Athletes across the world are readying themselves for the World Championships in Berlin this August. And results from the qualifying trials show that this year’s event will be full of excitement and great athletic challenges.
Eugene: Fireworks!
Kara Goucher prevailed in the women’s 5,000m in Eugene. © www.photorun.net
The results in the middle and long distances at The US trials in Eugene were a testimonial that the US team is already well prepared for the World Championships in Berlin. With the fans of track and field supporting all their athletes from the favorites to the rising stars, everyone enjoyed the excitement and athleticism as the nearby statue of former legendary University of Oregon Coach Bill Bowerman provided inspiration. With several weeks remaining for training and preparation, the winning athletes will have time to fine tune for Berlin.
The third place finisher at the Boston Marathon, Kara Goucher, wasn’t even expected to run at the U.S. Track and Field Championships in Eugene. Already committed to join the marathon team at the World Championships in Berlin in August, Goucher surprised everyone by entering the women’s 5,000-meter race.
Goucher ended up running a very tactical race, as she held back during the early stages. When three-time Olympian Jen Rhines threw down the gauntlet with three laps remaining, Goucher stuck right on her heels. At the bell lap, Goucher, the 2007 World Championship 10,000m bronze medalist, demonstrated her trademark blazing kick and surged ahead of Rhines. Goucher won the race in 15:20.94 minutes. Rhines finished in second with 15:26.92, while Angela Bizzarri finished third in 15:33.02. “My race went exactly to plan,” said an elated Goucher afterwards.
Sara Hall, wife of Boston Marathon third place finisher Ryan Hall, ran a very courageous race. She was step by step with the leaders until the last mile, but despite her determination, the final laps and the fierce competition proved too much for Sara this time and she ended up finishing in 18th place in 16:54.94.
The women’s 10,000m event turned out to be a surprise. Amy Begley won in 31:22.69 over the pre-race favorite, Shalane Flanagan (31:23.43). As they went into the last 200m, Flanagan surged to take the lead, but Begley responded and drew clear of her rival in the home straight. “‘Don’t think too much, just run,’ was what my husband said to me before the race,” explained Amy Begley later.
Flanagan talked about what’s ahead of her. “I still have some work to do before I’m in top form for the World Championships,” she said.
KIMbia’s Matt Tegenkamp triumphed in the men’s 5,000m with a sprint finish in 13:20.57, 25 hundreds of a second ahead of fellow KIMbia runner Chris Solinsky (13:20.82). Evan Jager finished third in 13:22.18. Anthony “Fam” Famiglietti, the pre-race favorite, led the race at the beginning, but ended up placing 8th overall in 13:33.63.
University of Oregon’s Galen Rupp served further notice that he intends to be the future of American distance running by winning the men’s 10,000m. Rupp opened a gap on his rivals with a long kick for home with 500 meters left, winning in 27:52.53 from Dathan Ritzenhein (27:58.59) and Tim Nelson (28:01.34).
In one of the biggest hyped races of the championships, Jenny Barringer took on Anna Willard in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase event Sunday afternoon. Though she was qualified to run both the 1500m and 5,000m events, Barringer focused her efforts to run the steeple. This decision paid off.
Early in the race Barringer opted to take the lead. Then she decided to test her competition and pushed the pace, gaining separation from the second and third place runners as her strategy worked. She crossed the finish line in 9:29.38, with Willard second in 9:35.01, and Bridget Franek third in 9:36.74.
Afterwards, Barringer discussed the challenging racing conditions. “It was really windy out there so I wanted to take command of the race from the beginning and I wanted to race at my ability level and just see who came along. I’m really happy with how it went and I couldn’t ask for a better day.”
The American marathon squad at the World Championships was announced before the Trials. In addition to Kara Goucher, Desiree Davila, Paige Higgins, Zoila Gomez and Tera Moody will run in Berlin. The men’s team is comprised of Dan Browne, Nate Jenkins, Justin Young, Fernando Cabada and Matt Gabrielson.
Kenya: Linet Masai and KIMbia’s Lineth Chepkurui Qualify for Worlds
Linet Masai capitalizes on her success at the Kenyan National Championships. © www.photorun.net
Linet Masai continued her streak of strong performances at the Kenyan Trials this weekend by winning the 10,000m at the national championships in Nairobi with a time of 32:49.3. She placed ahead of the runner-up, KIMbia’s Lineth Chepkurui, who finished in 32:57.3. Both Masai and Chepkurui gained automatic selection for the World Championships in Berlin this August. The third slot on the team will be decided by the Kenyan national selection committee. Philes Ongori took third place in 33:04.1 while Peninah Arusei was fourth in 33:16.9.
