I was beat, but still managed to make it out for a 70 min run.

The village is awesome. It is so much nicer than Athens. The opening ceremonies were the next day and the feeling of walking into the stadium (under the same tunnel that the marathon will finish into) gave me chills. It helped to dull the experience of standing on our feet for eight hours. We also got to meet President Bush and Bush Sr. That was a cool experience - regardless of your individual political views.
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Dathan Ritzenhein: NYC Half-Marathon & On to Beijing
(Elite Athlete Blog Entry 11)

Posted July 30th, 2008 at 2:17 PM by Dathan Ritzenhein

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Dathan Ritzenhein

If our travel to New York City was any indication of how the race was going to go, it was not looking good. It was an epic battle to get to New York, but we finally made it.

Early Wednesday morning my wife, daughter and I boarded the plane with the intentions of landing in the city early evening that day. But good ol’ Mother Nature was not having anything of the sort. Our flight out of Denver was delayed from the get go, which was no big deal, however after 2 ½ hours in flight our captain announced that there were storms on the east coast and we will be circling in a holding pattern until the storm clears. Well, long story short, we ran out of fuel, had to land in Pittsburgh, the pilots reached their maximum amount of flying hours, and the next thing we know we are staying the night in Pennsylvania. Our plane was not the only one to land in Pittsburgh, so they made arrangements for everyone to be rebooked in the morning. After a few more hours of being delayed we finally made it to NY, 36 hours later.
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Dathan Ritzenhein: Looking to Avenge the ‘04 Olympic Trials
(Elite Athlete Blog - Entry 9)

Posted July 1st, 2008 at 1:57 PM by Dathan Ritzenhein

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics, Elite Athlete Blogs, Dathan Ritzenhein

Welcome to the official blog of top U.S. distance runner Dathan Ritzenhein! Check back every other Tuesday for Ritz’s latest entry at http://dathanritzenhein.thefinalsprint.com/ as he prepares to represent the United States at the 2008 Beijing Olympics!

As this Olympic Trials 10k gets closer I am more and more determined to come away this time with a better showing than 2004. That race was one of the most frustrating and disappointing moments of my life. When you work so hard for something and have an expectation of what it will be like, only to have it end up as an embarrassing humiliation, it haunts you until you can bring some kind of closure. The 10k this Friday will hopefully help me truly move on from that experience.

Only three days left until the 10k final. These past few weeks of training have been coming together nicely and although I don’t feel that I am at my peak 10k shape, I feel that I am fit enough to run a strong and confident race and that I am exactly where I want to be for the marathon. My coach, Brad Hudson, and I decided to focus on the marathon and just keep our game plan focused on August 24th. So going into the race I hope the pace is fast because I feel I have the best chance at doing well under those circumstances.
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U.S. Olympic Track Trials:
Day 1 Preview

Posted June 27th, 2008 at 3:00 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

TV coverage:
USA, midnight-1 a.m. Friday night / Saturday morning (available in HD format)

USA Today preview

Only two finals are on Friday; the women’s heptathlon (first day) leads off the entire meet, and the women’s 10k caps the day’s events.

I cannot say that I’ve followed the heptathlon as closely as other events, so I will have to defer to Track & Field News. They pick Hyleas Fountain to win, followed by 4time NCAA champ Jacquelyn Johnson and then Diana Pickler. Fountain, the defending national champion, has not competed in a multi this year and has only the third-best qualifying mark. But she took the dreaded fourth spot at the ’04 trials and has been waiting for this moment ever since. Johnson has had a full collegiate season, capped by winning the NCAA in Des Moines just two weeks ago, and cannot possibly be as rested and ready as Fountain.

In the women’s 10k, everyone’s favorite is Shalane Flanagan. She didn’t even consider running this event at the Trials until breaking the American Record in May. Her qualifying time is nearly a minute faster than anyone else’s, and she’s a proven ace both in cross country and shorter track distances. In other words, saving illness or injury, she’s essentially unbeatable.
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Kiplagat Nails Beijing Qualifier Behind Tufa’s 30:38.33 Victory in Nijmegen

Posted June 27th, 2008 at 12:12 PM by Bob Ramsak

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

The third time was a charm for two-time defending world road running champion Lornah Kiplagat.

The Kenyan-born Dutchwoman clocked 31:04.04 in the 10,000m at the Asics Nijmegen Global Athletic meet in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, on Wednesday, well under the Dutch Olympic selection standard of 31:22. She will now join her cousin, Hilda Kibet, on the Beijing squad.

Kiplagat, the world record holder in the half marathon, fell short of the standard at the European Cup 10,000m in Istanbul in April, and dropped out of another race in Utrecht on May 30. She was ill in early June, forced to spend some time in a hospital in Kenya.
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Faces in Races: Flanagan, Goucher & Huddle Lead the Way in Women’s 10,000m

Posted June 27th, 2008 at 11:00 AM by Jared Markowitz

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Shalane Flanagan USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships Medal Winner Shalane Flanagan

Shalane Flanagan enters the 2008 USATF Olympic Trials as the favorite and American Record holder in both the 5000m and the 10000m. Flanagan’s PRs of 14:44.80 and 30:34.49 place her in the company of the world’s elite and demonstrate her ability to medal in this summer’s Olympic Games.

