Carmen Douma-Hussar's Harry Jerome Classic 1500 win

Carmen Douma-Hussar's time of 4:10.07 bettered the Commonwealth Games qualifying standard and represents a big step forward in her comeback from the death of her father and the birth of her daughter. Be sure to view the interview at bottom, which reveals the integrity that has been a hallmark of Carmen's life and career.

Jen Rhines after 4th place finish at USA Championships 5000

In this interview, Jen talks about taking a risk by bolting with about 6 laps left, not getting the necessary 50 meter cushion on the pack she thought she needed, and how she felt about her 4th place finish. Rhines will run the 5000 at this coming weekend's Prefontaine Classic and will then head to Europe.

Chris FitzSimons after 1:47.15 Anchor Takes Hamden from 8th Place to a National Title

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Sheila Reid 4th in NCAA 1500 Finals

Sheila Reid earned her 4th All-American certificate of the 2009-2010 season (cross country, 2 in indoor track, and 1 in outdoor track) by finishing 4th in the 1500 meters at the NCAA championships in Eugene, Oregon. The first five finishers all came within 1 second of each other. Reid scored the only points by a Villanova athlete at this year's national meet.

Full results are:

Event 25 Women 1500 Meter Run

===================================================
2 Heats. Advance top 5 from each heat plus next best 2 times
American: A 3:57.12 7/26/1983 Mary Slaney, Athletics West
College Best: C 3:59.90 6/7/2009 Jenny Barringer, Colorado
NCAA Meet: M 4:06.19 6/14/2008 Hannah England, Fla State
Hayward: S 3:59.19 1984 Mary Slaney, USA
Name Year School Finals Points
===================================================

Finals
1 Charlotte Browning SR Florida 4:15.84 10
2 Gabriele Anderson SR Minnesota 4:16.25 8
3 Jordan Hasay FR Oregon 4:16.43 6
4 Sheila Reid SO Villanova 4:16.66 5
5 Pilar McShine SR Florida State 4:16.72 4
6 Karly Hamric SR West Virginia 4:17.78 3
7 Lauren Bonds SR Kansas 4:18.06 2
8 Lucy Van Dalen JR Stony Brook-SUNY 4:18.42 1
9 Keri Bland JR West Virginia 4:19.98
10 Katie Follett SR Washington 4:20.19
11 Alex Kosinski JR Oregon 4:20.93
12 Brenda Martinez SR Riverside 4:25.60

Interview with Sheila Reid after Qualifying for 1500 Finals

Rhines 2nd at Gate River Run 15K

This race in Jacksonville, FL served as the USA 15K championship. The folks at LetsRun.com described it this way:

With this year's race once again featuring the Equalizer Bonus, the elite women's race started five minutes before the rest of the field. At the start, clear, cool conditions met more than 13,000 runners as McGregor and two-time champion Jen Rhines (Mammoth, Calif.), 2006 champion Blake Russell (Monterey, Calif.), 2008 Olympian Magdalena Lewy Boulet (Oakland, Calif.) and 2004 Olympian Colleen De Reuck (Boulder, Colo.) led more than 45 of the top U.S. women through the opening miles.

By five miles, McGregor and Rhines had pulled away from the field and were in a two woman race for the championship. Approaching six miles, McGregor made her move and began to pull away from Rhines.

As she made her way up the famous Hart Bridge, McGregor steadily extended her lead and cruised to the finish 36 seconds ahead of Rhines. Boulet held on to take third in 50:38 as De Reuck took fourth in 50:50 and Rebecca Donaghue (State College, Pa.) finished fifth in 51:12.

Here are the top 10 women finishers:

2010 - Gate River Run

Katie McGregor - Minneapolis, MN 29 49:51
Jen Rhines - Mammoth Lakes, CA 35 50:27
Magdalena Lewy-Boulet - Oakland, CA 36 50:39
Colleen De Reuck - Boulder, CO 45 50:51
Rebecca Donaghue - Happy Valley, PA 34 51:13
Renee Metivier-Baillie - Boulder, CO 28 51:37
Blake Russell - Pacific Grove, CA 34 51:46
Amy Hastings - Mammoth Lakes, CA 26 51:55
Lindsey Anderson - South Ogden, UT 24 51:56
Kelly Jaske - Portland, OR 33 51:58

A Conversation with Mark Belger

Reflections with Middle Distance Great Mark Belger

BY Gina Giacopuzzi
Saturday, 23 May 2009

From Mark Belger’s newly remodeled house in Pacific Beach, it is only a short walk to Mika Sushi, where he walks in the door, waves to the chef, and shows me a picture of him and his daughter on the wall. In the space of a few blocks, I had already learned that Belger tried running because he got “kicked out” of other sports, that he set age-group world records when he was 15, 16 and 17, and that both his daughters received college scholarships for following in their father’s footsteps.

