BOULDER — Deena Kastor arguably is the greatest female distance runner the United States has produced. Ryan Hall has accomplished things the past year that suggest he has the same sort of greatness within him.
But America’s top marathoners aren’t superhuman, even if it sometimes seems they are.
Both competed in Monday’s Bolder Boulder after spending the past few weeks in marathon-recovery mode, and neither had the leg speed to mix it up with the leaders on a cool, damp day conducive to fast times. If anything, their mere presence so soon after key April marathons paid the 30th Bolder Boulder and its massive throng of citizen runners — with a record 54,040 entries — the ultimate compliment.
“I think we really just wanted to be part of this race,” said Kastor, who won the Olympic marathon trials in Boston just over five weeks ago. “For the entire year, this is our job, it’s our profession to go to races, but we really felt deep in our hearts that this is more of a celebration of running. This is our reward for a year of hard work, and we wouldn’t want to spend Memorial Day any other way.”
Kastor, a bronze medalist in the marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympics, finished seventh in a women’s pro race won by Millicent Gathoni of Kenya. Hall was 14th in the men’s event, won by defending champion Ridouane Harroufi of Morocco with a thrilling kick just before the leaders entered Folsom Field. Colorado grad Jorge Torres was the top U.S. finisher in the men’s race (12th).
Hall, the men’s Olympic trials winner in November, was only six weeks removed from the London Marathon, where he ran the fastest marathon for an American-born runner — 2 hours, 6 minutes, 17 seconds. Like Kastor, his top priority is the Beijing Olympic marathon in August.
“I thought if I ran about 30 minutes, that would be great,” said Hall, who finished in 30:07. “I’ve only been doing workouts for two weeks, so that’s a pretty good run. If I’m running a super-good 10K right now, that means I’m going to be flat come Beijing. I came out here to check this out, have fun with it, get a taste of it, and one year I’m going to come back here and really rock it.”
Kastor is a three-time Bolder Boulder winner but was making her first return since 2003. Hall, who ran for Stanford, was visiting Boulder for the first time.
“It was great, I love Boulder,” Hall said. “When I was out running, I was thinking I wish I came to school here, it’s so beautiful, so I’m looking forward to coming back.”
Neither runner prepared like someone expecting to win. Kastor went for a 14-mile run Saturday on the famous Switzerland Trail high in the foothills west of Boulder. Hall did a 10-mile tempo run last Friday.
“I wasn’t exactly backing down for this one,” Hall said. “I’ve only done two interval sessions (since London), so to come out here and expect to run any faster than this would be unrealistic.”
Some even speculated Hall and Kastor competed, at a less than opportune time in their training cycles, to collect appearance fees. Race director Cliff Bosley and Joe Vigil, a legendary coach and close adviser to both racers, said no appearance fees were paid.
“To run a 10K road race against the caliber of competition they had here is a tall order,” said Vigil, who has two doctorate degrees in exercise physiology. “You have to be pretty close to the top of your game physiologically. But because Deena had such an affection for this race, and Ryan wanted to run it because it’s a new experience for him, they both came. From a coaching standpoint, they certainly were not ready to run a winning race.”
Running can be humbling — even for the best. Kastor took Monday’s result as a kick-start.
“I think we’re pretty good about keeping it in perspective,” Kastor said. “Our sights are on Beijing this summer. It definitely makes us hungry to get home and get some work under our belts. I think this is the benchmark day, giving us a little kick in the rear and getting us going.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
