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Lead Stories: Monday, October 13, 2008

Slattery Wins U.S. Women’s 8-K Title

Posted September 27th, 2008 at 8:00 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Sara Slattery of Lafayette, Colo., won today’s U.S. Women’s 8-K Championship in Akron, Ohio. For the 26 year-old athlete, who won the Pan Am Games 10,000m title in 2007, it was her first ever U.S. open title on any surface.

Slattery went for victory early, sharing the lead with race favorite Katie McGregor. They passed the first mile in 5:05, while a chase pack of eight women, including Amy Rudolph, Molly Huddle, Renee Metivier-Baillie and Lindsey Anderson, kept them in sight. On a gradual uphill in the sixth kilometer, Slattery eased away from McGregor and Metivier-Baillie, who had come up from the chase group, and found herself with a ten meter lead.
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U.S. Women Converge on Akron for 8-K Championship

Posted September 25th, 2008 at 8:45 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Nearly 30 American women have entered the U.S. Women’s 8-K Championship in Akron, Ohio, on Saturday, USA Track & Field reported today. A $23,500 prize money purse is on the line with $7,500 going to the winner.

The top contenders for the title include two-time national 10-K champion Katie McGregor, two-time Olympian Elva Dryer, reigning national 20-K champion Jill Steffens, two-time national 8-K champion Amy Rudolph, Olympic steeplechaser Lindsey Anderson, and former NCAA 10,000m champion Sara Slattery.
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Goucher Kicks Past Flanagan and Rhines for 5,000m Victory

Posted July 5th, 2008 at 1:35 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Image details: U.S. Track and Field Olympic Trials - Day Six served by picapp.com

The women’s 5000m final at the 2008 US Olympic Trials featured a rematch of the top two finishers in the 10,000m (Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher) as well as several other medal threats in the Beijing Games. The race did not disappoint as Goucher stormed past Flanagan and Jen Rhines to claim victory in the last lap.

The race began at a controlled pace as Renee Metivier Baille, Lauren Fleshman, and Molly Huddle took turns leading the pack in the first kilometer, which was reached in 3:08.36. Sensing that her chance at the A standard was slipping away, Stanford alum Arianna Lambie went to the front and led for several laps, reaching the 3k mark in 9:12.68. Her efforts led to a six-person breakaway with Flanagan, Rhines, Goucher, Fleshman, and Sara Slattery in that order. The group continued to click off laps without much rearrangement until American Record holder Shalane Flanagan asserted herself with 1200m to go, breaking up the pack almost instantly.
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Flanagan Edges Goucher in Olympic Trials 10k; Begley’s Strong Finish Earns Third

Posted June 28th, 2008 at 1:00 AM by Jared Markowitz

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

The women’s 10,000m at the 2008 USATF Olympic Trials was billed as a “clash of the titans” and did not disappoint. Heavyweights Shalane Flanagan [Pictured] and Kara Goucher outlasted the field and the muggy conditions to stage an epic battle over the final three laps, with Flanagan using a blistering final quarter to secure the victory. The star of the night, however, was third place finisher Amy Begley. Begley needed the Olympic A Standard to make the team and got just that with a heroic effort that included pacing Flanagan and Goucher for long stretches and closing hard to finish just under the standard.

Going into the race, most people had their eye on the four Americans who had achieved the Olympic A standard (31:45.00): Flanagan (30:34.49), Goucher (31:26.48), Team USA Minnesota’s Katie McGregor (31:37.82) and Molly Huddle of Run Providence (31:27.12). The American Olympic team is comprised of the top three finishers in the Trials race who have also achieved the A Standard, either in that race or in a previous meet. This rule allowed the aforementioned “Big Four” to race for place while the rest of the field needed to worry about keeping the pace honest to achieve their Olympic dreams. The A standard became extremely difficult to attain on this night due to the warm and humid conditions (low 80s with significant humidity).
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Flanagan, Goucher, and Begley Take Charge Through First Half of 10,000m Final

Posted June 28th, 2008 at 12:41 AM by Jared Markowitz

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Background:

The Women’s 10000m at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials will showcase several potential medal winners at this summer’s Beijing Games. Leading the way will be Shalane Flanagan (30:34.49), Kara Goucher (31:26.48), Molly Huddle (31:27.12), and Katie McGregor (31:37.82), all of whom have attained the Olympic A Standard of 31:45. Flanagan holds the American Record in both the 5000m and the 10000m while Goucher took bronze in the 10000m at last summer’s World Championships.

This event will serve as both the USATF National Championship and the qualifying race for the US Olympic Team. The three members of the team will be the top three finishers in this race who have met the Olympic A Standard, either in this race or with a previous effort. Thus the aforementioned “Big Four” will only be focused on place, while others will have to push the pace to make the team. This sets up an interesting dynamic and surely a dramatic race.