Over an off-menu sushi roll and Sapporo beers, Belger tells me stories of the races that he ran (Penn Relays, 800 meters) and the ones that he didn’t (most notably, the 1980 Olympics, due to a U.S. boycott of the games). One thing I notice, over and over again, is Belger’s use of the word “fun”. He uses it in every story of every race.

“Racing was the part I liked,” Belger said. “Training was the hard part…I trained less than most.”

Belger grew up on Long Island in what he calls a “strict, middle-income” family. He stopped playing football when he hurt his jaw, stopped wrestling when he dislocated his fingers, and stopped playing soccer when he broke his toes. His dad told him, “you have to do some after-school activity,” so Belger began running in junior high. He received his first trophy running 600 meters during a President Kennedy Fitness test.

Belger enjoyed middle distances, setting three age group records in what was then the 880-meter at his high school, W.C. Mepham. He was persuaded to go out for cross-country, which he admits he approached with the same philosophy as middle-distance running.

“The first time I had to run two miles, I quit,” Belger laughed. “I was running as hard as I could as long as I could.” Innately, he said, he worked hard and had a hard time pacing himself. However, he managed to return to cross-country at the prodding of his coach. In his first junior varsity race, which was in the shape of a figure-8, Belger remembers staying right behind the front of the pack until he took a wrong turn. When he realized his mistake, Belger turned around and ran as fast as he could to win first place.

That tenacity and persistence paid off on college, which Belger attended at Villanova under famed coach James (Jumbo) Elliott.

“All coaches give you a rope,” Belger said. “It’s up to you if you want to hang yourself or swing with it.”

At Villanova, Belger ran the 800 meter and “lots of relays”.

“When weekends came around, I ran four to five races,” he remembers. “The ability to run that many races was my treasure. I loved relays, it’s like tag. You can tell when you’re going to beat somebody… from the warm-up, I’d put my eye on somebody and think, ‘I got him.’”

Belger set a record for the most Penn Relay titles, earning 10 coveted gold watches. “You don’t lose the Penns,” he jokes, but I can tell he’s completely serious. He never lost a race in the four years he participated. Belger made Sports Illustrated when he set the record in 1978, leading Villanova to five victories out of five races. He was inducted into the Penn Relays Wall of Fame in 1994.

“In college, our team had a lot of depth,” Belger said. “We trained together really well… Because we trained fast, we were well-honed.” At the ICA4 Championships, he ran five back-to-back races. Going into the 800-meter finals, the last race, Belger felt a little queasy at the beginning of the stagger lanes. He raised his hand, asking for a delay of the start, went and barfed, and returned to the starting line-up.

“I remember turning around in the stagger lanes, looking at the other guys, and they were slack-jawed,” Belger said, laughing. “They couldn’t believe it.”

Although he was less infatuated with training than he was with racing, Belger learned to train smart. He’s surprised by how many runners would hit the course without knowing the race.

“Going to bed at night, I visualized any and every possibility,” he said. “Then, when you get to the race, nothing’s new. You’ve already run it.”

At the Olympic Trials in 1976, Belger used that strategy---and his knowledge of opponent Keith Francis---to place fourth.

“I knew exactly how it was going to go,” Belger said. “I waited until the back straightaway, because Keith Francis always ran wide on the back straightaway. I came out of the turn in front, and then I hit a wall---I was just telling myself, ‘left, right, left, right.’”

Belger went on to become the NCAA 800-meter champion in 1978.

After college, Belger moved to Boston, where he worked in “econometrics”--- he helped to forecast the price of raw materials for the auto industry and developers. He remembers showing up at a Boston Athletics Association workout, where the coach told him his proposed quarter-mile workouts were a bad idea. Belger proceeded to run both of the BAA workouts and then run his quarters.

Just after completing college in 1979, he also had the opportunity to run against Villanova’s other star---Don Paige, whom Elliott had never allowed Belger to compete against. Belger could ask meet directors for an appearance list. He specifically asked the director of a meet at Madison Square Garden to set up a matchup with Paige. Although Belger tried to contain his energy, he said before the 1000-yard race, “I don’t think it’s gonna take a world record to beat Paige, but it’ll take a world record to beat me.”