“I’m delighted to have won and made sure I was in the team for Berlin,” Masai said afterwards. “The tempo was a bit slow, but I didn’t find that a problem.” Last month, Masai upset Ethiopia’s Olympic champion, Tirunesh Dibaba, in the 5,000m at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York. Masai now plans a series of shorter races in Europe to work on her speed.
Second place for Lineth Chepkurui was an astonishing performance since right before the race she was having medical treatment on an injured ankle. “I can’t believe I’ve come in second,” said a surprised Chepkurui. “Yesterday I wasn’t even sure I could run at all.”
The first four finishers in the men’s 10,000m all went under the World Championship “A” standard of 27:47. The winner was Sammy Kitwara in 27:44.46 after marathon specialist Leonard Mucheru had set much of the pace. Matthew Kisorio then took over the lead before Kitwara surged ahead in the latter stages of the race.
Second place went to Gideon Ngatuny in 27:44.7. Along with the winner, Ngatuny also gained selection for the Kenyan World Championship team. Bernard Kipyego (27:44.80) and Moses Masai (27:44.88) finished third and fourth respectively. The Kenyan national selection committee will choose between these two for the third World Championship slot.
“That was tough, winning a place on the Kenyan team,” said an excited Sammy Kitwara. “I’ve tried and missed out for the past two years. Now I’ve done it, but I’m far from finished. My goal is to show what I can do at the World Championships in Berlin.”
In the absence of the world 800m champion, Alfred Kirwa Yego, who has secured an automatic slot on the team, the 20-year-old David Rudisha won the 800m in 1:47.1.
The 2004 Olympic steeplechase champion, Ezekiel Kemboi, was allowed to run in the final despite being initially disqualified in the heats. But it wasn’t to be his lucky day. Over a lap to go before the finish, Kemboi fell at the water jump and was unable to continue. Olympic bronze medalist Richard Mateelong in 8:14.2 won the race, finishing ahead of Elijah Chelimo (8:19.8) and Abel Mutai (8:23.4). Kemboi was fortunate that only places for the 10,000m were definitely decided this weekend. The trials for the other events will be held in Nairobi at the end of June.
Joseph Kitur won the 5,000m in 13:47.0, while Mercy Cherono took the women’s title in 15:46.74. The 5,000m specialist, Vivian Cheruiyot, ran the 1,500m, winning in 4:07.66.
Seattle: Berhane Adere Wins Inaugural Half Marathon
Berhane Adere of Ethiopia won the Seattle Half Marathon on Saturday in 71:19. In this inaugural event which also incorporated a full marathon, the entry limit of 25,000 runners had been reached several weeks beforehand, and over 20,000 finished the race.
“It’s a good feeling to have won a race again,” said Adere. “It’s been quite a while since I did. I hope this is the first of a few more wins.” The 35-year-old former 10,000m world champion (2003) stayed close to her strongest rival, Nuta Olaru of Romania, for much of the race in Seattle. Adere surged and took the lead with two kilometers to go to the finish. She crossed the line in 71:19, well clear of the Romanian who finished in 71:43. Finishing third was Isley Gonzalez (USA/1:20:14).
“I felt good during the race and knew I had enough finishing speed to win,” said Berhane Adere, who won the Chicago Marathon in 2006 and 2007. “I shall now return to Ethiopia and prepare for my next marathon.”
In the men’s race, Kenyan, Elija Nyabuti, won in 65:14 ahead of the American Pat Rizzo (65:34).
Belgium: Miyazato of Japan and USA’s Semick Are 100km Champions
Yasukazu Miyazato of Japan and the American Kami Semick won the 23rd edition of the IAAF World Cup 100km which was held in the Belgian town of Torhout last week. The team titles were won by the Japanese men and the American women. The winners of the European Championship, held in conjunction, were Jonas Buud of Sweden and Irina Vishnevskaya of Russia. In this competition, the men’s team title was won by Italy and Russia took the women’s top honors.
The race was incorporated into the 30th edition of the “Night At Flanders” which attracted national teams to Belgium. The race began at 8p.m. which meant the athletes ran through the night. Miyazato finished in 6:40:43, followed by Jonas Buud (Sweden) and Giorgio Calcaterra (Italy), who clocked 6:41:49 and 6:42:04 respectively.
The American Kami Semick was the fastest woman finisher in 7:37:23, fully justifying her role of pre-race favorite. Irina Vishnevskaya, (Russia) who finished fourth last year, was second in 7:46:25. As in 2007, Monica Carlin (Italy) took third place in 7:53:57. Carlin had taken the lead in the early stages but Semick went to the front from 40km and did not relinquish the lead after that.
