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Running Shots |  |
Dathan Ritzenhein, Former super prep from Rockford, Mich. (01), and NCAA champion from Colorado fulfills early promise... to the senior elite with an American Record - 5,000m 12:56.27!!! (09) |
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As a soph, Ritzenhein (Left, 1998) took second at the state xc meet. Ritz became the second Junior to win the Foot Locker National title (M). As a senior, Ritz destroyed what has to be one if not the greatest Foot Locker class in history. The junior internationalist clocked a then second-fastest 5000 time in U.S. prep history. His time of 13 minutes, 51.69 seconds ranks behind Gerry Lindgren's 13:44.0, set in 1964. |
Weltklasse Zürich - Friday, Aug 28, 2009 - (Link). Ritz's first lap was 59 and he was in last place. A viciously fast race early, the 15 man field was in absolute single file, with Ritz in last and in danger of losing contact of the field! (4:04 at 1600m - the front-runners were shooting for a 12:45 pace). It wasn't until 3000m when Ritz got out of last and for good and started passing people as runners ahead of him began to fade under the scorching pace. Ritz reached second at one point with eventual winner Bekele in sight, but was passed with about 150 meters left, finishing third behind 5,000/10,000 Olympic and world champ Keninisa Bekele of Ethiopia (12 minutes, 52.32 seconds), Ritzenhein's time of 12:56.27 broke the 13-year-old mark of 12:58.21 by Bob Kennedy (set at the same meet in 1996, Bob was 5th). Ritz had run only 13:34.00 this year and had a previous PR of 13:16.06. From 13:16 to 12:56.27 in one race. From a marathoner in April to one of the world's greatest non-Africans ever on the track in the 5,000m in August. Ritz is the fourth non-African to break 13:00 behind Kennedy, Germany's Dieter Baumann (12:54.70) and Australia's Craig Mottram (12:55.76). |
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Ritz is faster than: 5,000 meter world record breakers(L-R) Ron Clarke, Lasse Viren, Emil Puttemans (Pictured with Viren), Dick Quax, Henry Rono, David Moorcroft or even Said Aouita ran in their entire careers. |
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| ... 8 DAYS LATER -September 4, 2009 --the IAAF Golden League Memorial Van Damme meet. |
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Matt Tegenkamp (Lee's Summit High School 2000- 8:57.23 3200m and 4:11.43 1600m, Wisconsin) followed up Dathan Ritzenhein's Zürich performance with another barrier-shattering run in the 5,000m. The Memorial van Damme 5,000m race was much different than the Weltklasse. Last week, the field went out in 4:04 for the 1,600. This week it was 4:11. Last week, Ritz was literally in last place and falling off the back, getting gapped with the brisk early pace. This week, Tegenkamp was tucked into the middle of the pack. Teg looked very good the whole race. His performance didn't seem spectacular, however, as he did not really kick anybody down at the end. However, he closed in 2:00 for his final 800m, with a closing 400m in 57 seconds. His time, 12:58.56, is less than 2/5ths of a second from the old American record. Tegenkamp is 7th -winner Bekele in 12:55.31. |
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The reputation of the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational as the place where records are broken continues... Chris Solinsky became the first non-African to run under 27 minutes with a time of 26:59.60. |  |
Palo Alto (May 1, 2010) -Chris Solinsky, a 25-year-old Wisconsin native who was making his 10K debut, utilized his 3:37/1500m speed to break away from the four-man pack over the final 700 meters (Final two laps 60.0 and 56.2!) to record a historic win over Galen Rupp and two Kenyan challengers (Daniel Salel and Sam Chelanga) for a new American Record (Link to video). |
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Solinsky's new American Record slashes 14 seconds off Meb Keflezighi's 9-year-old American mark of 27:13.98 (also set at the Payton Jordan Invite, Stanford, 2001) and also surpasses Arturo Barrios' (R) North American area record of 27:08.23. Although 31 African runners had preceded Solinsky under 27 minutes, this performance signals the feat is no longer their exclusive domain. |
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| Chris Solinsky (Stevens Point Area Senior High School 03) | Solinsky ran for the University of Wisconsin. | — Galen Rupp came to the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitational to beat Meb Keflezighi’s American 10,000m record of 27:13.98. Rupp, the former Oregon star who was the meet's headliner, led for most of the final nine laps. Mission accomplished, Galen Rupp broke the American record in the 10,000-meter run Saturday night... Unfortunately, he was in fourth place at 27:10.74. |
Over the final 900 meters, in front of the packed bleachers at Cobb Track and Angell Field, Solinsky overtook Oregon grad Galen Rupp with two laps to go and won going away in 26:59.60!! |
A U.S. breakthrough in the Mens 10,000 meters -A chronicle of the American Record progression (Starting at 30 minutes.) |
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29:58.9 -Leonard "Buddy" Edelen (#1)- First American to break the 30 minute barrier for 10,000 meters. Sunnyvale, CA, May 6, 1960 |
28:50.2 -Max Truex-5'5"/128lbs. Rome, September 8, 1960 |
28:24.4 -Billy Mills Tokyo, October 14, 1964 |
