Matt Tegenkamp Does The 20k - Wins 2012 USA 20km Title In American Course Record Time Of 58:30
Luke Puskedra's Bold Early Running Nets Him Second As Renee Metivier Baillie Wins Women's Title In 67:08
By LetsRun.com.
September 3, 2012
Editor's note: This recap is based off of live updates provided by Ross Krempley of Runnerspace. He'll be posting race videos, full results and post-race interviews on his US 20km web page soon.
For years, it was said that American Matt Tegenkamp, who was known for his 5,000-meter prowess, didn't do the 10k. Well, that maxim fell by the wayside in 2011 and he was an Olympian in London this year at 10,000.
He apparently does pretty well at the 20k distance as well, as he captured the 2012 US 20k title this morning in his debut at the distance by winning the Stratton-Faxon New Haven Road Race in an American course record time of 58:30 (previous best time for an American on the course was 58:42 set by Abdi Abdirahman in 2005; Khalid Khannouchi set a then world record of 57:37 in 1997 in New Haven before he was an American).
In the process, the 30-year-old Tegenkamp denied former Oregon runner Luke Puskedra, who wasn't listed on the USATF's entry list and was thus a surprise entrant for us but had run a brilliant 61:36 in Houston in January while still a collegian (a 61:30 would make him top 10 all time in the US), his first professional US title. Puskedra's bold early pace resulted in the times up front being really quick as he led the race for the first 10 miles. Puskedra ended up a much-deserved second in 58:48. Three former Kenyans took spots three through five and all ran 1 hour or faster as Augustus Maiyo ended up third in 59:39 with Joseph Chirlee fourth in 59:54 and Robert Cheseret fifth in 60:00.
Puskedra may not have won but he showed that he's definitely going to be a force to be reckoned with on the roads for years to come. After a large lead pack of men ran a quick opening mile of 4:33, Puskedra kept the pressure on during mile two, which he ran in 4:44 to get the lead. By five miles in 23:10 (which is 57:34 pace), Puskedra was maybe 20 seconds clear of the field. Puskedra hit 10k in approximately 28:53 and still led Tegenkamp and Chirlee, who had run 27:43 for 10,000 earlier this year, by 15 seconds (their time was reported to be 29:08). At 9 miles, Puskedra's pace had slowed a bit (42:02, which is 58:02 pace) and Tegenkamp was just six seconds back. By 10 miles (47:10), Tegenkamp had caught Puskedra. The two would run together (going through mile 11 in 52:00) until Tegenkamp pulled away in the last half mile to get a comfortable win.
The 2012 women's 20km title was won by Renee Metivier Baillie in 67:08 with Molly Pritz (67:21), Stephanie Rothstein (67:59) and Serena Burla (68:54) rounding out the top four - all under 69 as well.
How Good Is 58:30 For 20k?
It appears that Teg's 58:30 time is the second-fastest 20k race ever run by an American. The only faster 20km race ever run by an American was run by Ryan Hall - a 57:54 back in 2006 in Europe. But many Americans have run faster than 58:30 en route in half marathons. Here are five that we came up with pretty quickly (plus Hall must have come through in about 56:36 in his 59:43 AR half).
56:48+ Dathan Ritzenhein USA 30.12.82 4 Birmingham 11.10.2009 57:29+ Galen Rupp USA 08.05.86 1= New York City 20.03.2011 57:46+ Mohamed Trafeh USA 01.05.85 2 New York City 21.03.2010 57:52+ Meb Keflezighi USA 05.05.75 1 San Jose 04.10.2009 58:19a+ Abdihakem Abdirahman USA 01.01.77 2= Newcastle-South Shields 05.10.2008
According to LetsRun.com stat/coaching guru John Kellogg, a 58:30 20k (assuming a completely flat course, which New Haven isn't) is equivalent to just under 28:00 for 10,000 - his chart gives about 27:59.2 for 10,000 on the track and 2:11:48 for the marathon.
Update: Top 15 results are being reported as follows
More on Runnerspace.
More: MB: USA 20K Results
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