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While the drama of who would qualify for the
Olympics seized the crowd with each loop of
the front runners, a different
drama played out further back in the pack each
time Joanie
Benoit Samuelson passed.
From blocks away you could spot her yellow
Live Strong cap. With each loop you
could hear the cheers
go up as she
approached
and continue down
the course with
her. The crowd loved Joanie.
A troupe of six guys, bare-chested with the
letters J-O-A-N-I-E painted in yellow on
their torsos, circulated around the course
popping up in different locations to cheer
Joanie on.
Seven Olympic cycles ago in 1979, Joan
Benoit
won the Olympic Trials in the inaugural
year women could compete in the marathon.
She then went on to win the gold medal in the
Los Angeles Olympics.
This year, she didn't win. She finished in
90th place. But doing so, she set a new
marathon record of 2:49:08 for women age 50-54,
taking a minute and 18 seconds off the old
record. She might not have won this race, but
she certainly won the crowd. In a
wonderful gesture of respect, when she
crossed the finish line, she was greeted by
Deena Kastor, Magdalena Lewy Boulet and Blake
Russell.
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The day following the Olympic Trials was
Monday, April 21st, Patriot's Day in
Massachusetts and time for the 112th running
of the Boston Marathon.
The women's race was decided in a sprint
finish. After early going where a pack of
ten runners held pace together through the
half way mark, only five runners were left by
mile 16. A fast 4:46 pace at mile 18 dropped
three
more runners, leaving Alevtina Biktimirova of
Russia
and Dire Tune of Ethiopia to battle from
there until the
finish.
And battle they did. The photo above shows
the two leaders cresting Heartbreak Hill a
stride apart. From there over the final five
miles into the finish line the two traded the
lead several times, but never decisively. As
the race turned from Commonwealth Ave up
Hereford and then onto Boylston Street the
two remained locked in a battle that would
only be resolved in a final 400 m sprint.
Only in the last 200 m did Tune finally
manage to separate herself from Biktimirova
to win by two seconds.
The men's race lacked the thrill of close
battle. In compensation, Robert Cheruiyot
dominated the men's field through the entire
race and made his mark by matching Bill
Rodger's record of four wins in Boston with a
2:07:46 finish (although both men are still
short of Clarence DeMar's seven victories).
Cheruiyot shown above cresting Heartbreak
Hill with a 30 second lead on the field,
stretched his lead to well over a minute by the
finish, despite running some slower miles at
the end. He missed breaking his existing
Boston record by 30
seconds, turning in the sixth fastest time ever.
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nuBound is off to the USAT Duathlon
National Championship in Richmond, VA at
the end of this
month. The second of three Triathlon
Olympic Trials was held earlier this
month. Congratulations to Julie Swail Ertel
and Matt Reed, who secured slots on the team.
Sincerely,
Mark Connell
nuBound
email:
thebounce@nubound.net
phone:
888.480.NUCLeotide (or 888.480.6825)
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| Advanced DNA/RNA Sports Supplement |
Train Harder
Perform Better
| From the archives of The Bounce . . . |