Justin Young to chase berth on U.S. World Marathon Team at Tokyo Marathon
By: Boulder Wave, Inc.
February 25, 2009
Justin Young of Superior,
Colorado, will compete in Japan's prestigious Tokyo Marathon on March
22nd in an effort to secure a spot on the U.S. marathon team that will
compete at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics this summer in
Berlin, Germany.
Young, the third-fastest American marathoner of 2008, made a series of
breakthroughs in 2008, beginning with a personal best 63:58 at the
Aramco Houston Half Marathon in January, followed by a 6th-place finish
in 47:49 in Japans highly competitive Himeji Castle 10-Mile, sticking
with Japanese national recordholder and eventual winner Toshinari
Takaoka until the final 400m.
In the Rotterdam Marathon last April, the main focus of his 2008 Springseason, Young demolished his marathon best with a 2:13:54 effort,
placing him behind only Olympians Ryan Hall and Dathan Ritzenheim on
the final 2008 U.S. performance list.
Kicking off his 2009 season strongly with another personal best for the
half-marathon distance, running 63:35 at the USA Half-Marathon
Championships in Houston last month, Young looks primed to step up
another level in Japan. "Opportunities like racing at the Tokyo
Marathon do not come often - some runners never have an opportunity
like this. So the fact that this is something special is what I have
focused on during the months of training leading up to the race. My
preparations have been exceptional, and I have built upon my fitness
each and every year of my marathon career. I sincerely believe that
with my training, such a quality race organization, and a talented
field -- everything is set up to have a major breakthrough. It's just a
matter of believing that anything is possible."
Justin is very much in contention for one of the three remaining spotson the US team for Berlin. Jim Estes, the USATF Associate Director of
Marketing and Long Distance Running Programs, notes, "It's great to
hear about Justin's invitation to compete in Tokyo. Given the field
that the organizers have assembled, Justin has a great opportunity to
secure a spot on the Team USA marathon squad for the World
Championships."
Over this past winter, Justin signed with Team Strands, a new club sponsored by Corvallis, Oregon, based company Strands (www.strands.com). Team members are outfitted by Puma (www.puma.com). Further information on the club is available at http://team.strands.com/
Young is represented by Boulder, Colorado, sports agency Boulder Wave, Inc. (www.boulderwave.com).
In the past ten Olympic Games and World Championships, Boulder Wave has
helped its athletes win nine marathon medals, including reigning
Beijing Olympic gold medalist Constantina Dita. In addition to Justin,
the company will have four other athletes compete in Tokyo: Two-time
Tokyo champion Daniel Njenga of Kenya; 2007 and 2008 Vienna City
Marathon champion Luminita Talpos of Longmont and Romania; James Mwangi
of Kenya; and 2008 Honolulu Marathon champion Kiyoko Shimahara of Japan.