Track And Field News
Discuss (4 comments)April 21, 2008
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22-yr old Dire Tune Wins closest Boston Marathon in History In the closest race in the 112 year history of the Boston marathon, 22-yr old Dire Tune of Ethiopia defeated Russia’s 25-yr old stallion Alevtina Bikitimrova. Tune crossed the line in 2:25:21 and became the youngest Boston champion since 21-yr old American Joan Benoit Samuelson won the race in 1979. Tune and Biktimirova traded the lead in dramatic fashion throughout the final 800m; each matching then other’s surge just when you thought they would be down and out. Tune ultimately proved to be too strong; taking off with 100m to go, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Biktimrova and collapsing the the after brekaing the tape. |
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In Boston Cheruiyot Defends and Tune Wins Dramatic Sprint IN BOSTON CHERUIYOT DEFENDS & TUNE WINS DRAMATIC SPRINT By David Monti (c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved BOSTON (21-Apr) -- Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot won his fourth Boston Marathon and Dire Tune her first in a memorable 112th edition of America's oldest and most historic marathon race. Cheruiyot, the 29 year-old Kenyan who is the reigning World Marathon Majors champion, made a run at his own course record, leading a pack of six through the half-way in a brisk 1:03:07. Compatriots James Kwambai and James Mwangi Macharia joined him along with Moroccan Abderrahime Bouramdane and Ethiopians Kasime Adillo and Tesfaye Girma. "As usual the course was very difficult and I tried to push harder this year to achieve my personal goal of running a 2:07," said Cheruiyot. With a 4:37 19th mile, Cheruiyot dropped his last three rivals: Bouramdane, Kwambai and Adillo. Running in cool temperatures, but under brightened skies, the tall Kenya's pace finally began to slow. Through mile 24 he was still on a 2:07:03 pace but visibly laboring. He would make it to the finish line on Boyleston Street about half a minute outside of his own record. Nonetheless, his finish time of 2:07:46 was still the third fastest winning time ever in Boston. Part of Cheruiyot's objective today was to impress Kenyan selectors and earn a berth on the Beijing Olympic team. "They will select one of the athletes from Boston," Cheruiyot explained. "I am hoping all will be selected. I will produce a good race if selected." Behind Cheruiyot, Bouramdane had a rough second half, but still finished second in 2:09:04, well off of his 2:08:20 personal best. Bouramdane's compatriot, Khalid El Boumlili, passed four other athletes in the second half to take third in 2:10:35, setting a personal best. Kwambai, who was second in Boston last year, faded to eighth. TUNE WINS CLOSEST WOMEN'S RACE HERE EVER Tune, the 22 year-old Ethiopian who won the Chevron Houston Marathon just 93 days ago, looked fresh as a daisy after an easy first half of 1:14:46. The same pack of ten women who broke away just after the starter's gun in the all-women's elite race were still together, including defending champion Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia, two-time ING New York City Marathon champion Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia, and 2006 Boston champion Rita Jeptoo of Kenya. The pack was still mostly intact through 25-K (15.5 mi.), but in the next 5 km Prokopcuka and Grigoryeva were dropped, leaving Tune with only Jeptoo and little known Russian Alevtina Biktimirova in serious contention. "Even before coming to Boston, I was confident that I could win the Boston Marathon," said Tune after the race. "From the beginning to the end of the race, my training and performance helped me to finish strong." If only her competitors knew HOW strong. With help from Biktimirova, Jeptoo was soon dropped, and for the last 10 km of the race the sturdy Russian and the wispy Ethiopian pushed each other to the final kilometer on Boyleston Street. The two traded surges in front of the roaring crowds, each seeming to take the lead for good before being caught. Tune was confident. "Once I saw the finish line I was certain that I would finish first," she said. And so it was. Tune took the lead for good with about 100 meters to go and Biktimirova, the 2007 Honolulu Marathon Champion, finished two seconds adrift of Tune, 2:25:25 to 2:25:27. That was the closest women's finish ever in the history of the Boston Marathon. Tune, who became the youngest women's Boston champion since Joan Benoit Samuelson in 1979 who was 21, covered the second half of the race in a sparkling 1:10:40 to Biktimirova's 1:10:43. "I am happy to win in Boston," said Tune who, like Cheruiyot, won $150,000. Jeptoo hung on for third in 2:26:34, while Prokopcuka finished fourth in 2:28:12. There was some discussion after the race that Prokopcuka's manager had protested the result based on the belief that Jeptoo had taken at least one of Prokopcuka's drink bottles in the latter stages of the race. A spokesman for the Boston Athletic Association, Marc Chalufour, said that there was no official protest and the order of finish was not altered. The top American finisher was Nicholas Arciniaga, 24, of Rochester Hills, Mich., part of the Hansons team. He clocked 2:16:13 off of a 1:07:00 first half to take 10th place. The top American woman was Ashley Anklam, 22, of Bloomington, Minn., who did not compete in yesterday's Olympic Trials. She finished 15th in 2:48:43. American Wendy Terris, who finished 109th in yesterday's Trials, clocked 3:03:18 in today's race. |
Speed River Impresses at Mt. Sac
Three races, three lifetime bests, and two near misses of Olympic Standards punctuated an exceptional meet for the Speed River Track and Field Club at the Mt SAC.
