Posted: January 4, 2006

Athletics: The 10 Best Moments for U.S. Distance Running in 2005

By Ryan Lamppa, Running USA wire

In 2005, U.S. distance runners produced another year of improvement and achievement to build upon their successes since 2001 and to serve as a springboard to 2006 and beyond. Bravo to the below:

#10
McGregor Sweeps 10K Titles
In her breakthrough year, Katie McGregor accomplished a rare double as the Team USA Minnesota athlete swept the USA 10,000 meter track and 10K road titles. Against the deepest and fastest U.S. women's 10,000 championship field ever (four women ran under 31:46), the Michigan grad won her first Open national title in 31:33.82.

#9
U.S. Women Champions Again at Bolder Boulder International Team Challenge
Elva Dryer proved an able replacement for three-time Bolder Boulder 10K champion Deena Kastor as the two-time Olympian won the race in 32:51 and led a near U.S. sweep as teammates Jen Rhines and Colleen De Reuck finished 3rd and 4th respectively. At the event, it was the third U.S. women's team title in four years.

#8
Sell 9th at World Championships Marathon in Helsinki
Brian Sell ran a smart, controlled marathon at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland last August. The Hansons-Brooks athlete worked his way thru the top international field to finish 9th in 2:13:27, the first top 10 U.S. men's WCM finish since Steve Plasencia's 10th place in 1995. Sell's time was just 5 seconds off his personal record and also was the fastest marathon ever run by an American at the World Championships. In the World Cup competition, the U.S. men's team was a solid fourth.

#7
U.S. Women's 100K Team Earns Gold Medal, Riddle-Lundblad Silver at World Cup
At the IAU 100K World Cup at Lake Saroma, Hokkaido, Japan in June, the U.S. women's team won the gold medal led by silver medalist Anne Riddle-Lundblad who covered the grueling 62.1 miles in 7 hours, 54 minutes, 22 seconds.

#6
Culpepper 4th at Boston
At the 109th Boston Marathon, Alan Culpepper's 2:13:39 fourth place was the highest U.S. male finish since Dave Gordon was fourth in 1987 in almost the same time. With Culpepper's 4th, Peter Gilmore's 10th and Ryan Shay's 11th places, it made collectively the best showing by U.S. men in Boston since 1993 when Mark Plaatjes and Keith Brantly placed 6th and 9th respectively.

#5
U.S. Men's 5000 Meter Championship
In June, 2004 Olympian Tim Broe three-peated as national champion in a USA Championship 5000m record with his 13:12.76 (#6 U.S. all-time performer at the time), and in addition, he pulled recent Stanford grads Ian Dobson and Ryan Hall to personal records, 13:15.33 and 13:16.03 respectively - also under the previous championship record of 13:16.42 set by Doug Padilla in 1985.

#4
U.S. Women Bronze Medalists at World 4K Cross Country Championships
The U.S. women, led by emerging star Lauren Fleshman who finished 11th, won the bronze medal at the World 4K Cross Country Championships in Saint Galmier, France in March. Also scoring for the U.S. were Blake Russell (15th); 2005 USA 4K champion Shalane Flanagan (20th) and Olympian Shayne Culpepper (21st). It was the first U.S. women's short course team medal since 1998 in Marrakech, Morocco, when Team USA won the bronze. In addition, it was the third U.S. women's team medal in four years at this world championship. In 2002-03, Team USA women - led by Deena Drossin (now Kastor) - also won team World XC silver and bronze medals respectively.

#3
Keflezighi Third at New York City
2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist Meb Keflezighi returned to the Big Apple with another impressive performance at the ING New York City Marathon. Despite a reduced training window due to an August leg injury, the Team Running USA athlete hung tough with defending champion Hendrick Ramaala and world record holder Paul Tergat until mile 24. In a thrilling finish, Tergat just edged Ramaala at the tape, 2:09:30 to 2:09:31, while Meb, second here last year, was third in 2:09:56. Fellow U.S. Olympian Abdi Abdirahman finished 5th in 2:11:24 (a personal record by 5:45) which marked the first time since 1993 two Americans had placed in the top 5 at New York. The duo's times were also the two fastest marathons recorded by U.S. men in 2005.

#2
U.S. Men Earn Bronze Medal at Chiba Ekiden
Led by rising stars Ian Dobson and Ryan Hall, the U.S. men's team produced the highest U.S. men's finish ever at the Chiba Ekiden road relay with a bronze medal. In a U.S. record performance over the marathon distance, the 6-member U.S. team - Hall (second fastest leg), Matt Gonzales, Dobson (fastest leg), Brian Sell, Fernando Cabada and Josh Moen - finished only ten seconds behind host Japan, 1:58:58 to 1:59:08. Distance power Kenya won the men's event in 1:57:06, a world record.

#1
Kastor Wins Chicago
In 2005, Deena Kastor had her sights set on winning a major marathon and running under 2:20. The 2004 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist achieved the former with her "bittersweet" victory at the LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon in October. The Team Running USA athlete was on pace for sub-2:20 until the wheels fell off in the final miles, but the U.S. marathon record holder held off Romania's Constantina Tomescu-Dita, the defending champion, by five seconds, 2:21:25 to 2:21:30, in a suspenseful ending. Kastor became the first American woman to win a major world marathon since Kristy Johnston won Chicago in 1994.

In addition, like the U.S. men at Boston and New York City, the U.S. women led by Kastor's win produced top performances with Colleen De Reuck 4th in 2:28:40 (a new U.S. masters record) and Big Sur Distance Project's Blake Russell 6th in 2:29:10 (a personal record).

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Services Director
385 Oak View Lane
Santa Barbara, CA 93111

(805) 696-6232, fax (805) 967-5958
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.runningusa.org.