RUNNING FOR GLORY

Dathan Ritzenhein Continues to Outpace the Competition

by Kevin Mullowney

“That day, for no particular reason, I decided to go for a little run. So, I ran to the end of the road. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d run to the end of town. And when I got there, I thought maybe I’d just run across Greenbow County. And I figured, since I run this far, maybe I’d just run across the great state of Alabama. And that’s what I did. I ran clear across Alabama. For no particular reason, I just kept on going. I ran clear to the ocean. And when I got there, I figured, since I’d gone this far, I might as well turn around, just keep on going. When I got to another ocean, I figured, since I’d gone this far, I might as well just turn back, keep right on going.”

? Tom Hanks in “Forrest Gump”

Dathan Ritzenhein has to share the same mentality as our fictional friend. Why else would he subject himself to the rigors of a runner’s lifestyle?

And we’re not talking about sprinting. Ritzenhein is an endurance runner; the long-distance guy, a man who runs 80-plus miles per week as part of his training. To put that number in perspective, compare it to the activities of the average American.

A researcher at the University of California at Berkeley recently conducted a study of the nation’s walking habits and found that the average person in the United States walks less than 75 miles a year. That’s about 1.4 miles a week, barely 350 yards a day. Ritzenhein runs farther than that in a week. It’s a habit that has been years in the making.

Ritzenhein started running as a 10-year-old in Rockford, Mich. His parents were getting a divorce and his father used running as a way to work through the trauma. Ritzenhein tagged along on a bike or on foot. Soon, this manifested into competitive running.

He joined a track team in seventh grade and clocked two miles in 12 minutes. He was the third fastest boy on the team. But that wasn’t fast enough. Every day, all winter, Ritzenhein ran the same four-mile course. Flowers began to bloom, grass started to grow and the first robin of the spring was spotted. Life was blooming all over Michigan and as spring arrived, so did Ritzenhein. He was much faster, running two miles in 10:24.

This improvement encouraged Ritzenhein to push harder. By his freshman year in high school, he was serious about the sport.

In Michigan, Ritzenhein won meets left and right. He set course records and claimed titles. As a junior and again as a senior, Ritzenhein won the Foot Locker National Championships, becoming the first prep star to win in consecutive years. He went to the World Championships, where no American junior had medaled since 1981, and picked up a bronze.

When it came time to continue his running career in college, the five-foot-seven, 115-pound Ritzenhein chose Colorado for the obvious reasons. Boulder is a distance runner’s mecca. He wanted bluer skies. He wanted better trails. He wanted tougher training partners. And he wanted a coach who could get him to the next level.

Ritzenhein had what could be called the greatest freshman year a collegiate runner has ever had. During the 2001-02 season, he set freshman course records, was named Big 12 Conference Newcomer of the Year and finished fourth at the national championships. He was on the fast track to stardom, so to speak.

But then, his plans were derailed.

Ritzenhein missed the majority of the 2002-03 school year due to a series of injuries. First, he suffered a stress fracture in his right femur in August 2002. After several weeks on the sideline, he was able to resume workouts. Shortly after returning to the track, however, he suffered a lower back injury that sidelined him for another two weeks. And finally, Ritzenhein was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his left femur that put him out of commission for almost four months. All in all, Ritzenhein missed approximately eight months during the season.

But he didn’t let these setbacks keep him down. He made the most of his return to competition, winning the “Gold” race at the NCAA Pre-Nationals in Waterloo, Iowa in October 2003. It was a sign that he was returning to form.

On April 30, 2004, Ritzenhein set the American collegiate record in the men’s 10,000-meter run at the Cardinal Invitational hosted by Stanford University. His time of 27:38.50 also met the Olympic “A” standard and set a new Colorado school record. Later in his first-ever track 10,000 meters, Ritzenhein took sixth in a race that featured seven men earning the Olympic “A” standard, as well. And he wasn’t finished. On May 1, he won the 5,000 meters at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships in Norman, Okla., with his time of 14:08.40.

Following the Big 12 Championships, Ritzenhein was poised for a big performance at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in June. There, he would finish second in the 5,000 meters, narrowly missing his chance to take home another national championship to go with his cross-country title.

