Karen Steen travelled to the USATF National
Championships in Boston to race in a masters Invitational Mile.
Karen was the 2004 National 1500m champion and was the favorite
in the race. The race went very well, though there were plenty
of anxious moments. The pack went out very slowly and Karen got
trapped in against the curb. They passed through 1/2 mile in
2:39, almost 2:40, and Karen knew that this was way too slow.
(Picture)
She somehow got free and began to push the pace, splitting up
the group and taking the 3 leaders through in 76 seconds. She
led for the next lap (200m), and then Mary Thane of the Mountain
West Track Club, and a terrific 800m runner, shot on by! Karen
was taken back but tried to mount a charge of her own. By the
end of the backstretch she could see she was gaining, but
slowly.
Then in the final turn she started her own sprint. She got ready
to pass by going up into the 2nd, banked lane and then she
acclerating down the ramp, catching Thane with 20m to go and
winning by 0.5 seconds. Karen's final 400m was in 72 seconds.
Sarah Kramer took third, only 1 second back. Karen has been
invited to compete in another Invitational Mile at the USATF
outdoor championships in Carson, CA, in June.
The Smelt Run 5K and 10K were held in LaConner and CNW athletes
fared very well. The 10K was won by masters runner Paul Abdalla
in 33:36. It was foggy and visiblity was poor so this was sort
of an existential run for Paul.
Masters runner John O'Hearn ran the 5K and was leading at the
halfway point
(8:02) but was passed by a young runner who took a wrong turn
coming back, sending John and others in the chase pack off
course. The wrong turn cut off ~100m and John finished in 2nd in
15:25.
Paul Mach and Jason Porter raced in the distance medley held for
NCAA Division II schools on Saturday at the Dempsey Center on
the UW campus. Paul ran the 800m and was in control the entire
way, leading by 20m most of the way.
Jason ran very well but had some stiff competition as he got
passed by Seattle Pacific Univeristy's Tim LeCount, with LeCount
running 4:19 to Porter's 4:20.
Their team finished 2nd, behind SPU.
