The Olympic year is in full swing with the marathon trials complete and the indoor track season up and rocking. Several BATC athletes are stepping onto the oval for the first time with their spikes on ready to race.
Some of our athletes are diving head first into some elite national and international competition. Shannon Rowbury, 2009 World Champion Bronze Medalist, and Garret Heath are headed to Boston for the New Balance Games. Both athletes are taking on the fields set in the 3000m with Heath battling the likes of Matt Centrowitz, 2011 World Championships Bronze Medalist, and silver medalist Silas Kiplagat. Similarly, Rowbury will be competing with Ethiopia’s Meserat Defar and 2011 World Champion Jenny Simpson.
Going into this race Rowbury says, "I'm really excited to get back on the boards. I loved indoor racing in college and both of these facilities hold great memories for me. I've been getting in some really good training at altitude and the competition includes some of the best women in the World, so I can't wait to race.” Heath shares similar goals for the weekend, “the race should have some good competition, especially for an early season indoor meet. The goal is to both get the legs going again after being out of racing for about 5 months now and to be competitive at the front of the race.”
Back at home a few BATC athletes are turning a relatively low-key event into a star studded spectacle. At the Berkeley all-comers Bolota Asmerom, Michael Coe, and Mark Matusak are going to be cranking out a 1500m. These three athletes will be looking to shake off the winter’s rust and sharpen those fast twitch fibers in their legs. As this event is far more accessible to everyone in the Bay Area, you should come out to Berkeley on Saturday morning to watch these track studs clash for BATC bragging rights. And, since it's an all-comers, everyone is encouraged to sign up for an event and compete. Good luck to everyone racing this weekend!
