FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ryan Hall, Dathan Ritzenhein teleconference excerpts
INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 13, 2008) - USA Track & Field served as the host to a
media teleconference Wednesday afternoon featuring Team USA men's squad
members for the 2008 Olympic Marathon in Beijing, China, Ryan Hall and
Dathan Ritzenhein.
Hall and Ritzenhein discussed their preparations for the 2008 USA Cross
Country Championships in San Diego on Saturday, where both open and junior
men and women will look to earn a spot on the Team USA squad for the 2008
IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh, Scotland, on March 30.
The championships in San Diego will feature six races that will determine
national champions for masters men and women; junior men and women; and
open men and women. The event will be televised in association with the
AT&T USA Indoor Track & Field Championships February 24, from 5-7 p.m. on
ESPN 2.
Excerpts from Wednesday's teleconference with Ryan Hall and Dathan
Ritzenhein follow:
Q: Ryan could you discuss how your preparations have been going for
Saturday's race?
A: I'm feeling really good. I've been training hard at altitude and
this race is coming right at the perfect time. I'm probably a little ahead
of where I need to be at this point, so it's a good opportunity for me to
rest up for a week and then gear back up for training after the race.
Q: Dathan, you've competed in cross country already this year. How has
that prepared you for the race on Saturday?
A: I was able to come over in mid-January and take a look at the
course, which is going to be the same course for World Cross Country in
Edinburgh, and I actually came off of that a little banged up the last
couple weeks. It's a very difficult course. It's very technical and
extreme. I came away a little sore with my IT-band afterwards, so I spent a
couple weeks training on the anti-gravity treadmill that we have. I'm still
not 100% yet, but I'm feeling that I'm getting used to getting my feet back
on the ground and putting an effort out there.
Q: Dathan, did you get hurt in Edinburgh or here in San Diego?
A: After the marathon trials in November I kind of took it easy for a
while and visited my parents back in Michigan for a long time, almost a
month. I just kind of went over there, not in incredible shape over
to Edinburgh in mid-January and probably wasn't ready to run on that
difficult of a course and got a little banged up while I was at it and
then I was able to come back home here and get on our ultra-G treadmill
that we have and I trained really hard on it and trained really well. My
fitness is really good, I just haven't been able to quite do the normal
things I would do coming up to this race.
Q: Dathan, how confident are you that you can finish in the top nine
this weekend and qualify for the U.S. team for worlds?
A: I really think, actually, that my fitness is really good. I've had a
lot of success in the past coming off the treadmill and running well. I
think it's actually has some extra benefit to it sometimes. It's just kind
of a little different feeling at the same time. I still feel that my leg is
not 100%. I'm not really worried about my fitness at all, because I know
that's really good. I know that if I can just get into the race and have
everything be feeling good, then I'll be really confident.
Q: Dathan, what makes the course in Edinburgh so difficult?
A: The thing that really makes it difficult is there's a very, very
steep uphill and a very steep downhill that's probably 100 meters long, at
least, uphill, and maybe 150 meters downhill, and it's on very uneven
terrain and it's very steep, and you have to go over a ditch a couple
times. There's also some abrupt changes in the surface, so you hit them
going really fast and it can jar you pretty good.
Q: Ryan, did your attitude about yourself as a runner change after the
Olympic Trials when you made the team?
A: No, not really. I'm just trying to continue to do what I've been
doing in working hard day in and day out, and really looking to the next
level and aspiring to winning a medal in Beijing. My perception hasn't
changed too much.
Q: How about you Dathan?
A: I think, more than anything, I feel a lot more relaxed right now.
Usually at this time of year things start getting going and knowing that
making the team is already there helps relieve a lot of the pressure.
Usually I really don't enjoy working on the treadmill and things like that,
but I've really been able to enjoy that stuff because I'm not really
sweating it now because that part is locked in and I can just look forward
to doing the best I can there (Beijing Olympics) and that's the ultimate
goal for the year.
Q: What are your plans leading up to the Olympic Games?
A: (Hall) My plans are to run in the London Marathon coming up April
13th. Then I'm not really sure what I'll end up doing after that.
A: (Ritzenhein) Hopefully I'll run World Cross and then take a little
bit of a break and kind of recharge before the big training begins for the
marathon.
Q: What are your concerns about the pollution issues in Beijing? If the
conditions are really bad, could you see yourselves pulling out of the
race?
A: (Ritzenhein) Definitely not. I don't think anybody who makes the
team will consider not running because of the pollution. This is an
opportunity that comes around every four years and you really don't know
how many times you'll have that opportunity. No matter what the
consequences are, and I've said it before, if it was in Antarctica we'd
still be ready to roll because it's the Olympics. It (the pollution) is one
more obstacle, but it can really level the playing field to a lot of us as
well.
A: (Hall) I don't really think about it at all except when reporters
ask us about it because everyone has to run in it. It's going to affect us
all, we're all going to be out there going through the same thing and it's
really outside of our control, so I don't find any point in worrying about
it.
For complete bios on Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenhein, and more information
on the 2008 USA Cross Country Championships in San Diego, visit:
www.usatf.org.
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