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About Event

The 36th IAAF World XC Championships
Edinburgh, Scotland

1:00 - Junior Women's 6 km
1:30 - Junior Men's 8 km
2:05 - Senior Women's 8 km
2:45 - Senior Men's 12 km

USA Roster:

Senior Men
Jorge Torres (Boulder, Colo.)
Edwardo Torres (Boulder, Colo.)
Ed Moran (Williamsburg, Va.)
Josh Rohatinsky (Portland, Ore.)
James Carney (Boulder, Colo.)
Max King (Eugene, Ore.)
Ryan Bak (Eugene, Ore.)
Scott Bauhs (Chico, Calif.)
Jonathan Pierce (Blowing Rock, N.C.)

Senior Women
Katie McGregor (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Renee Metivier-Baillie (Boulder, Colo.)
Kathy Newberry (Williamsburg, Va.)
Amy Hastings (Flagstaff, Ariz.)
Emily Brown (Minneapolis, Minn.)
Molly Huddle (Providence, R.I.)

Junior Men
German Fernandez (Riverbank, Calif.)
Ryan Sheridan (New Rochelle, N.Y.)
Emil Heineking (Hartsgrove, Ohio)
Bobby Moldovan (Fort Wayne, Ind.)
Kevin Williams (Lakewood, Colo.)
Benjamin Johnson (Albuquerque, N.M.)

Junior Women
Alex Gits (Edina, Minn.)
Emily Reese (Chamblee, Ga.)
Marissa Treece (Maple City, Mich.)
Emily Schwitzer (Minnetonka, Minn.)
Lauren Saylor (Clovis, Calif.)
Laurynne Chetelat (Davis, Calif.)

Team Staff
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Info

 
Official website
Sport: Cross Country
Level: Pro/Semi Pro
Location: Europe
Start: Mar 30th 2008
Tags: world-xc
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2008 World XC Race Videos!

Women's Race:

4th of 4 parts - The Finish

3rd of 4 parts

2nd of 4 parts

1st of 4 parts

 

The Drama of Last Year

Eritrea -Mombasa, Kenya - Somewhat lost in the shock of Kenenisa Bekele's departure during the waning moments of men's 12 km race at the 35th IAAF World Cross Country Championships, was the power, poise and determination displayed by Zersenay Tadesse, the man who succeeded him as World champion, by winning in an outstanding fashion. Consider this: Despite the brutal racing conditions, Bekele was competing as we'd come to expect, confidently biding his time before making his decisive move to claim a record sixth straight title. But then things began to unravel very quickly.

 

After experiencing some "stomach problems", Bekele said, "Suddenly, I felt that my coordination was not good and that my mind was dizzy. I even started to doubt about how many laps I still had to run." Confusion began to cloud his mind, Bekele said, "and I felt that I lost all my energy. I was slowing down and felt that I was losing control over my body as well as my mind. This is why I decided to stop the race."

In contrast, Tadesse's performance over those pivotal final two kilometres was the polar opposite. Instead of slowing, he upped the pace and forged on, seemingly oblivious to the conditions that would eventually force 82 runners to drop out -- nearly 18 percent of all those who toed the start line in their four respective races. If cross country provides the truest test of a runner's ability to race on all surfaces and under all conditions, then the 25-year-old Eritrean made a few very significant strides towards joining the discipline's all-time greats when he brought Bekele's half decade reign to an abrupt and dramatic end.

For his part, Tadesse humblingly shrugged of notions that he is now cross country's standard bearer, and instead focused on what his achievement would mean for his small east African nation (ERITREA) of 4.5 million.


"I just feel very happy and proud for all Eritreans," the personable Tadesse said, just minutes after he was mobbed by a ecstatic group of fans who had traveled to Mombasa with hopes of witnessing what was previously deemed impossible.

Tadesse's only been running seriously since 2002 - before that his sporting ambitions lied with cycling - and with his recent string of successes, it's not particularly surprising that he's managed to lead a surge of interest in athletics in his small homeland. His bronze medal in the 10,000m at the 2004 Olympic Games was the first ever Olympic medal of any kind for Eritrea; his World Road Running title in Debrecen last October was the country's first global title in any sport.

And success apparently does breed success. Both the Eritrean junior squads produced solid silver medal performances in the team battle, defeating the better regarded Ethiopian squads into third. Behind Tadesse, the men's senior team was a distant fourth.


After winning each of the last two World titles available to him, both by wide margines, Tadesse will now focus on the next: the World Championships 10,000 metres in Osaka in August where the aim will be once again to dethrone Bekele. With hot conditions expected there --a s well as in Beijing in 2008 - the Eritrean will certainly command the attention that he now so firmly deserves.

 

 

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Latest Blog by 2008 World XC Championships attendee Maximus

Edinburgh (Edin-"burra")

It's pissing rain outside on the eve of one of the best experiences one can have as a long distance runner. Unfortunately it hasn't been pissing enough. The WXC course, while tough, it's not all that muddy. The locals that I've been coaxing to get out there tonight with hoses or turn the sprinklers on says that there is still a chance the weather could turn and I might not have to go home disappointed. Well, I hope they're right. We'll see. It's still a good course. The grass is a bit soft and the footing is uneven. The hill is great, a rocky section on the upside, a quick turn and a leg burning 15ft section at the top, and thick uneven grass down the backside. I'm definitely looking forward to it and hoping that I will do well.

Enough about that. Edinburgh is a beautiful city. Walking through old town takes you back to midevel times, the uneven cobbles, narrow pathways between buildings, the patchwork of various masons leaving their mark through time. One building might be from the 1300s and another from the 1600s. Its amazing. The only thing that might be a bit out of place are the dance clubs that fill in the darkest corners of some of these streets, I was going to say bars but that probably wasn't out of place 400 years ago. I'm saving most of my tourist stuff for next week since I'm staying an extra three days but I am in the market for a kilt. Hopefully I can find one cheap enough. I've seen some for as much as £599. Whoa. That would break the bank faster than two shakes of a sheep's tail. (heard that from a local earlier today)

Edinburgh would also be a great place to train, that is if you don't mind training in Eugene weather. The weather sucks but it's an awesome place to run with multiple parks and grassy areas that would be great for workouts. I'll get some video out next week of where we've been running to give you a feel for it.

So I'm also a moron and packed my computer all this way only to forget the power cable. Doh! So no pictures or video from this side of the world until I get back. So long for now. I'll try to get something down after that race tomorrow.

Last Updated: Mar 29 2008, 03:51 PM
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Viewing Page 1 of 1 - 1 posts total
Mar 21 2008, 06:06 PM, Maximus wrote:

Since I'll happen to be at the race and hanging out for the week, if you are curious about what we do in the days leading up to the race I'll write about the experience each day and post a blog on this page. If there are other questions that anyone has please post them here and I'll be happy to answer them the best I can. Ask me about Edinburgh, the course, what I had for dinner, or if Kenny B was fortunate enough to share an elevator with me. Whatever, just post it here. It's coming up quick, we're leaving Tuesday.

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