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By Kirby Lee, US Presswire |
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| Dathan Ritzenhein, running to a sixth-place finish in the 10,000 meters at the IAAF World Championships in Berlin on Aug. 17, looks to set a personal best in Sunday's World Half Marathon Championships. |
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Dathan Ritzenhein looks to continue breaking barriers and personal bests Sunday in the World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham, England. After personal bests in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 on the track this summer, the indications are he could run another personal best at 13.1 miles (1:01:25) or even become the second American to break an hour for the distance.
"I wouldn't be surprised (If he broke an hour)," said Alberto Salazar, Ritzenhein's coach since June.
Salazar's opinion is based on more than Ritzenhein's sixth-place finish in the 10,000 at the world championships in August in a personal-best 27:22.28 and his 5,000 in 12:56.27 that made him the second U.S.-born runner to break 13 minutes.
Two Monday's ago, Ritzenhein ran 45:03 in a 10-mile workout, the first half on the track and the second on the roads, that is faster than the U.S. mark. If he could continue the 4:30 pace he'd be comfortably under an hour for the half marathon.
"A lot of people may question if (the distance) was accurate," Salazar said of the training run. "I'm sure it was accurate within 10-15 seconds. Half of it was on the track so those splits were right on. The bike I have to measure is very calibrated and I checked it on the track that day.
"Now was that too hard too fast too close to this race? I don't think so. All I know is he ran 10 miles at 4:30 pace and looked very good doing it."
After Ritzenhein left coach Brad Hudson in April following a disappointing London Marathon, he went north from Eugene, Ore., to Portland and Salazar in June. Salazar emphasized faster track sessions that revitalized Ritzenhein, 27. Part of their plan was to run a fall road race, most likely a half marathon.
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