By Tom Kloos

David settled into the middle of the pack from the start of the race, which was off to a quick pace. “I wasn’t getting splits. I was just racing.” A gap opened up midway through the race, separating David from the leaders. With the pace already fast, and somewhat cautious with a sore hamstring, David waited until the last 600 meters to start giving chase, but managed to close with a final lap of 55 seconds to move up to seventh.

On Saturday, May 22, four Bay Area Track Club athletes will toe the line at the USATF High Performance Meet at Occidental College. Set just outside of Los Angeles in Eagle Rock, California, the meet is gearing up to be one of the highlights of the spring track season. Middle distance events, the 800m and 1500m, will be the focus of the meet with heats consisting of Olympians, National Champions, All-Americans, and other world-class runners. 

On the men's side, the BATC's David Torrence is entered in the 800m, and Garrett Heath and Bolota Asmerom are entered 1500m. Torrence will go up against US 800m Olympian Christian Smith as well as a slew of other top-notch middle distance athletes. Fresh off of an 800m personal best at the May 1 Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford, Torrence has an opportunity to establish himself as a one of the best middle distance competitors in the country. 

In the 1500m, Heath and Asmerom will have the chance to test themselves against some world-class athletes. Olympians Ian Dobson and Leo Manzano are entered, as well as a gang of Oregon Track Club members and other professional runners. The race is shaping up to be one of the best 1500m heats of the year. 

On the women's side, Olympian and BATC member Shannon Rowbury will toe the line in the 800m. She faces an extremely competitive field consisting of Olympians Jenny Barringer, Erin Donahue, and Anna Pierce, as well as professionals Treniere Clement Moser, Geena Gall, Morgan Uceny, and Alice Schmidt. Expect to see some fast times out of this heat of women. 

Check here for live results on the day of the meet.  The order of events is as follows: 

 

SPOKANE, WA -- On Saturday, February 13, Magda Lewy Boulet finished 4th at the USA Cross Country Championships to earn a spot on the US team bound for World Cross Country Championships. She covered the 8km course in a time of 26:09.

In a race that was dominated by Shalane Flanagan of the Oregon Track Club, Magda stuck with the chase pack, trading third and fourth place with Amy Hastings until the final kick when Amy broke away for third place. 



It was nearly ten years since Magda last raced cross country, but she showed that her road racing skill set translates well to the rougher and hillier terrain of cross country. Fortunately for her, the weather in Spokane held up and the course didn't get too torn up from the four races prior to the Senior Women's. 

The World Championships hold special meaning for Magda. The race will take place only a few hours from where she grew up and the trip offers her the chance to see her 98-year-old grandmother, who she hasn't seen in person for a number of years. 

Magda said that having family in Poland "was definitely an extra incentive to push hard and make the team." The race will be held on March 28 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Three weeks later, Magda will race the Rotterdam marathon. 

"Trying to do both cross country training and marathon training simultaneously has been a challenge, but the cross country workouts bring a fun element to marathon training."

By Magda Lewy Boulet
January 8, 2010

Although not exactly what I expected, 2009 was a solid year for me. I feel like I am in a much better place right now, both physically and emotionally. Last summer I resigned from coaching at CAL to explore the world of a full time professional athlete. To be honest I struggled for a while with the total readjustment of my routine that I had worked so hard to make over a period of years. I missed the team that inspired me on a daily basis, I missed my fellow coaches who became my friends and I missed being a role model for the athletes I coached. I suddenly felt like a fresh-out-of-college athlete, who, not longer had a support system around me. I needed time to figure out my new routine. But all that has changed since the formation of our new Bay Area Track Club.

Currently I am finishing up my altitude training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona. After 3 great weeks in the mountains, I am ready to go test my fitness in Houston on Jan 17^th. I will be racing the USA Half Marathon Championships there. Then I will switch gears a little and race the cross-country nationals at the end of February. My training here in Flagstaff has always prepared me well for the spring racing season. In 3 weeks at 7000 ft I have completed 360 total miles of running comprising: 3 hill workouts, 3 interval workouts at around 10k pace, 3 tempo runs and 3-long runs (see the graph above of my typical week at altitude).

All right, off to Houston next week to face great competition. Wish me fast legs and great weather.

Magda

On Monday, November 30 the San Francisco Examiner reported on the formation of the Bay Area Track Club. Read the article by Carolynne Juarez here. The contents of the article are pasted below.

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Bay Area elite runners, including Shannon Rowbury, Alysia Johnson and Magdalena Lewy-Boulet, have formed the Bay Area Track Club to develop local athletic talent and to bring more elite events to the San Francisco Bay area.

In addition to track stars Rowbury and Johnson, and distance runner Lewy-Boulet, the Bay Area Track Club (BATC) roster includes Peter Gilmore (Boston Marathon, 2:12), steeplechaser/cross country runner Thomas Kloos (5000m 13:54) and several other talented athletes.

Check out Bay Area Track Club roster

Looking to the New York Road Runners  as a model, the organizers at BATC plan to promote professional and recreational running; provide resources to local athletes and to build a calendar of annual elite races in the Bay Area.

The newly formed non-profit is still in the development stages. The track club has a formidable coaching team, connections to the University of San Francisco and UC Berkeley, and start-up support from USATF but is seeking corporate sponsorship to support the development of world-class events and local community support to get its programs off the ground. They are also in need of volunteers.

Link to the full article