RITZENHEIN, METIVIER BAILLE TOP AMERICAN FINISHERS AT CHICAGO MARATHON
Tens of thousands of runners met the streets of Chicago for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon in early October. Dathan Ritzenhein (Portland, Ore.) was the top male American finisher, running 2:07:47 to become the third fastest American of all time, while Renee Metivier Baille (Bend, Ore.) ran the fifth fastest American debut marathon of all-time in 2:27:17 in placing eighth overall, as each were to top American finishers.
Ritzenhein finished as the first American male and placed ninth overall and was named USA Track & Field’s Athlete of the Week for his efforts. He slashed two minutes and eight seconds off his previous best time of 2:09:55, which he ran at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon in January. Ritzenhein moved up thirteen spots on the all-time U.S. marathon list from sixteenth to third. He also notably moved two spots ahead of his own coach, Alberto Salazar, who holds a personal best of 2:08:52. Metivier Baille fell just short of her goal of beating Kara Goucher’s American record for a debut in a marathon of 2:25:23.
CHEROBON-BAWCOM, TRAFEH DEFEND USA 10 MILE TITLES IN MINNEAPOLIS
Facing chilly early morning temperatures in Minneapolis, Minn., Janet Cherobon-Bawcom and Mohamed Trafeh each defended their titles in the USA 10 Mile Championships October 7, which was run as part of the TC Medtronic 10 Mile.
Cherobon-Bawcom cruised to the win in a time of 53 minutes, 43 seconds to finish ahead of runner-up Kara Goucher (53:56) and third place Alisha Williams (54:08). Trafeh recorded a winning time of 46:56, which was ahead of Ben True (47:19) and Jacob Riley (47:22).
It was the third USA title on the roads in 2012 for Cherobon- Bawcom as she also won national titles in the 15 km and 25 km earlier in the year. A 2012 Olympian in the 10,000m, it is the sixth USA title for Cherobon-Bawcom in the last two seasons (10 km, 10 Mile and 20 km in 2011).
The win comes in an impressive run for Trafeh as well, who picked up his fifth USA championship in the last two years and his second title in 2012. Trafeh won the USA 15 km Championships earlier this year and picked up wins in the 10 Mile, 15 km and Half Marathon in 2011.