The Run Down: Top 10 Moments in American Distance Running this weekend

Sara Hall gets her first Cross Country title in a lean

What a great weekend it was in track and field. There was a ton of hype leading up to it with the Cross Country Championships and multiple indoor meets. It's hard to only have a top 10, as I am sure I missed some big performances, but here's a few highlights.

10. Kim Conley outkicks Lisa Uhl to run 8:57.62 at the Husky Classic

9. Oregon's Trevor Dunbar and Parker Stinson run big 5000 PR's (13:36 and 13:39, respectively)

8. Jenny Simpson outkicks Shannon Rowbury to win the Wanamaker Metric Mile in 4:07.27

7. Sally Kipyego leads Washington's Katie Flood to a pair of 4:28's (and World leaders)

6. Ryan Hill outkicks Diego Estrada to run one of fastest collegiate 3000's ever (and fastest ever by an American collegian)

5. Bobby Mack kicks from 800 out to win second national title in a year (and first cross title)

4. Matt Centrowitz wins the Wanamaker Mile and leads Miles Batty to a new Collegiate Record

3. Sara Hall outkicks Molly Huddle for first national title at the USA Cross Country Championships

2. Galen Rupp essentially solos the American 2 Mile Record in Fayetteville, Arkansas

1. Bernard Lagat gets American Indoor 5000 Record and leads Lawi Lalang to the Collegiate Record and Edward Cheserek to the High School Record in the process

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Road Rage: Dathan Ritzenhein leads the NYRR Dash to the Finish Line field

Ritz will look to break the tape Saturday
(TrackAndFieldPhoto.net)

It's been quite a while since Dathan Ritzenhein has raced. He'll officially end his racing hiatus Saturday at the New York Road Runners Dash to the Finish Line 5k. The course is being dubbed by NYRR as "flat and fast" and should fill a good void for those that want to be a part of the weekend, but not run the full 26.2. It's a similar effort to what the Boston Athletic Association has done with the BAA 5k, the day before the Boston Marathon.

Ritz will have his hands full with former Olympians, Lopez Lomong (1500) and Matt Tegenkamp (5000), but the darkhorse of the competition is 2011 USA Running Circuit Champion, Ben True. True has been very consistent all year and should not be overlooked!

On the Women's side, Deena Kastor is the featured competitor, but the heavy favorite is Oregon Track Club's Sally Kipyego. Kipyego has been on fire this year and has the hardware (from Daegu) to prove it. Also toeing the line is American 5000 record holder, Molly Huddle, who is coming back from injury, as well as the always consistent, Magdalena Lewy-Boulet. Aside from the fight between Huddle and Kipyego upfront (if Huddle is healthy and fit), the B-story will be the competition between Kastor and Lewy-Boulet, as both will be competing in the Olympic Trials Marathon in January. Kastor is the US Marathon record holder (2:19:36) and Lewy-Boulet has the third fastest time going into the trials (2:26:22). Between these two, Shalane Flanagan, Kara Goucher, Desi Davila and Amy Hastings, it will be an exciting race for the three spots to London.

Official writing about running Predictions:

Men
1. True
2. Teg
3. Ritz
4. Lomong

Women
1. Kipyego
2. Huddle
3. Lewy-Boulet
4. Kastor

Update: According to Spiked Up, Psyched Up, here's the rest of the field. Out of the rest, I like Aaron Braun, Scott Bauhs and Ben Bruce on the Men's side for top possible top five finish and Amy Hastings, Lisa Uhl (nee Koll) and Angela Bizzarri on the Women's side.

Men
Chris Thompson (GBR)
Andrew Bumbalough
Evan Jager
Brandon Bethke
Aaron Braun
Scott Bauhs
Brian Olinger
Ben Bruce
Harbert Okuti (UGA)
Brett Gotcher
Christian Hesch
Bobby Hartnett

Women
Lisa (Koll) Uhl
Amy Hastings
Liz Maloy
Angela Bizzarri
Sara Hall
Julie Culley
Frances Koons
Meghan ArmstrongPeyton
Caroline LeFrak
Ashley Higginson
Nicole Schappert
Stephanie Rothstein
Maggie Infeld
Lesley Higgins
Renee Tomlin
Cheryl Anderson

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Road Rage: David Torrence takes on the big boys at the 5th Avenue Mile

Road Warrior, David Torrence

David Torrence is as close to the king of the road mile as you're gonna get. The three-time consecutive USATF Road Mile Champ will have his hands full this weekend at the season ending Fifth Avenue Mile in New York, NY. Torrence rose to cult fame with his now famous downhill sub-4 attempt thread on LetsRun.com that he took video of (see video below).

Just last weekend, Torrence won the Front Street Mile in Maui, in a course record of 3:57, but didn't have to face Bernard Lagat and the boys. He will Saturday at 1:05pm eastern. Along with Lagat, there's a huge field that will fight for the win down on one of Manhattan's biggest streets. Joining the fun on the American side is new pro, AJ Acosta, Steepler/Jack of All Distances, Ben Bruce, Saucony's Garrett Heath, 32-year old Sub-4 man, Christian Hesch, the sometimes mustachioed Will Leer, New Balance's Craig Miller, Nike's Kyle Miller, former Buckeye Jeff See, US 800 champ Nick Symmonds and the resurging Fam, Anthony Famiglietti. Defending champ, Amine Laalou, leads the international competition, with Australia's Jeff Riseley throwing his hat in the ring.