The race was widely publicized, and Belger and Paige made the centerfold of Sports Illustrated. Belger held the lead for much of the race, only to be passed by Paige in the last three laps. Paige set a World Indoor Record.

Belger hit the travel circuit of post-collegiate racing, becoming familiar with running races with jet lag. He’d run a Friday night race in New York, pass through Chicago to run one on Saturday, and hit a Sunday race in Los Angeles. He enjoyed running in New York, which he said was a different experience altogether.

“One of my first races in Europe, I ran flat-out and set a personal record,” he said. “I still came in dead last! I saw people run faster than our pros, and I’d never heard of them.”

Belger enjoyed the international feel of running in Europe, compared to the spread-out invitationals in the U.S. He visited more zoos than perhaps any other American runner.

“What? I liked zoos!” He said. “People want to do what reminds them of home.”

Nowadays, Belger doesn’t do much running. He leaves that to his daughters and his wife Mimi, who join him for hill runs and strides at Kate Sessions Park on Saturdays. Any runner who wants to improve their running mechanics can learn from Belger at “the hill”. Even though the workouts are held on Saturdays, they often include a sermon from the Godfather of San Diego Running, Mr. Steve Holl.

Belger explains that strides are the key to improving running form and speed. The uphill running portion of the workout is necessary to isolate and blast one small muscle—the heart.

His eldest daughter, Erin, received a scholarship to UC Berkeley and competed in the Pac-10s and the NCAAs. Sarah, his next youngest, came back from a horrible knee-injury post high school to receive a cross-country/track scholarship at San Diego State her senior year.

“The fruit didn't fall far from the tree as far as their ability and commitment went... and in the end it paid off by providing structure, travel, a college education and other rewards,” Belger said. “Any passion suited to an individual's talents is a good thing… I'm just glad my daughters grew up with the experience that hard work and dedication has a positive effect.”

Belger is optimistic about track and field in the U.S. today, and he hopes some things never change.

“I’m old school,” he said. “You draw a starting line in the dirt, hoist a flag on the other side of the field, throw in a few obstacles, maybe even a good rain shower, drop the temperature to 40 degrees and pull the trigger. I'd say you have a race... Throw on a jersey with the name of your school across your chest and tie on a borrowed pair of spikes to your feet and I'm in heaven.”

Carey Pinkowski on Jumbo Elliott

Carey Pinkowski was an All-American at Villanova in the 1970s, and has been the race director of the Chicago Marathon since 1990. At Hammond (IN) High School he was State Champion twice in both cross-country and the mile. His best times were 4:12 for the mile and 8:56 for two miles. With his teammates, Tim Keogh and Rudy Chapa, he is part of the only trio of runners from one high school to break 9:00 for two miles in the same year. At Villanova, he had personal bests of 4:00.8 for the mile, 13:48 for 5,000 meters and 29:12 for 10,000 meters. In a recent interview, he spoke about the Villanova program and running for Jumbo Elliott:

Q: You were a very good collegiate runner at Villanova with personal bests of 13:48 for 5,000 meters and 29:12 for 10,000 meters. Additionally, you ran on a Penn Relay 4 x 1,500 meter winning squad which included Sydney Maree and an IC4A distance medley winning foursome with the legendary Indoor Mile World Record Holder Eamonn Coghlan. Your coach was the renowned Jumbo Elliott. How did your coach and being around many dedicated, top-notch runners help you develop as an athlete and person?

Carey Pinkowski: Running for Villanova and Jumbo Elliott for four years was a great experience as we were IC4A and NCAA team champions at various times. To be coached by Jumbo Elliott was fantastic. I ran all of the distances and made All-American a couple times so it was a great career with wonderful teammates. The indoor schedule was very enriched by running big meets like the Olympic Invitational and Millrose Games. Jumbo’s philosophy wasn’t complicated. It was a specific routine where he tried to keep us healthy because one of the challenges was in having so many great athletes that we could get competitive in practice. The tradition of Villanova and of Coach Elliott was very impressive. When I ran there he was the only track coach Villanova had ever had as he ran there and coached the team while he was running. Then he just continued after graduating for many, many years. He had a marvelous personality and a great sense of humor and wanted to see his Villanova runners continue that tradition. He could get angry, but he liked to laugh and keep things on the light side. He expected things from his athletes but didn’t put on undue pressure. It was more like, ‘You’re here and you know what to do and lets see you do it.’ Jumbo’s philosophy was that life wasn’t just about athletics but that we should enjoy the school atmosphere, the friends we make and the people we meet because when you finish with school your life will change dramatically.