(C) Copright - 2008 - Christopher Kelsall

Constantina Dita (previously Tomescu-Dita) grew up on a farm surrounded by hills and the Romanian Carpathian Mountains. She would spend much time outside running for fun, chasing livestock, being free during the Nicolae Ceausescu communist dictatorship.

At the age of 19, she was too busy in sport to notice her hero, middle-distance runner Maricica Puica speak out on television in favor of the revolutionaries in their attempt to overthrow the government of the day.

Constantina had Olympic dreams.

As it turns out, Constantina Dita, is the first European woman to win the Olympic marathon since Russian, Valentina Yegorova won in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.

August 17th, 2008 in Beijing, China, Constantina became the oldest Olympic marathon gold medalist. The previous oldest had been the legendary Carlos Lopes of Portugal who won the men's marathon in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics at the age of 37. Rosa Mota, also from Portugal, previously was the oldest women's winner at the age of 30 in the 1988 Seoul, Korea Olympics.

Constantina has performed in the marathon at a world-class level for nearly a decade with at least 22 major event finishes under 2:38 and 15 in the 2:20 range. She has a marathon personal best 2:21:30 accomplished at the 2004 LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon.

She is an Asics - sponsored athlete working with Brenden Reilly of Boulder Wave, Inc, an athlete management firm located in Boulder, Colorado. Boulder Wave Inc. represents a stunning group of long-distance runners from around the world. In terms of quality athletes, Dita is in very good company.

The Interview

CK: Constantina, you were born in Turburea in Gorj County; did you grow up there too? Did you spend much time as a child running on the hills and mountains that surround the area?

CD: Yes, I was born and grew up in the village of Turburea. As a child I spent much of my time running after the cattle and pigs we kept on the farm in the surrounding hills, but of course that was not for training, (she laughs) that came later. 

CK: Chasing after cattle and pigs as a child is training of course. It is like the east African lifestyle where you build a strong cardio-vascular system running for pleasure or transportation.  

CD: Yes, working on the farm certainly made me strong and I learnt to live a disciplined lifestyle at a young age. 

CK: Did you ever climb the 2527 meter Vârful Moldoveanu.

CD: Oh no, that was very far from where I lived when I was young. However, when I was staying at a running camp in Piatra Arsa, for training we would run to Varful Omu. I have never been all the way up to the peak of Varful Moldoveanu, perhaps one day when I retire I will have time to go up and enjoy the area.

CK: You were a handball player; what level did you get to and how did you come to running.

CD: I played handball in my class in High School, so I didn’t get to a professional level. My dream was always to run. In my last year of school my sports teacher put me in a race with the guys in my class. I beat them all (she laughs), and from there I went to Targu-Jiu to run for the county. I came in third, was selected to do more intense training, and I continued on from there.

CK: When beating all the boys in high school: On two levels you were breaking boy’s hearts. Did you crush many egos? 

CD:  Well, like I said I worked hard and was stronger than many of the boys my age. Now when I go back home I often see the same guys, now grown men of course. They always say, "Do you remember when you beat us all?"  We have a good laugh about it.

The Beijing Olympic Marathon

CK: I notice the media is now referring to you as the ‘world’s greatest Romanian athlete’, which sounds wonderful, but it is no different than saying ‘Romania’s greatest athlete’. Perhaps this is an indication of the quality of your Beijing marathon effort and the media is simply in awe of it.

After all of your excellent race performances, do you consider Beijing as your very best marathon?

CD: Well, we had four girls from Romania win gold medals this year. The marathon, however, is a very popular event and one of the oldest traditions in Olympic history, so perhaps this is why it has gotten so much attention and the media are saying this about me.

I would definitely say it is my best performance because for me running for the gold medal in the Olympics is the most important thing. This race is what I am training and striving to win so I put my all into it.

CK: In Beijing, when you broke from the front to run alone for much of the second half of the race, it appeared you had made your decision well in advance of taking your place on the start line; knowing the downhill second half. Was that the plan going in?

CD: Yes my coach and I discussed a plan before the race. As the weather was good we decided if no one else pulls away, I would make my move from halfway, set the pace, and push ahead. 