Flanagan began her running career as a high schooler in Marblehead, Massachusetts and had a standout career at the University of North Carolina. As a Tar Heel “Shenanigans” dominated the college ranks, winning two individual NCAA cross country championships and earning 15 All-American certificates. After graduating in 2004 Flanagan signed with Nike and made the U.S. Olympic team in the 5000m. She placed 11th in the semifinals of the Athens Games and continued her success with victories in the 2004 and 2005 USATF 4km XC races and the 2005 USATF outdoor 5000m.
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Dutchwoman Kibet Is First at 37th New York Mini 10-K

Posted June 7th, 2008 at 1:20 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Hilda Kibet Winning 2008 NYRR New York Mini 10-k In hot and sticky conditions, the Netherlands’ Hilda Kibet won the 37th edition of the NYRR New York Mini 10-K, adding her name to the list of stars who have won what is the oldest and most famous all-women’s road race in the world.

Kibet, who just qualified for the Dutch 10,000m team for the Beijing Olympics at a race in Utrecht last Saturday, was in a group of four women through the half-way mark on the winding and hilly course in Central Park (16:12). Kenya’s Everlyne Lagat was the first to fall back from this group, then a little injection of pace in the seventh kilometer put USA marathon record holder Deena Kastor a few steps NYRR New York Mini 10-K Top Competitors behind.

Kibet was then left to battle with Mexico’s Madai Perez for the last two kilometers. With 800m to go Kibet pushed one more time, and it was enough to secure her second New York City road racing victory in her last two starts (she won the NYC Half-Marathon presented by NIKE last August).
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Race Preview: NYRR New York Mini 10k

Posted June 6th, 2008 at 1:30 PM by Stephanie Lowe

Section: News & Results, Olympics, Road Racing

Kastor Lewy-Boulet Russell top three 2008 USA Olympic Women's Marathon Trials In preparation for the August 17 Beijing Olympic Marathon, all three members of the United States women’s team, Deena Kastor, Magdalena Lewy-Boulet and Blake Russell, will race in the NYRR New York Mini 10k. The New York Road Runners event starts in Central Park this Saturday, June 7, at 9:00 a.m. Kastor, Lewy-Boulet and Russell will be joined by some of the world’s top female distance runners, including Aziza Aliyu of Ethiopia, Madaí Pérez of Mexico and Hilda Kibet of the Netherlands.

The New York Mini 10k is exclusively for women and offers prize money ranging from $1,500 to $10,000 for the top five finishers. The race also offers prize money to the top five U.S. athletes ($500 to $5,000) and allows double dipping, which means if an American wins, she will receive $15,000.

Without five-time champion Lornah Kiplagat in the field, Kastor, 35, who won in 2004, will have the odds in her favor for reclaiming the title. However, Kibet, 27, has been training with Kiplagat, her cousin, and recently ran 10000-meter times of 31:01 and 30:55.61.
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BUPA Great Manchester Run Set for Sunday

Posted May 13th, 2008 at 10:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

The BUPA Great Manchester Run boasts the fastest 10-K course in Great Britain and organizers have assembled a top-flight field of athletes to take advantage of it. Elite athletes manager Andy Caine has invited world marathon champion, Luke Kibet of Kenya; seven-time European cross country champion, Sergey Lebid of Ukraine; and former European 10,000m champion, Chema Martinez of Spain, to lead the men’s field.

The women’s field is just as strong, featuring three-time European Cup medalist and defending champion Jo Pavey of Great Britain; two-time world marathon champion, Catherine Ndereba of Kenya; two-time Olympic gold medalist Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia; and road running ace Anikó Kálovics of Hungary, who finished second in Manchester last year.
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Marathon Ace Goumri Added to Healthy Kidney 10-K

Posted May 12th, 2008 at 6:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

One of the world’s top marathon runners, Abderrahim Goumri of Morocco, has been added to the field of next Saturday’s Healthy Kidney 10-K, the New York Road Runners announced today. Goumri, who turns 32 on May 21, was the #2 ranked marathoner in the world last year according to Race Results Weekly, finishing second at both the Flora London and ING New York City Marathons.

“Abderrahim returns to New York and the center stage against this formidable field for another step in a career that has been steadily on the rise the past few years,” said NYRR president and CEO Mary Wittenberg through a prepared statement.

Goumri was added to the field in the wake of defending champion Dathan Ritzenhein’s withdrawal due to injury. The speedy Moroccan hold’s his nation’s record for the marathon which he set last April when he finished third at the Flora London Marathon in 2:05:30. He’s no slouch at the 10 km distance, either, also holding his nation’s 10,000m record of 27:02.62. He’s also run 28:34 on the road.
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