Milne named to represent Canada at Penn Relays
Taylor Milne of the Speed River Track and Field Club will represent Canada running the mile leg of the dmr at the prestigious Penn Relays.
Stellingwerff pushes towards Olympic dream
Canadian 1500 meter champion Hilary Stellingwerff pushes towards her Olympic dream in Beijing.
Stellingwerff Cover Girl on debut issue of Canadian Running Magazine
Canadian 1500 meter champion Hilary Stellingwerff is featured on the first cover of Canadian Running Magazine.
Discuss (0 comments)April 20, 2008WITH COMEBACK RUN, KASTOR WINS OLYMIC TRIALS MARATHON
WITH COMEBACK RUN, KASTOR WINS OLYMIC TRIALS MARATHON By David Monti (c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved BOSTON (20--Apr) -- Keeping her cool after Magdalena Lewy-Boulet had built up a one minute and 56 second lead through the 14th mile, Olympic bronze medalist Deena Kastor zipped through the second half to win today's USA Olympic Team Trials - Women's Marathon in 2:29:35. For Kastor it was her third Olympic team berth and her second as a marthoner. "It was a tough race," Kastor told NBC Sports' Ed Eyestone after the race. "I was panicking out there." Kastor's panic was caused by Lewy-Boulet's brave front run which began right from the Boyleston Street starting line in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood. Although Lewy-Boulet was not running particularly fast, around a 2:30 marathon finish time, the pack did not chase her. By the 14th mile, her lead had fattened to nearly two minutes. "I was a little but surprised and confused when nobody went with me," said Lewy-Boulet. She said she planned to run an even pace because she didn't have the fitness to "drop a 1:12 second half like Deena." Lewy-Boulet was consistently running miles in the low 5:40's, and sometimes faster. But a 5:57 for the 21st mile signaled that she was tiring. Kastor, surged away from the chase pack and was quickly closing in on Lewy-Boulet, gaining as much as 15 seconds per mile. "Doubts go through your mind out there," said Kastor who knew she needed to get her legs going, soon, in order to insure victory. Nearly two hours and 16 minutes into the race, Kastor caught Lewy-Boulet in the 24th mile. Running 5:35 miles to the finish line, Kastor won easily, waving a small American flag and blowing kisses to the crowds along the finish straight. "The crowds at Boston never disappoint," she said. Lewy-Boulet easily held on for second place, to set a personal best 2:30:19 and make her first Olympic team. The Polish-born athlete, who became a U.S. citizen on 9/11/2001, the day of the terrorist attacks in New York City, was bursting with emotion. "It's a dream come true," she said, her voice cracking. Shaking off the jinx of finishing fourth in 2004, Blake Russell finished a solid third in 2:32:40, making her first Olympic team. "Redemption, finally!" she exclaimed. The U.S. will send an all-California women's marathon team to Beijing as Kastor (Mammoth Lakes), Lewy-Boulet (Oakland) and Russell (Pacific Grove) all live in the Golden State. ENDS
Discuss (0 comments)April 19, 2008A Novice Is Hoping to Make the Team
Kate O’Neill has run one marathon in her life. In some ways it was a disaster. In other ways it was a huge success. Her second marathon will be on Sunday in Boston at the United States Olympic trials for women, and she is hoping to finish in the top three and qualify for the United States team in Beijing.
Discuss (0 comments)April 17, 2008
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Oregon, UCLA Having a Dual Meet This Weekend Track and field athletes from across the nation are lining up to make the pilgrimage to Hayward Field this year. |
Changing Speeds to Go the Distance
SARA HALL experienced an instructive epiphany in 2006. In the fall, she’d won the national road-running championship for 5K (3.1 miles), a distance she specialized in at Stanford. At the time, she considered herself a 5K runner. So did everyone else. A few weeks later, everything changed when she won the Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, a glamour event in American road racing. “Afterward, I thought, ‘That’s my distance,’ †she said. “It plays to my strengths. I loved the fast pace. I’m not a patient runner.†Today, Hall, 25, is laser-focused on training for the 1,500 meters (0.93 mile) in hopes of making the United States Olympic team in middle distance running.
Discuss (0 comments)April 16, 2008
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Wedgie proof (Australian Olympic team uniforms) Australian hurdler Sally McLellan is just happy that her green Olympic briefs were "wedgie" proof. World champion Jana Rawlinson is satisfied because the high-cut one-piece in which she hopes to win Olympic gold covers her post-baby "tummy". The female stars of the Australian track team headlined the Olympic uniform launch yesterday and the cut of the lycra was the buzz under the Big Top at Luna Park. "I won't get a wedgie, I don't think," McLellan said. "That's what all sprinters want ... it can be really uncomfortable wearing briefs that go right up your butt. It's really annoying, but I feel these are pretty good." |
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Interview with Jordan Boase of Washington... Jordan Boase of the University of Washington broke the school record in the 400m set by Ja'Warren Hooker in 2000, when Boase ran 44.82 on April 12th at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Arizona. What makes this story even more remarkable is that Boase, a product of Bothell High School, took the entire 2006-07 season off. |
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New mother Ritzenhein makes her Pear debut a success With Daddy Dathan Taking Care of Child, Kalin Ritzenhein Wins 10 Mile in 1 Hr |
