Photos by www.photorun.net. Photo above: Dathan Ritzenhein crosses the finish line of the 2008 USA Cross Country Men's 12K.

Photo below: The final 3K of Ed Moran's race moved him up to fourth place.

Olympic Hopeful Edward Moran of Williamsburg, VA
Ed Moran, an assistant coach at the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, VA, performed brilliantly with a fourth place (35:43) finish at the 2008 USA Cross Country Championships in the Open Men's 12K race on Saturday, February 16 in San Diego, CA. He graduated from William & Mary with a Masters of Public Policy ('05), and plans to continue his professional running career (sponsored by Nike) through the end of 2008.

Ed Moran finished fifth (13:36.5) in the 2007 USA Men's 5000m Track race, five seconds away from a place on the American team roster for the IAAF World Championships in Osaka, Japan. One month later, he won a gold medal at the 2007 Pan-American Games (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) in the 5000m with a personal best time of 13:25.6. This year he has a decent shot at making the team for the 2008 Olympic Games in China; the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Track & Field will be held in Eugene, OR (June 27-July 6). According to William & Mary's Athletics Web site, Ed Moran achieved the Olympic "A" qualifying standard at 5,000m and 10,000m in 2007.

Update 2/21/08: The New York Road Runners announced on February 20 that Dathan Ritzenhein, Alan Webb of Reston, VA, and Ed Moran will be competing in the USA Men's (Road) 8K Championship on Saturday, March 15 in New York.

He has two important people in his life to assist him in this Olympic chase: his coach, Alex Gibby (head coach at William & Mary), and his wife (also an Olympic hopeful) Katherine Newberry. As an assistant coach, Ed also benefits from the enthusiasm of the collegiate athletes with whom he interacts on a daily basis. Running is a team sport; the relationships one builds are the foundation of athletic success, and a necessary ingredient for personal fulfillment.

Read the USATF press release on the 2008 USA Cross Country Championships

2008 USA Cross Country Championships - Open Events

Top Men (12K)
PL  BIB  NAME                     AFFILIATION          CITY                AG  TIME
=== ==== ======================== ==================== =================== == =====
  1  641 Dathan Ritzenhein        Nike                 Eugene OR           25 35:03
  2  671 Jorge Torres             Reebok               Boulder CO          27 35:29
  3  643 Josh Rohatinsky          Nike                 Beaverton OR        25 35:41
  4  616 Edward Moran             Nike                 Williamsburg VA     26 35:43
  5  563 Ryan Hall                Asics                Mammoth Lakes CA    25 35:50
  6  523 James Carney             New Balance          Boulder CO          29 35:56
  7  584 Max King                 Oregon TC Elite      Eugene OR           27 35:57
  8  503 Ryan Bak                 unattached           Eugene OR           26 35:59
  9  670 Edwardo Torres           Reebok               Boulder CO          27 36:01
 10  508 Scott Bauhs              California State U   Danville CA         21 36:16



Top Women (8K)
PL  BIB  NAME                     AFFILIATION          CITY                AG  TIME
=== ==== ======================== ==================== =================== == =====
  1   29 Shalane Flanagan         Nike                 Pittsboro NC        26 25:26
  2   58 Renee Metivier           Nike                 Boulder CO          26 26:36
  3   10 Emily Brown              Team USA Minnesota   Minneapolis MN      23 26:37
  4   56 Katie McGregor           Reebok               Saint Louis Park MN 30 26:38
  5   44 Molly Huddle             Saucony              Elmira NY           23 26:52
  6   71 Blake Russell            Reebok               Marina CA           32 26:54
  7   64 Katherine Newberry       NYAC                 Williamsburg VA     29 27:07
  8   37 Amy Hastings             adidas               Flagstaff AZ        24 27:12
  9   50 Julia Lucas              Reebok               Mammoth Lakes CA    23 27:13
 10   73 Sara Slattery            adidas               Lafayette CO        26 27:19

2008 Olympians Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenhein
Ryan Hall (25) and Dathan Ritzenhein (25) secured a place on the Team USA roster for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing by placing first and second at the Olympic Team Trials-Men's Marathon held last November in New York City's Central Park. They spoke to reporters via USATF teleconference on February 13 about the USA Cross Country Championships and their current training. Read Excerpts from the teleconference.

