Hall, Runyan Capture USA 20K Titles at New Haven
By Jim Gerweck, Running USA wire
Posted Tuesday, 5 September, 2006
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - (September 4, 2006) - Perhaps Ryan Hall should stick to longer races on the East Coast.
Adding to his USA 12K cross country title that he won in New York last February, Hall, 23, from Palo Alto, Calif. notched his second national championship, this time over 20K on the roads, with an easy, tactical win at the 29th NewAlliance New Haven Road Race on Labor Day.
Hall, an on-again, off-again entrant until early last week, and running only his second road race and longest event in his life, was content to let the long-distance experts do all the work for the first 10 miles of the race before pulling away to a 59:29, 14 second victory over Fernando Cabada, the 2006 USA 25K champ.
"I just tried to be patient and follow everyone else's moves," said the Team Running USA athlete who also took home $7500 as national champion. "It kind of felt like we were fartleking some of the miles - it would speed up, then slow down."
Hall waited until the final climb on the basically flat course to finally go to the front, and when he took the lead things were basically settled. "I pushed the hill then tried to maintain that effort coming down," he said. "A lot of guys will ease off after they crest a hill, so you can open up a lead if you keep pushing."
"We played right into Ryan's wheelhouse," said Andrew Carlson, who finished third, four seconds behind Cabada. "The longer he could sit behind us and follow, the better the odds got for him."
ZAP Fitness' Joe Driscoll, Carlson's Team USA Minnesota teammate Jason Lehmkuhle and late entrant Simon Sawe, a Kenyan who gained U.S. citizenship in June, rounded out the top six, the first five of whom broke an hour under nearly ideal conditions (66F, 70% humidity at the start), the best weather the race has had in five years.
The last time Marla Runyan ran in New Haven (2003) it was cold and rainy and she set a U.S. record of 1:05:52 by nipping Colleen De Reuck at the tape with a come-from-behind victory. This year the weather was better, Runyan, 37, two days and a year after the birth of her first child, daughter Anna, ran slower, but reprised her strategy in overtaking fellow two-time U.S. Olympian Elva Dryer at the 11 mile mark to pull away for an 11 second win in 1:08:28.
Unlike the top two men, the leading women were in the midst of build-ups for autumn marathons, Runyan for the USA Championships at Twin Cities in a month and Dryer for her debut at the distance in Chicago. In the end, it was Runyan's superior track speed that enabled her to erase a lead that had grown to as much as 75 meters by the middle of the race.
"I could sense I was catching Elva, and when I got close I just went past, figuring I'd put all my cards on the table," said Runyan of Eugene, Ore. "I was worried she might tuck right behind and go with me, but fortunately she didn't."
"I had a couple of slow miles where I lost a lot of my lead," said Dryer. "I don't know, maybe I went to sleep a little. I have to work on that for the marathon."
Zoila Gomez overtook Jenny Crain in the closing yards to grab third, with Ann Alyanak and 2004 national 20K champ Turena Johnson Lane rounding out the top six.
Just over 2,000 finished the race, which served as a primary selection event for the IAAF World Road Racing Championships, to be contested over the same distance in Hungary this October.
29th NewAlliance New Haven 20K: USA Championship
New Haven, CT, Monday, September 4, 2006
MEN
1) Ryan Hall, CA, 59:29, $7500
2) Fernando Cabada, VA, 59:43, $4000
3) Andrew Carlson, MN, 59:47, $2500
4) Joe Driscoll, NC, 59:54, $1500
5) Jason Lehmkuhle, MN, 59:55, $1000
6) Simon Sawe, NM, 1:00:00, $800
7) Fasil Bizuneh, CA, 1:00:44, $600
8) Ryan Shay, MI, 1:00:48, $500
9) Chris Graff, VA, 1:01:15, $400
10) Ryan Sheehan, MI, 1:01:30, $200
WOMEN
1) Marla Runyan, OR, 1:08:28, $7500
2) Elva Dryer, NM, 1:08:39, $4000
3) Zoila Gomez, CO, 1:09:04, $2500
4) Jenny Crain, WI, 1:09:08, $1500
5) Ann Alyanak, OH, 1:10:32, $1000
6) Turena Johnson Lane, IN, 1:10:40, $800
7) Alvina Begay, AZ, 1:10:47, $600
8) Heather Hanscom, VA, 1:10:56, $500
9) Erin Newhus, IN, 1:11:03, $400
10) Rachel Kinsman, OH, 1:11:15, $200
Complete results at: www.NewHavenRoadRace.org
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