Shay, Johnson Lane Win USA 20K Titles at New Haven
By By Jim Gerweck, Running USA wire
Posted Tuesday, 7 September, 2004
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - (Sept. 6, 2004) - Ryan Shay cemented his credentials as the king of the American "middle distance" road racers and Turena Johnson Lane established hers at the NewAlliance New Haven 20K Road Race, which served as the men and women's national championships.
Shay, 25, who defended his U.S. title at the half-marathon distance this June, added the "metric half" to his resume with a solid win in the first major road event since the conclusion of the Athens Olympics. Shay used the knowledge he's gained from training in Mammoth Lakes, Calif. with Team Running USA teammate Meb Keflezighi, who won the Olympic Marathon silver medal in Athens and set a U.S. record at New Haven last year, to pull away from a strong pack in the final two miles of the race.
"Training with Meb has taught me so much," said Shay. "When I told him one of my goals was to win New Haven, he said 'train with me and I'll show you how'. One of the most important things I've gotten from him is how to recover from your hard training efforts, and I think I came here ready to race."
With almost everyone in the field pointing toward some fall marathon, it wasn't a question of who was fittest, but rather, the most rested. Teddy Mitchell, one of the few non-marathoners, did much of the early pacesetting in the best conditions (cool and dry) the race has ever experienced. A pack of about a dozen stayed with him, and was gradually whittled to nine by the halfway point, which was reached in 29:43. 2000 Olympian Nick Rogers began to push things there, and only Mitchell, Shay, Teren Jameson, Matt Downin and Chris Graff could hang on.
Just before 10 miles, on the one major climb on the course, Rogers fell back with a muscle cramp and as the pack crested the hill, Jameson made the first move, which Shay covered and then met with one of his own.
"My plan was to respond to what the others were doing, but at that point I decided I needed to become proactive," said Shay, a Notre Dame grad.
He motored the last two miles at 4:42 pace to finish in 59:53, holding off the chase by Graff, who had bested him at the Olympic Trials 10,000.
"I could feel my form starting to go with each stride, so I just tried to hang on for second," said Graff, the 2003 USA 10 Mile champion.
Downin, Jameson and Mitchell rounded out the top five.
While Shay came into the men's race as a nominal favorite, the women's field, without defending champ Marla Runyan and former winner Colleen De Reuck, both recuperating from their Olympic efforts, was completely wide open. So it was only mildly surprising when Team USA Minnesota's Dana Coons took the lead at two miles and held it for three miles.
"I was just feeling good, and decided to go for it and see what happened," Coons relayed.
She was joined at five miles by Johnson Lane, whose travels to get to the New Haven were probably more taxing than covering the 20K on foot. First, her flight from Georgia was delayed by Hurricane Frances, and when she finally got out, she missed her connection and had to spend Saturday night in Cincinnati, without her luggage. "I had my carry on toothbrush and that was it," she said.
Johnson Lane and Coons ran together for a few miles before the former began pulling away between eight and nine. "There was no big move or anything," she said. "I just kept holding my pace and Dana gradually dropped off."
Johnson Lane's 68:49 victory in her second run at New Haven was her first in a major road race and first national title. "I've been on the circuit for a few years, but this is obviously my biggest accomplishment."
It also gives her confidence heading into next month's Twin Cities Marathon, as does Shay's run in preparation for November's ING New York City Marathon. "I was looking for this race to tell me how my training is going, what needs tweaking, and basically it shows me that everything's right on track. I just need to keep doing what I'm doing, it's working."
Two significant pending U.S. female age group records were set as well. Debbi Kilpatrick-Morris, who won the USA 25K Championship this year, ran 1:11:39 to take 60 seconds off the 40-44 mark set by Linda Somers Smith here two years ago, and Kathryn Martin lowered her own 50-54 record set here last year by five seconds to 1:17:46.
As a USA Championship, the New Haven 20K is also part of the 2004 USA Running Circuit (USARC), a USA Track & Field road series. With his victory, Shay, the defending men's USARC Grand Prix champion, earned 15 points to move into second place in the standings behind training partner Keflezighi, 54 points to 52. With one women's Circuit race remaining (Tufts 10K on Oct. 11), Colleen De Reuck has secured the GP title for the third straight year. The next men's USARC race is the CVS/pharmacy Downtown 5K on Sept. 12 in Providence, R.I.
27th NewAlliance New Haven 20K: USA Championships
New Haven, CT, Monday, September 6, 2004
MEN
1) Ryan Shay (MI), 59:53, $6000
2) Chris Graff (CA), 1:00:07, $3500
3) Matt Downin (CA), 1:00:10, $2500
4) Teren Jameson (UT), 1:00:16, $1500
5) Teddy Mitchell (NM), 1:00:34, $1000
6) Dave Davis (OR), 1:01:46, $800
7) Justin Young (CO), 1:01:59, $600
8) Nick Rogers (OR), 1:02:08, $500
9) Ryan Meissen (WI), 1:02:12, $400
10) Kevin Collins (NM), 1:02:19, $200
WOMEN
1) Turena Johnson Lane (GA), 1:08:49, $6000
2) Dana Coons (MN), 1:09:13, $3500
3) Jenny Crain (OR), 1:10:58, $2500
4) Liz Wilson (OR), 1:11:10, $1500
5) Rachel Kinsman (OH), 1:11:29, $1000
6) Debbi Kilpatrick-Morris (OH), 1:11:39, $800
7) Heather Tanner (CA), 1:11:46, $600
8) Diana Bowser (MA), 1:12:28, $500
9) Emily Jameson (UT), 1:12:37, $400
10) Melissa White (MI) 1:12:52, $200
For deeper results, visit the race website at: www.newhavenroadrace.org.
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