CK: I kept waiting for Catherine Ndereba to break away and close the gap much earlier. Were you surprised by her decision to not make a move.

CD: Yes I was quite surprised when I began pulling away from the group because nobody came with me.

On Training

CK: You seem to run quite a few marathons, do you consider yourself a peaker or do you try to keep fairly race fit, all year.

CD:  I think I am more of a peaker and the times I aim for top fitness are when I am competing in London, Chicago, the World Championships, and the Olympic Games. Last year, instead of Chicago it was New York. Usually I take a lot of rest time between the big races. 

CK: What would a typical training week look like for you.

CD:     Mon   – AM 15K, PM 10K
           Tues  -  AM 15 to 20K running in the mountains, PM  10K
           Wed  -  AM interval training, PM 8K
           Thur  -  AM long run (35-40K), PM rest
           Fri      - AM 15-20K running in the mountains, PM 10K
           Sat    -  AM intervals, PM 8K
           Sun    - AM long run, PM rest

CK: Apart from knowing how hard you run the intervals on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, this sample week appears to be a base week. How close do you get to a marathon before you drop the quantity and bring more quality in. 

CD: During my first month of training I do more mileage as a base. Two months before the race I really make the training more about quality.  I do more interval training to build speed. Two weeks before the race I reduce my mileage considerably and take lots of rest.

Personal bests

5000m - 15:28 - 2000
10, 000m - 31:49 - 2006
Half Marathon - 1:08:10 - 2002

Marathon Record

Olympic Marathon, Beijing  1st  - 2:26:44 - 2008
Flora London Marathon  8th  - 2:27:45 - 2008
Osaka International Ladies Marathon  9th  - 2:28:15 - 2008
Flora London Marathon  3rd  - 2:23:55 - 2007
LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon  5th  - 2:24:25 - 2006
Flora London Marathon  7th  - 2:27:51 - 2006
LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon  2nd - 2:21:30 - 2005
World Championships Marathon  3rd  - 2:23:19 - 2005
Flora London Marathon  2nd  - 2:22:50 - 2005
LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon  1st  - 2:23:45 - 2004
Olympic Marathon, Athens  20th -  2:37:31 - 2004
Flora London Marathon  3rd - 2:26:52 - 2004
LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon  2nd - 2:23:35 - 2003
Flora London Marathon  6th - 2:23:43 - 2003
Singapore Marathon  1st - 2:36:06 - 2002
Amsterdam Marathon  2nd - 2:23:54 - 2002
Los Angeles Marathon  4th - 2:33:58 - 2002
Tokyo Women's Marathon  4th - 2:26:39 - 2001
Belgrade Marathon  2nd - 2:33:30 - 2001
World Championships Marathon  10th - 2:30:38 - 2001
Istanbul Marathon  2nd - 2:37:57 - 2000
World Championships Marathon  19th - 2:36:28 - 1999

She is currently the Romanian national road record holder for the 5k, 10k, 15k, Half Marathon and the Marathon.

CK: Do you have any sporting heroes?

CD: Ah yes, *Maricica Puica. When I was young I would watch her on TV. I saw her compete in the Olympic Games and the World Championships. My dream was to be like her and one day compete in the Olympic Games, and my dream came true. Her events were different from mine. She ran the 1500m and 2000m, but she inspired me to keep running. 

CK: Maricica ran well in cross country too. What are your feelings on the importance of cross country racing for a track or road runner? 

CD: I ran cross country and track and field before I was a road runner. I came 2nd place in 1999 in the European Championships and 10th and 14th in the World Championships. Starting out my running career doing cross country greatly improved my muscle strength, training in the mud and running hills. However, I found that running on the track gave me pain, due to the repetitive circular motion. Recently running on dirt trails was giving me tendonitis in my shins. Now I stick with road racing. It seems to work best for me.   

CK: Are we going to see you race IAAF World Cross and IAAF World Championships in Berlin? 

CD: I am planning on competing in the IAAF World Championships in Berlin. That is if I am healthy. You never know, but I certainly hope to be.   

CK: All the best in your upcoming races. 

CD: Thank you very much.

*Maricica Puica was a Romanian middle distance runner who won gold during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in the 3000m.

 

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Contact Chris: chriskelsall@flocasts.org