Ryan and Dathan are young but mature competitors; they will travel to China with the hope of putting forth a best effort in competition. Alan Webb (25) ran the fastest times in the world in the mile (3:46.91AR) and 1500m (3:30.54) during 2007. Matt Tegenkamp (26) finished fourth at the 2007 World Outdoor Championships in the Men's 5000m. Ryan says these achievements by guys his age changed his mindset about what is possible; he intends to "take a swing" at a medal in the Olympic Men's Marathon race. Dathan feels encouraged by the fact that so many talented runners from his high school and college racing days have remained in the sport, and continue to develop as athletes.

Plans for 2008
Ryan Hall is preparing for the Flora London Marathon race on Sunday, April 13 in Great Britain; it will be his third marathon race since debuting in London last April. He will race sparingly this year, to invest fully in the two marathons on his 2008 schedule. He also wants to fully support the effort of his wife, Sara, as she pursues a spot on the American Olympic Team roster this summer in Eugene, OR.

Dathan Ritzenhein, a 2004 Olympian (10,000m) and family man, is psyched up to compete at the IAAF World Cross Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland on March 30. But that turf race on a difficult course will not make or break his season, he says. Dathan will take time to recover from World Cross Country, resume training with a focus on the Olympic Marathon in August, and include the USA Men's 10,000m Track Championship race in July on his schedule.

A Pause in the Action
After sucess in last November's marathon, Ryan and Dathan both savored a little bit of personal time. Ryan and Sara Hall took their first trip to Israel, as tourists enjoying sights they have read about in the Bible. Ryan, a devoted Christian, found the visit to be spiritually enriching. Professional runners travel to many countries, but this was an opportunity to experience Israel.

Dathan Ritzenhein returned to Michigan to spend a month with his parents; he wasn't fully prepared for the difficult terrain, a sharp hill and abrupt changes in surface, when he raced on January 12 in Edinburgh. A resulting injury to his leg forced Dathan to train on a G- Trainer anti-gravity treadmill wearing a heart rate monitor; the unique design of the treadmill allowed him to minimize pounding on his legs during workouts.

The Spirit of Sleeping Bear
The professional distance running community lost a race horse on November 3, 2007 when Ryan Shay, a native of northern Michigan (near Traverse City) and star athlete for Notre Dame University, suffered cardiac arrest on the marathon race course and passed away. Ryan and Sara Hall are close personal friends of the Shays; in the 2007 USA Men's 10,000m race on June 21, Ryan Hall placed seventh (28:52), and Ryan Shay finished eighth (28:55).

Alicia Shay has continued her training in Flagstaff, AZ. Ryan and Sara Hall were in Flagstaff during early January, and Ryan says Alicia has a positive attitude after losing her husband of four months. (They were married in Wyoming, where her family lives, and Alicia shared photos with the running community via LetsRun.com immediately after Ryan Shay's death.) "She is honoring Ryan by moving forward," commented Ryan Hall in response to an Oakland Tribune reporter's question.

It was husband Ryan who had insisted she give herself a chance to get back in the game (after a dorm room accident in college made running difficult). See a video interview with FloTrack.com from September, 2007 with Alicia explaining her rocky road back.

Ryan Hall says that Alicia has a lot to run for this summer at the 2008 Track & Field Olympic Trials, and he notes that she has always been tough. In Flagstaff, AZ she benefits from a great support crew (including distance guru Jack Daniels, PhD), and Ryan Hall is optimistic about her upcoming 2008 season.

Ryan Shay's death has alerted his fellow athletes that good health cannot be taken for granted. Regular checkups with a physician are important for everyone.

Photo above by www.photorun.net: Ryan Hall, in a high mileage phase of his training for the Flora London Marathon, finished fifth.