Navajo Runners In Olympics?

Olympic Trials Course 615x373 Watch Navajo Runners Alvina Begay and Craig Curley Compete for Spots on Olympic Team

In order to qualify for the Olympic trials, the men were required to run a 2:19:00 or faster in the full marathon and under a 1:05 in the half marathon (there is also a 10,000K race today, in which qualifiers needed to run a sub 28:30). The women’s qualifying runs had to be 2:46 or faster for the marathon, under 1:15 for the half marathon, and under 33:00 in the 10,000k. Imagine running a mile in a little over eight minutes. Now imagine doing that 26 times in a row. The endurance required for this sport is beyond mere strength and conditioning, it is mental, it is about pushing yourself to go harder when you think your body has nothing left.

How stiff is the competition? Consider that the top qualifier in the men’s half marathon, Dathan Ritzenhein, ran the 13.1 miles in exactly one hour (that’s a 4-and-a-half minute per mile pace!) Curley, who qualified in the middle of the 161-man pack, finished his qualifying run in 1:04:14. The last two qualifiers, Joseph Chirlee and Tommy Neal, finished at 1:05:00. For every minute of difference, dozens and dozens of runners are separated from the top three positions.

For the women, the separation between runners is much greater. Desiree Davila, the top qualifier, hit her mark for the Olympic trials at the Boston Marathon last April, running it in 2:22:38. Begay, who is in the top half of the pack, qualified with a time of 2:37:14 at the Phoenix marathon in January of 2010. It will take a huge push for her to make up the difference and finish in the top three today, but if anyone can do it, it’s Begay.

Qualifying for the Olympic trials is an achievement worthy of praise and recognition itself. Each runner is in peak physical condition, their bodies, minds and spirits perfected over years of training, for many a lifetime of training. So today is not just about the race itself, but about everything each one of these runners did to get here. All those hours of training, all those early mornings when the rest of us were sleeping and they were out on the road, all those healthy choices in terms of diet (hey, almost everybody would eat pizza all the time if they could), all those times their bodies felt as if they were going to shut down but they willed themselves to continue—today’s race is a testament to their strength, physical, mental and spiritual.

Both Navajo runners will take the starting mark with a long history of excellence (and an even longer history of hard work) and strong support from the American Indian community. Begay is a Nike N7 ambassador with a running pedigree that goes back to her upbringing on the Navajo Reservation in Ganado, Arizona.

As her N7 profile states, Begay grew up running at an elevation of 6,000+ feet, on “endless, dusty dirt roads and trails of her hometown.” Running was in Begay’s blood—her father was a long distance runner, and with his and her mother’s support, she turned her Northeastern Arizona upbringing on those 11-million acres of Navajo land into the perfect incubator for success not just running, but also in school. She was an Academic and Athletic All-American, studying at Adams State College and then Arizona State, inspiring countless people in Indian Country, as well as the people she met along the way who got to experience her passion first hand.


Read more:http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/14/watch-navajo-runners-alvina-begay-and-craig-curley-compete-for-spots-on-olympic-team-71554 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/01/14/watch-navajo-runners-alvina-begay-and-craig-curley-compete-for-spots-on-olympic-team-71554#ixzz1jTNetCWG