Ritzenhein finished the race in 13 minutes, 52.13 seconds, getting out-kicked in the last lap by Robert Cheseret of Arizona, who finished in 13:49.85. The Buff did most of the work throughout the race, with the Wildcat sitting on his shoulder until the last lap.

Ritzenhein set the pace for the field, as other runners cling tight and hope to out-sprint him to the finish line. In this one instance, the strategy worked, as he was unable to hold of Cheseret.

Despite this defeat, Ritzenhein has been declared by many as the future of American distance running. The immediate future looks to be painful, however, as another stress fracture in his left foot forced his hand regarding his event choices at the U.S. Olympic Trials. The original plan called for him to run a 5,000 in Europe the weekend prior to the Trials in hopes of achieving the “A” standard (13 minutes, 21.5 seconds) that would allow him to pick which event made more sense at the trials. Due to the injury, however, Ritzenhein was only able to run the 10,000.

To ready himself for what was going to be a very painful qualifier, Ritzenhein put himself through intensive cross training for 90 minutes to two hours a day ? running in water, working out on an elliptical trainer, riding an exercise bike and swimming. He did anything he could to stay fit without putting any undo pressure on an already sensitive foot.

Distance running has always seemed to come down to who wants it the most. Whether in the 5,000 meters or a full marathon, it comes down to strength and endurance. But the last one percent ? the part that separates the winners from the losers, blocks out the pain of fractured feet and toes and ignores the burning feeling in your lungs ? is heart.

“Dathan is a unique talent, he does possess natural talent, but he is also willing to put in the work. He leads a lifestyle that is conducive to training hard and running fast.” says CU assistant track coach Jay Johnson. “When you are willing to go to bed at 10:00 p.m. instead of 10:45 p.m., it makes a difference when multiplied over the course of a season. I run a summer camp for high school cross-country runners and Dathan is idolized by them. Dathan just manages to constantly find ways to elevate his game, maybe because he wants it so bad.”

Heart is something Dathan Ritzenhein in spade. He has the kind of heart that only the elite athletes have; that certain makeup that allows him to drain his bodies of everything, beat himself to the brink of destruction and then somehow suck it up, take that extra step, cross the finish line and hoist his arms in triumph before collapsing in a heap.

Hampered by the stress-fracture, Ritzenhein was the last finisher on the track in the 10,000-meter final at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials. He would defeat only four opponents, none of whom finished, in the 26-man field. Ritzenhein finished more than two-and-a-half laps behind winner Meb Keflezighi, but was determined to finish, regardless of the agonizing pain shooting up his leg.

But Keflezighi had already qualified for the Olympic marathon. Not wanting to distract from his efforts in that event, he has decided not to run the 10k in Athens. As a result, Ritzenhein is in line to fill the vacancy. Whether Ritzenhein’s health would allow him to compete at an Olympic level is a separate question.

“I plan on running in Athens,” he said recently. “I know that I’m not in top shape or form, but at least I would get a good experience and I would know what to expect four years from now.”

It won’t be the only new experience for Ritzenhein. Shortly after the Olympic Trials, the redshirt junior-to-be announced that he will forgo his remaining eligibility at CU in order to turn pro. He informed head cross-country and track coach Mark Wetmore of his decision.

“We are proud of his accomplishments here and grateful for the time he spent with us,” Wetmore said about Ritzenhein’s decision. “He is an enormous talent and will certainly be a protagonist in the U.S. distance community for years to come. We are sorry to see him go, but we'll always support him.”

As he leaves, the star runner is grateful for his time in Boulder.

“I wouldn’t be able to do this without my three years at Colorado,” he said upon making the announcement. “Coach Wetmore and the athletic department have prepared me well and I couldn’t do what I’m doing without everything that I’ve learned here. I’m sure that I could have stayed for another year or two, but this is where I’ll be happiest. I’m confident in this decision. It’s one that I’ve had to deal with before and have thought about for weeks. But this time around is different. I feel like this is the best move to make to make me the best runner that I can be.”

And judging on past performance, there’s no telling how high his star will rise.

Colorado University Athletics