Torres, Flanagan Win Central Park Challenge
By Jim Gerweck, Running USA wire
Posted Monday, 17 March, 2008
NEW YORK - (March 15, 2008) - Alan Webb's toughest opponent at the USA Men's 8K Championship on a cool Saturday morning turned out to be not Jorge Torres or Andrew Carlson, but the turkey sandwich the 2004 Olympian ate at Thursday's press conference. The turkey won, and as a result, on race day, Webb didn't, as the food poisoning he contracted Thursday evening sapped him of the strength he needed to compete with the nation's best distance runners over 8000 meters (or just under 5 miles).
Webb looked fine through 5K, even dipping at the imaginary line to edge Christian Hesch and put himself in line for the $1500 prime awarded to the first man to cross the timing mat there. But shortly thereafter, it all fell apart, and quickly, for the U.S. record holder in the mile, making his 2008 competitive debut here as he begins his push for the Beijing Olympics.
"I've never felt like that in a race before," said Webb, who actually had to stop for a few seconds to regain enough composure to finish, well back in 16th place. "I was light-headed and kind of dizzy. It's frustrating, because I felt good until then. I was in the mix, and ready to start making some moves toward the finish."
Instead, Webb quickly fell out of contention, leaving the quintet of Torres, Carlson, fresh off his first U.S. title at the Gate River 15K last Saturday, Jason Hartmann, James Carney and Fasil Bizuneh. As the pack climbed Central Park's Cat Hill, Bizuneh and then Carney dropped back, and Hartmann, who had run well on these same roads at last November's Olympic Marathon Trials, took the lead as the road leveled out behind the Metropolitan Museum.
Carlson quickly responded, opening a gap of a few meters, and seemed on his way to winning his second national title in as many weekends, but Torres, who won this national championship in 2005 when it was held on Randall's Island, soon joined him up front, leaving Hartmann behind.
With 400 meters to go, Torres, 27, began to drive for the finish, pulling ahead by a meter or two, but Carlson had one more bullet left in his arsenal.
"I thought it was pretty much over with 400 to go, but then I saw he wasn't pulling away, so I gave it one last run," said the Team USA Minnesota runner.
In the end, he closed the gap to seven-tenths of a second, but Torres came away with the win, however narrow. Both were given the same 22:42 time, with Hartmann six seconds back.
"My training's been going really well, and my confidence has been strong," said the U.S. champion, noting that he's received a lot of advice from former marathon world record holder and fellow Boulder resident Steve Jones. "This gives me a good race before World Cross Country [March 30] and then I'll come back and start training for the Olympic Trials and hopefully a top three finish."
In addition to the $10,000 first prize purse and the national title, Torres' win here extended his unbeaten streak against Webb to 9-0. "I guess that's true," he said, while quickly noting he's never raced Webb at a mile or 1500.
The women's Central Park Challenge, which followed the men's race by 40 minutes, wasn't a national championship, but proved to be a coronation march for 2004 Olympian Shalane Flanagan, who caught a milder dose of the stomach problems that afflicted Webb as well.
Taking the lead from the start, Flanagan simply cruised to a 25 minute, 40 second win, with Katie McGregor, duplicating her Team USA Minnesota teammate's runner-up finish, 16 seconds back. McGregor held her position the entire race, as did Molly Huddle, who finished third in 26:07.
The real battle was for the next three spots, with two-time Olympian Amy Rudolph, who's been training with Huddle in Tallahassee this winter, grabbing fourth, three seconds ahead of Canadian Carmen Douma-Hussar and Flanagan's training mate, Erin Donohue. Those two crossed the line in a photo finish, with Douma-Hussar prevailing by inches.
For Flanagan, the run wasn't so much a race as "a good strong workout, like a fast tempo run," she said. "I just kind of got in a groove and rolled."
Flanagan, 26, who won last month's USA Cross Country Championships by a huge margin, will switch venues once again for her next competition, pointing for a fast 10,000 meter track time at Stanford in May. "I think racing in Scotland [the site of the World Cross meet] could take a lot of recovery time, and in an Olympic year, I just want to be extra careful."
Indeed, as Beijing draws closer and becomes more of a tangible reality, the athletes who showed their stuff on the roads of Central Park on Saturday showed that they're on track to continue the strong showing American distance runners had in Osaka last year.
Central Park Challenge 8K: USA Men's Championship
New York, NY, Saturday, March 15, 2008
MEN
1) Jorge Torres (CO), 22:42, $10,000
2) Andrew Carlson (MN), 22:42, $7000
3) Jason Hartmann (OR), 22:48, $5000
4) James Carney (CO), 22:53, $3500
5) Fasil Bizuneh (AZ), 23:03, $2500
6) Christian Hesch (CA), 23:04, $3000*
7) Tim Nelson (WI), 23:05, $1250
8) Josh Moen (IA), 23:14, $900
9) Ryan Kirkpatrick (CO), 23:21, $800
10) Macharia Yuot (PA), 23:21, $700
11) Paul Jellema (MI), 23:21, $600
12) Jonathan Pierce (NC), 23:22, $500
13) Ryan Sheehan (MI), 23:24, $400
14) Mike Hanlon (AZ), 23:27, $200
15) Brad Lowery (MN), 23:31, $150
*includes $1500 5K prime
WOMEN
1) Shalane Flanagan (NC), 25:40, $11,500*
2) Katie McGregor (MN), 25:56, $7000
3) Molly Huddle (RI), 26:07, $5000
4) Amy Rudolph (RI), 26:25, $3500
5) Carmen Douma-Hussar (CAN), 26:28, $2500
6) Erin Donohue (NC), 26:28, $1500
7) Firehiwot Tesfaye (ETH), 26:32, $1250
8) Liliya Shobukhova (RUS), 26:34, $900
9) Aziza Aliyu (ETH), 26:44, $800
10) Julia Lucas (CA), 26:46, $700
11) Melissa Cook (TX), 26:47, $600
12) Lyudmila Biktasheva (RUS), 26:48, $500
13) Cack Ferrell (OR), 26:49, $400
14) Carrie Tollefson (MN), 26:54, $200
15) Carrie Messner-Vickers (CO), 27:14, $150
*includes $1500 5K prime
Complete results at: www.NYRR.org
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