28:17.6 -Billy Mills Augsburg, August 12, 1965 |
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28:08.0 -Greg Fredericks Seattle, WA June 16, 1972 |
27:58.2 -Frank Shorter Munich, August 31, 1972 |
27:51.4 -Frank Shorter Munich, September 3, 1972 |
27:43.6 -Steve Prefontaine Eugene, Oregon, April 27, 1974 |
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27:39.4 -Craig Virgin Walnut, CA, June 17, 1979 |
27:29.16 -Craig Virgin Paris, July 17, 1980 |
27:25.61 -Alberto Salazar Oslo, June 26, 1982 |
27:20.56 -Mark Nenow Brussels, September 5, 1986 |
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27:13.98 -Meb Keflezighi Palo Alto, CA, May 4, 2001 |
26:59.60 -Chris Solinsky -6'1"/160lbs. May 1, 2010 |
26:48.00 -Galen Rupp September 16, 2011 |
26:44.36 -Galen Rupp May 30, 2014 |
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26:33.84 -Grant Fisher (L) San Juan Capistrano, CA, March 6, 2022 |
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The First Sub-Four-Minute Mile, Over the years, so many athletes had tried and failed to run a mile |
Roger Bannister’s parents couldn’t afford to send him to school, so he ran his way in: Bannister won a track scholarship to Oxford, where he studied medicine and was a top mile-runner. Everest had been climbed in 1953, & Bannister broke the British record, but not the 4-minute mile.... |
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The weather was miserable — rainy, cool and windy @ Iffley Road track in Oxford - a 15mph crosswind with gusts of up to 25mph meant that Bannister nearly called off the attempt... At 6 p.m., with about 3,000 spectators, the starting gun was fired. The race was carefully planned. Bannister ran with two friends, who paced him, Chris Brasher and Chris Chataway. Brasher, a steeplechaser, led for the first two laps, recording a time of 1:58.2. Bannister stayed close and then as the race reached lap three, Chataway came through to take control. The time at three-quarters was 3:00.5 but Bannister knew he had to bide his time; with 300 yards to go, he sprinted away from Chataway into legendary status... |
May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister, Running for the Amateur Athletic Association against Oxford University, a 25-year-old British medical student, his long arms and legs pumping, his lungs gasping for oxygen, became the fastest man in the world, finishing in 3 minutes, 59.4 seconds, and the first to break the Four-Minute barrier humans thought was impossible. Bannister had been running for only eight years, his first mile was clocked in 4:53, and it was the first time that he had worn spikes. As soon as the first part of his time was announced--"three minutes..."--the crowd erupted in pandemonium. He later earned a medical degree from Oxford and became a neurologist. **The record didn't stand for long. Six weeks later, Australian John Landy broke Bannister’s record by less than a second. Landy ran 3:57.9 in Turku, Finland |
Briton Roger Bannister had broken the four-minute mile on May 6, 1954. |
1953, Don Bowden (Lincoln HS), only a junior, gained notability when he broke Fred Frevert's school record in the half-mile. Frevert ran the two laps in 1:59.4, nine years earlier. Bowden eclipse the record when he sped a 1:58.9. Bowden would go on to win the CA state 880 yards clocking 1:57.1. |
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May 22, 1954, Bowden set a National High School 880 record of 1:52.3; before winning his second CA state 880 title posting a 1:52.9, a state meet record!! |
June 1, 1957, STOCKTON, Calif., Bowden a 20-year-old, junior, middle distance runner at University of California, stepped onto the track for the Pacific Association-AAU meet. (Earlier that spring, Bowden had run a 4:01.6 in the mile as the anchor for Cal's medley relay team). Bowden achieved the feat without the benefit of even being pushed. With only the public address announcer and a crowd of about 3,500 urging him on, while the closest man to him finished 80 yards back and crossed the finish line about 15 seconds later. He seemed barely winded at the finish. *Baxter Stadium was at the northwest side of the University of the Pacific campus is today. *Don Bowden ran only one sub-4:00 mile in his career... it was momentous. |
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The previous fastest American mile had been run by Wes Santee 4:00.5. Bowden was the first American and the youngest man at that time to break the four-minute mile, an American record that he held for almost three years. ** 6/15, Two weeks after his barrier breaking mile, Bowden won the NCAA 880 in his career best of 1:47.2, outrunning Olympic 1500 (1956) champ Ron Delany of Villanova. A plaque commemorating Don Bowden’s breaking of the four-minute mile in 1957 resides on the south wall of the student dining hall at the University of the Pacific. |
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FIRST INDOORS
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Los Angeles, Saturday, February 10, 1962 -- Jim Beatty, a 27 year-old graduate of the University of North Carolina, hits the finish line to became the first American to run sub 4 indoors with a 3:58.9 at the Los Angeles Times Indoor Meet ... The recognized indoor record is 4:01.4 by Ron Delany of Ireland. Beatty, a 1960 Olympian at 5000 meters, was an outdoor AAU champion in the Mile in 1962 and a three-time indoor AAU Mile champion (1961-63). |
