Fast conditions await Team USA
USATF Release
DUBLIN 3/22/02 - The 36 athletes comprising Team USA on Friday
took their
initial look at the Leopardstown Racecourse used for this weekend's
30th
running of the IAAF World Cross Country Championships March 23-24
in Dublin,
Ireland.
The Championships begin Saturday with the Junior Women's 6K competition,
followed by the Senior Men's 4K race and the Senior Women's 8K.
Action
continues on Sunday with the Junior Men's 8K race, followed by the
Senior
Women's 4K, and concludes with the Senior Men's 12K race.
Under ideal distance running conditions that met the athletes
at
Leopardstown, Team USA's athletes familiarized themselves with the
race
course. Temperatures in Dublin under partly sunny skies reached
the
mid-50s, with a slight but not significant breeze. The weather forecast
for
this weekend is for temperatures in the mid-50s.
"The course exceeds my expectation,” said five-time
U.S. long-course
champion Deena Drossin. “It's in such great condition. It's
a little soft,
but not the muddiness that we were expecting, and not as hilly as
we
thought. The only thing that might be deceiving is the finishing
hill, if
you want to call it that. It's long and deceiving and rises gradually,
and
if you kick too early, it might come back and get you. The first
600 meters
is really rutty; there's going to be a stretch each lap of a quarter-mile
where you are really going to have to concentrate on the ground
ahead of
you, and not directly on the person in front of you. Other than
that, it
feels like a well-manicured golf course."
Defending U.S. 10000m champion Abdi Abdirahman also expressed
rave reviews
about the Leopardstown Racecourse. "It's one of the best courses
I've seen
in a long time, except for the NCAA championships course a few years
ago in
Lawrence, Kansas. It's a well-designed course, and it's going to
be a fast
race. I'm gonna have to be ready to go out hard, and be ready to
stay with
the lead group for as long as I can."
"The course is a lot better than I expected, and as a track
runner, I'm
excited that there aren't that many hills on the course,” said
three-time
Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton. “It's a lot flatter than I thought,
and it's
going to be a quick race. But, the first 600 is going to be the
toughest.
It's taller grass, and the footing is going to be a little rough.
You are
going to have to be careful to watch your footing. As long as the
rain
holds out, we're in really good shape." Favor Hamilton will
be competing in
her first World Cross Country Championships in Sunday’s Senior
Women’s 4K.
"The first half-mile is a slight uphill, and you can see the
hoof prints
from the horses on the ground. You don't want to get your foot caught.
That's the scariest part of the course."
U.S. long-course champion and American 10000m record holder Meb
Keflezighi
said that the start of the race will be crucial for him and his
fellow Team
USA members in establishing positioning, especially in light of
the rough
grass at the start of the race.
"I want to be out in the top 15, so positioning will be very
important. I
want to be in the lead pack at the start, so I'm going to have to
move along
to the front, and I'm gonna have to work."
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