US Men Finish Marathon Strong, Still Hungry

BEIJING - Under sunny skies and temperatures in the 80s, Dathan Ritzenhein, Ryan Hall, and Brian Sell finished 9^th, 10^th, and 22^nd, respectively, in the men's marathon behind Kenya's Samuel Wansiru who brought Kenya its first men's Olympic marathon gold medal in 2:06.32. None of the Americans set personal records, but they felt they gave their best effort and looked forward to improving for the next two Olympics.

Ritzenhein, who ran 2:11.59 (53 seconds slower than his personal best), said, "The pace was ridiculous. I couldn't believe [the leaders] went out that fast."

Wansiru covered the first 5km in 14:52.

"I just tried to hold together as much as possible," Ritzenhein said. "Everything held through 25 kilometers then I started cramping like crazy. It started with my left calf - really intensely - then moved up to my hamstring and over to my right calf. I tried to change my stride and tried not to push off with my calves. I tried to use my quads as much as possible because they were the only parts that felt good."

Ritzenhein said he knew he was leading the US team because he could see the lead pack through 25km. "I knew Ryan was close at one point because I could hear cheers of ‘Ryan! Ryan!' I knew everybody [from the US] was still in the race because they didn't pull any [water] bottles off," he said.

As the only Olympic veteran on the US men's marathon team, Ritzenhein said his Athens experience in the 10,000 meters didn't compare. "That was the only race I've dropped out of and that wasn't really an option today. I couldn't even think about that again."

In late February, Ritzenhein sustained a stress fracture in a metatarsal bone in his left foot. He didn't start running again until the last week of May. "To be able to pull together like that in 12 weeks, I'm happy."

"Ninth at the Olympics is a big step for me. Next time around, I hope to keep climbing the ladder," he said.

Hall (2:12.33) was also affected by the fast early pace but, he said, "My plan was to be ready for everything. I was hoping to go to be in front and make a move. But they were moving at 3 minutes per ‘K' and I thought it wouldn't have been good for me to go faster. I was plenty fast. A 2:06 pace put me off in the back [early on]. I knew I couldn't run any faster. If I had a great day, I thought I'd run 2:08." 

Although it was the first time since 1976 that two American men finished in the top 10 of an Olympic marathon Hall said, "Things have changed a little bit" since Frank Shorter and Don Kardong took second and fourth.

Hall felt the Americans' 9-10 finish in Beijing was respectable but "isn't quite as good as 2 and [12]," referring to Meb Keflezighi's silver medal and Alan Culpepper's finish at the 2004 Athens Games.

Beijing marked Hall's third marathon in the past 12 months, and although he felt he recovered "really well" after running a personal best (2:06.17) in London this spring, he said, "I'm going to take a break. I need to work on some things to be competitive with these guys," but did not elaborate.

Sell, Ritzenhein's roommate in Beijing, said, "I was right where I wanted to be through 35km. I wanted to be 3:08 per K. I think I ran the first three in 3:05 and [the leaders] were already a quarter mile ahead of me. I think I was 60^th or so at the halfway point, so I narrowed the gap."

Sell placed 22^nd among the 76 finishers in 2:16.07 (9 minutes, 35 seconds behind Wansiru. "The only thing that kept me going," Sell said, "was that it was the Olympics. Coming in to the stadium, I got to see all the people, but I just wanted to get around [the track to the finish]."

Teammates Ritzenhein and Hall were already cooling down when Sell passed them with 400 meters to go. Sell said he didn't hear their cheers but "having teammates like that you don't want to let them down. I wanted to save face."