7/25/08
Reported By Peter Gambaccini
Photo by Victah Sailer

Dathan Ritzenhein, who is a 2008 U.S. Olympic marathoner after his second place 2:11:07 at the U.SMen’s Olympic Marathon Trials in New York in November, is running the NYC Half-Marathon Presented by NIKE on Sunday (July 27). Ritzenhein became the 2008 USA Cross Country champion in February in San Diego; he’d also won that title in 2005. He was eighth in the 10,000 at the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in Eugene in 28:05.31. Ritzenhein set a course record of 28:08 in winning the 2007 Healthy Kidney 10K in New York. His marathon debut was an 11th place 2:14:01 in New York City in 2006. He has run 13:16.61 for 5000 meters, 27:35.65 for 10,000, and 1:01:26 for the half-marathon. He was the 2003 NCAA Cross Country champion while at the University of Colorado, and a 2004 U.S. Olympian in the 10,000. Ritzenhein was a bronze medalist in World Junior Cross Country in 2000 and a two-time Foot Locker Cross Country champion while in high school in Michigan. He and his wife Kalin, also a former University of Colorado All-American, reside with their daughter Addison in Eugene, Oregon. Ritzenhein spoke to reporters by teleconference on Thursday.