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Dathan
Ritzenhein, who many consider to be the future of U.S. distance
running, earned his first USA senior title by winning the 12K race
at the 2005 USA Cross Country Championships on February 13. Ritzenhein,
22, represented the US in the 10,000 at the Athens Olympic Games
in August. Shortly after last June's NCAA Track & Field Championships,
Ritzenhein announced that he would forego his remaining NCAA eligibility
at the University of Colorado to turn professional.
Ritzenhein
won a bronze medal in the junior race at the 2001 World Cross Country
Championships. He is considered the U.S.'s best hope for a medal
in 2005. In January, Ritzenhein won the Belfast International Cross
Country race, and defeated a strong international field.
On
being comfortable running away from the field:
I was going to be able to hold that pace for a while. I haven't
done the specific work to go faster than that, but hopefully in
five weeks I'll be a little bit tuned up. I'll be able to hold that
pace and kick about 55 seconds for the last 400.
On
how the race developed in the early stages:
They took it out a little hard, so I said, 'I'm just going to sit
here, and let them lead for the first K or so.' Then I moved up.
Alan [Webb] latched on to my back. He's probably the last person
I thought was going to do that. It was good to have him in there
for a little bit, because it brought back the old days. It helped
me establish a pretty good lead, and I held that the rest of the
way.
He
went for it, you know, and that's pretty impressive, not a lot of
people do that.
On
his health after a month-long break from competition:
I feel great. I think I've taken a good turn in my training, and
I'm going to be better than ever.
On
his approach to the World Championships:
I'm going to go in there thinking that I can medal. I might pay
the price a little bit, but I'm strong enough, and I think even
if I go out there and go for it, and fade a little bit, I can still
hold on to a good finish. I won't be disappointed if I'm in the
top 10, but I'll definitely be shooting for a medal.
On
the decision to pass up an indoor race in Boston:
Well, there was a few things. In Belfast, I ran so well, that I
said, all right, I wanted to get out and race. But my boss at Nike,
and my coach, really were against me running in Boston. It was for
the best, probably, that I didn't go do it. It's a great meet, but
I needed to do what was best for running the 10k in Helsinki in
August. I'm trying to take that long-term approach more.
On
having his last race before Nationals be a win:
Maybe it would've been a win if I'd gone to Boston, too. You never
know. [Note: In the race Ritzenhein was originally scheduled to
run in Boston, his former NCAA rival, Alistair Cragg, outkicked
world record holder Kenenisa Bekele to win the 3,000.]
On
peaking for World Cross:
I'm going to go in there thinking that I want to do the best I can
in August. But I think I can taper down and get ready for that race
and do great. I'll keep training the way I am, because everything's
been going well so far. I really haven't done anything specific,
just a lot of longer threshold stuff.
On
balancing training hard with pushing hard in races:
I can get in there and grind it out, and I can do that a lot, but
that's probably not the best thing for me to do. I have a feeling
that when I get to the World Championships in five weeks, I'm not
going to have to get out to the front and push it from the gun.
(Interview
conducted February 13, 2005, and posted March 9, 2005)
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Dathan
Ritzenhein.
(Photo by Alison Wade/New York Road Runners)
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