Photo above: Jearl Miles-Clark of Knoxville, TN made the women's 800m "an honest fast race" by pulling the field through a quick first 400m. She finished sixth in 1:57:27--less than one second separated the top 6 women--and ran a season's best. "I didn't get the medal, but I'm not going to cry about it. I ran hard."

Faith in His Coach's Plan
Photo above: Jonathan Johnson of Texas Tech University won the USA Olympic Trials 800m in July. At the Athens Games, Johnson advanced to the semi-final round of the 800m, where he placed eighth in 1:50.10. His youth and speed offer a bright future on the track: "I got a good experience out of all this. My best Olympics are in front of me. I have to get more mileage under me. I trained like a 400-meter runner [and] these guys out here do a lot more mileage than me."

American Women Worked as a Group to Improve in the 1500m Photo below: Carrie Tollefson (far right) of Minneapolis, MN, stepped forward in the Athen Games. She advanced to the semifinal round and finished eighth in 4:08.55. "It has been a long year, but an awesome year. Endurance carried me through--I wish I had had a few more weeks of speed training. I'm really excited to be here in the 1500."
Her original plan was to qualify for Athens in the 5000m, but she did not finish in the top three at the Olympic Trials during July. She adjusted her game plan and entered the 1500m heats in Sacramento. She won the 1500m there and flew to Europe; Tollefson dashed from meet to meet on the Continent, seeking a qualifying time for Athens. She produced a personal best in Zuerich and headed south to Greece. True grit!
Meet Carrie Tollefson at the Kentlands/Lakelands 5K on Saturday, September 11 in Gaithersburg, MD.

Alan Webb Experienced His First Olympics
Photos above and below: Alan Webb of Fairfax, VA finished ninth in the first round of 1500m heats with 3:41.25. 2004 has been a breakthrough year for Webb, including the 1500m national title in July and a plane ticket to Greece with Team USA.
He got tangled up during his run in Athens while veteran runners passed him by: "I was trying to stay to the outside [of a tightly spaced group of men] and stay out of trouble--it just got me into more trouble. I should have been more aggressive on the second lap." [Note: Webb ran a tremendous third lap in Sacramento to claim the USA 1500m title.]

Variety is the Spice of Life
Photo above: Two-time Olympian Marla Runyan of Eugene, OR, finished ninth in the first round of heats for 5000m with a time of 15:24.88 and did not advance. Runyan ran the 1500m finals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and has finished in the top ten at two major American marathons, Boston and New York City.
She has encouraged students at the Perkins School for the Blind in Massachusetts to get into the running game--she loves teaching and knows the importance of an honest, guiding hand.
On her Athens race, "I have to get the formula right. I tried to run my pace at 15:00, but it's a hard pace [her personal best is 14:59.20] to keep and if you're a bit off, you end up being off a bit times five."

Photo below: Tim Broe of Ann Arbor, MI ran aggressively to advance to the 5000m final--he finished 11th in 13:33.06 after running 13:20.29 in the semifinal. In the semifinal, Broe took the lead early, to put a doubt into the heads of weaker runners. In the final, Broe felt good in the front but "when they started running 60s and 63s I hung on for a little and fell off. I thought, well, just fight, and try to make it respectable and that's what I did."

In the Lions' Den
Photo above: Daniel Lincoln of Fayetteville, AR, ran smart to advance to the 3000m Steeplechase final and placed 11th in 8:16.86. The top three men were only 10 seconds ahead--8:05.81 won the event. [His personal best is 8:15.02.]
"It was a typical steeplechase, you start hurting with two laps to go. The Kenyans ran with confidence, ran together and completed their mission."

Photo below: Kate O'Neil(front) of New Haven, CT finished 21st with a time of 32.24.04 while veteran Elva Dryer (right) of Albuquerque, NM ran 32:18.16 for 19th place. The surprise winner, Huina Xing of China, ran a personal best of 30:24.36 to escape three Ethiopian challengers.
Dryer commented to media, "I felt a little shaky in my race. I kept repeating to myself be strong, be strong. I tried to keep it together as best as I could." O'Neil had a positive outlook on the race: "It taught me what it's going to take [to improve] to the next level and compete on the international stage [with athletes of Olympic calibre.]"

No Panic
Photo above: West Point graduate Dan Browne of Beaverton, OR, has the discipline to run an even pace--he led early in the 10,000m against faster men but did not blow up. Browne, whose personal best is 27:47:04, finished twelfth in 28:14.53.
"Once the race broke open [the Ethiopians played with the pace, throwing in several surges], I started working with [American] Abdi Abdirahman... I tightened up [around mile five] and really burst with 1k to go to avoid getting lapped."

Results for all track events at the Athens Games are available on the IAAF Web site.