Mid-Race Update:

The Women’s 10000m is underway at the 2008 USATF Olympic Trials. The weather in Eugene is a bit warm, with temperatures in the low-80s with significant humidity. The race started at a pedestrian pace with Kara Goucher and Shalane Flanagan leading the field through a relaxed 81 second quarter.
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Star-Studded Meet At Stanford Tomorrow Night

Posted May 4th, 2008 at 11:30 AM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Track & Field

Just 18 miles north of this San Jose suburb, one of the most important meets for distance runners held in the United States will take place at Stanford University. Packed with talent, the Peyton Jordan Cardinal Invitational turns the running industry on its head: top stars actually pay entry fees to compete and there are no appearance fees or cash prizes.

So what’s the draw? Perfect weather for achieving all-important Olympic Games qualifying times. When the sun sets at this time of year in Palo Alto, the winds calm down and the temperature drops, becoming comfortably cool. There is already very low humidity.

The key races are the top sections of the men’s and women’s 5000m and 10,000m, led by double world champion Bernard Lagat. Although he won the world titles last summer at both the 1500m and the 5000m, he doesn’t have an Olympic Games “A” standard time in the longer distance: 13:21.50. Working with other coaches, managers and the New York Road Runners, the men’s 5-K will be set-up by pacemaker Christian Hesch for a 13:10 to 13:20 finish time.
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Kastor Could See Sizeable Payday in Jacksonville Tomorrow

Posted March 7th, 2008 at 1:30 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results

Deena Kastor could see a sizeable payday at tomorrow’s Gate River Run in Jacksonville, Fla., which serves as the U.S. 15-K championships for both men and women.

Already the U.S. record holder for 15-K (47:15), Kastor will be looking for her sixth title in Jacksonville, worth $12,000. However, she may pick up an additional $5000 should she finish ahead of the first man (the elite women are given a five minute headstart). That seems likely given that the men’s field is not as strong as in previous years.
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Flanagan Enters U.S. XC Championships as Favorite

Posted February 15th, 2008 at 4:21 PM by David Monti

Section: News & Results, Cross Country, Track & Field

At last year’s U.S. Cross Country Championships in Boulder, Colo., Shalane Flanagan had high hopes for victory. Her main rival, Deena Kastor, was in the midst of heavy training for the Boston Marathon, and Flanagan had been flying on the track, just setting an American indoor record for 3000m: 8:33.25.

But Boulder’s mile-high altitude played to Kastor’s favor (she was one of the few athletes who actually came down from a higher altitude to race in Boulder), and Flanagan was soundly beaten by about about a minute over the 8 km course.

“Boulder was really tough for me,” said Flanagan recalling the race on a teleconference today. “I felt really ill afterwards. Maybe it was altitude or just the effort of the race. There were a couple times on the course when I literally considered throwing myself off the course. I was completely exhausted and it took me a few days to recover.”
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Douma-Hussar, Slattery to Celebrate the Countdown to 2008 at the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run in Central Park

Posted December 30th, 2007 at 2:00 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Road Racing

Canadian Olympian Carmen Douma-Hussar, Americans Steve and Sara Slattery and defending champions Thomas Morgan and Aziza Aliyu lead a competitive professional field that will ring in the New Year at the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run on Monday, December 31 in Central Park, it was announced by New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.

As a special companion to this year’s event, more than 200 service members stationed in Al Asad, Iraq, will run their own version of the Midnight Run at the stroke of midnight - an eight-hour time difference from New York. This is the first time NYRR has staged this race outside New York. The idea came from Staff Sergeant Jacqueline Caputi of San Diego, who ran in the Midnight Run in 2000 when she lived in Brooklyn and saw it as one of the best ways to start the New Year “with new shoes and fresh soles” underneath her.
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Countdown to 2008 at the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run in Central Park on December 31

Posted December 18th, 2007 at 2:17 PM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results

Canadian Olympian Carmen Douma-Hussar, Americans Steve and Sara Slattery, and defending champions Thomas Morgan and Aziza Aliyu lead a competitive professional field that will ring in the new year at the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run on December 31 in Central Park, it was announced today by New York Road Runners president and CEO Mary Wittenberg.

As a special companion to this year’s event, more than 200 service members stationed in Al Asad, Iraq, will run their own version of the Midnight Run at the stroke of midnight—an eight-hour time difference from New York. This is the first time NYRR has staged this race outside New York. The idea came from Staff Sergeant Jacqueline Caputi of San Diego, who ran in the Midnight Run in 2000 when she lived in Brooklyn and saw it as one of the best ways to start the new year “with new shoes and fresh soles” underneath her.

A Central Park tradition since 1979, the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run is a fun, healthy way to start the new year and an inexpensive option for New Yorkers looking to celebrate the holiday without fighting the crowds in Times Square. For the first time ever in New York, the final 10-second countdown to midnight will have an extra boom: Fireworks by Grucci will produce a special display to conclude 2007.
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