Let's get physical

Morgan Uceny will be the favorite on the Women's side, as she looks to be the first #1 World ranked American Woman in the 1500 in many, many years. The Women's race will go off at 12:50pm and also includes Brooks' Gabrielle Anderson, Road Mile Champ, Sara Hall, multiple time US 1500 Champ, Shannon Rowbury, 2011 World Champ Jenny Simpson and 800 meter specialists, Alysia Montano and Maggie Vessey. World Championship Silver Medalist, Hannah England, leads the international challengers. Somewhere in the middle is OTC's Sally Kipyego, who took Silver for Kenya at 10,000 in Daegu. She, along with a large field of other international competitors, will make for an exciting race.

New York Road Runners TV will show highlights at 8pm. Full race schedules are available here.

Experience Torrence's 3:46 Downhill Road Mile:



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Diamond Dash: "Olympics in a Day" in Zurich Thursday

Cheruyiots of Fire
(TrackAndFieldPhoto)

Only a few days after the completion of the 2011 IAAF Track and Field World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, the always exciting Weltklasse Zürich Diamond League meet kicks off at 2pm eastern Thursday (on UniversalSports.com).

The distance action gets started at 2:15pm with the Women's 5000. Vivian Cheruiyot, coming off a very strong 5000/10,000 double at Daegu, leads a very strong field, including Daegu 5000 Silver Medalist, Sylvia Kibet, 10,000 Silver Medalist, Sally Kipyego and American, Shalane Flanagan. Flanagan's coming off an average 10,000 in Daegu and will look to bounce back and once again take aim at Molly Huddle's American 5000 Record; one that she's come within a second or two of breaking multiple times this summer.

The Women's 800 is the next distance event on tap at 2:50pm. This field is stacked with Daegu winner, Mariya Savinova, Silver Medalist, Caster Semenya and Bronze Medalist, Janeth Jepkosgei. It also has a hungy Jenny Meadows, who missed the finals in Daegu in being outkicked by Maggie Vessey in the semis. Alysia Montano will be ready to go as well after narrowly missing the Bronze by .06 seconds. Finally, Morgan Uceny will look to rebound after being tripped with 500 to go in the 1500 finals, only to watch fellow American, Jenny Simpson, take the Gold.

The Men's 1500 is the penultimate distance event in Zurich at 3:10pm, with Olympic and World Championship Gold Medalist, Asbel Kiprop, leading the way. His countryman and Daegu Silver Medalist, Silas Kiplagat, will look for revenge in front of the sold out (in advance) Zurich crowd. Another exciting entry will be 800 meter Silver Medalist, Abubaker Kaki. Kaki ran an excellent 3:31 earlier in the season and has mentioned doubling in the 800 and 1500 in London. This will be a great field to test himself against. Finally, there are two Americans in the field, but both are pacemakers. Old reliable, David Krummenacker, will be there along with 800 meter national champ, Nick Symmonds. It will be interesting to see how Symmonds handles pacing a 3:30-ish race (and how long he goes. My guess 1000 meters max).

The last distance event of the day is the Men's Steeplechase, which goes off at 3:35pm. Will Daegu dancing star (and Gold Medalist), Ezekiel Kemboi, be there? Yes, indeed. Paul Koech, who was left off Kenya's Daegu roster, will be there to challenge. The field is a little down beyond that, as Brimin Kipruto and the two frenchies (Tahri and Mekhissi-Benabbad) won't be there. American Ben Bruce will have his hands full and will look to improve on his breakthrough 8:19.10 personal best (that he set earlier this year).

There will be plenty of excellent sprint and field events going on as well as Zurich always gets the best talent. Watch live on UniversalSports.com or later on Universal Sports television.

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Daily Daegu: Kenyan Women dominate and is Kenenisa Bekele back?

Will Kenny B hoist the flag in Daegu?

The first day at Daegu was the won by the Kenyan Women. Edna Kiplagat led the sweep in the Women's Marathon and Vivian Cheruyiot led another sweep (including a the 4th spot) in the Women's 10,000. Tera Moody led the Americans in the Marathon with a 17th place finish in 2:32:04. Shalane Flanagan led much of the 10,000, but ended up 7th in 31:25.57 (with a strong 9th by Jen Rhines). Oregon Track Club got their first ever World Championship medal with Sally Kipyego taking the silver in the 10,000 in 30:50.04, just over a second off the win.

Day 2 brings on the first Men's distance final. It's been awhile since we've seen the king of distance running, Kenenisa Bekele. And until he's on the line Sunday morning at 6:30am eastern (7:30pm Daegu), I won't be 100% convinced he's actually running. Kenny B hasn't toed the line since January 2010, when he finished fourth in a cross country race in Edinburgh. Whether he shows up or not, he and the field will have their hands full with the star of 2011, Mr. Mo Farah. As strong as Farah has looked all season, it's going to be hard to pick against him, although it will be very fascinating to see what kind of shape Bekele shows up in.

Beyond the two superstars, in America, we'll be cheering for Galen Rupp, as he's got a legitimate shot at a podium finish. Standing in his way will be the bruising Ethiopian, Imane Merga, the up and down Sileshi Sihine, as well as Eritrea's Half Marathon World Record Holder, Zersenay Tadese. This isn't even speaking of the always strong Kenyan contingent. Rupp will have his hands full, but if he runs to his capability, he should be in the mix with a mile to go. Also in the mix for America is the 10k newcomer, Matt Tegenkamp, and Mammoth Track Club's Scotty Bauhs.

Day 2 also brings on the semifinal heats for the Men's 800, as Khadevis Robinson and Nick Symmonds qualified out of the opening round. The Women's 1500 heats start as well with Morgan Uceny, Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury taking the stage. Finally, day 2 brings on the 100 meter final. Not a distance race, but always exciting to see Usain Bolt go against the world!

As usual, Universal Sports will have coverage on television and online. Full results are on the IAAF Daegu page here.

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