Kastor hopes to run with the children
By KEVIN GRAY
Staff Sports Writer
Today’s Millennium Mile in Londonderry will be flavored with Olympic spirit and one bronze medal. In the sport of track of field, Deena Kastor’s appearance is a major happening.
Imagine Michael Jordan playing pickup basketball in Manchester or Curt Schilling pitching a few innings in the Granite State Over-30 Baseball League. Kastor’s participation in the downhill dash, starting at 2 p.m., is almost that big.
This summer in Athens, Kastor became the first American in 20 years to capture a women’s marathon medal. The 31-year-old resident of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., also owns the U.S. marathon and 10,000-meter records.
Today’s assignment isn’t quite so lengthy.
She’ll sign autographs from 12:30 to 1 p.m. and then embark on a one-mile jaunt in the sixth annual Millennium Mile. Along with her husband, Andrew, the Kastors will join a star-studded field at the starting line atop Mammoth Road in Londonderry.
Kastor has long been friendly with the founding fathers of the Millennium Mile, John Mortimer of Londonderry and brothers Andy and Matt Downin of Hampstead. She teamed with Mortimer on the U.S. national team in ’97 and ’98. She later trained with Matt Downin in Mammoth Lakes, Calif., both working under the guidance of coach Joe Vigil.
“My husband and I have always been great friends with these guys, and we’ve been promising the last few years we’d come out. Well, we stuck to our promise this year. We’re looking forward to a wonderful event that brings the town and community together,” Deena, enjoying her first trip to New Hampshire, said yesterday.
“I think the mile is a perfect distance because it can be a family event. It’s not just the mature athletes that get out there and hammer it. Children can join the festivities, and even if you’re not running, you can get out there and support everyone.”
Participation has increased steadily since the inaugural race on Dec. 31, 1999. Last year, more than 600 ran the speedy course, which finishes down the hill near Mack’s Apples.
At least 150 runners ages 12 and under are expected to participate in the Millennium Mile. This year, organizers ordered boxes of kids’ T-shirts in addition to hundreds of adult T-shirts.
“It’s special any time you can do something for the community. When a girl nine or ten years old gets a chance to meet Deena, that’s something that can inspire her to reach her own goals,” Mortimer said.
The field will include an abundance of All-America runners, including Mortimer (University of Michigan), Andy Downin (Georgetown), Matt Downin (Wisconsin), Becki Wells (Florida), Shannon Grady (Florida) and Amy Nadeau (Boston College). Mortimer currently runs for Adidas and serves as men’s and women’s distance coach at Boston College.
Former Londonderry High track coach Al Halpern, who served as the Millennium’s race starter in recent years, said youngsters should take advantage of the opportunity to mingle with the running stars.
“Kids that really follow running seriously might even know some of (Kastor’s) times. It’s going to be neat for those kids to have an Olympic and world-class runner right here,” Halpern said. “If you go to Mack’s (Apples) after the race, all the big shots are hanging around and talking to the kids. These are national caliber athletes on the same level as guys who won the Heisman (Trophy) in football.”
While Andrew Kastor will be gunning for a personal-best in the 1-mile event, his wife plans to hold back and hang with the crowd — of kids.
“I hope to run with a majority of the children. I want to be surrounded by kids,” Deena said. “I’ve been joking that by running with the kids, it’s probably the only race I’m going to win after such a long break.”
After winning the bronze in Athens — running a near-perfect race in brutally hot conditions — Kastor didn’t again race until the New York City Marathon in November. That race, she battled post-Olympic fatigue and dropped out in the 16th mile, effectively ending a banner 2004 season.
“I was still tired coming back from after Athens, and I was trying to stay at that high level, and I was really exhausted. It wasn’t a surprise that I came out and felt terrible,” she said. “I’d never dropped out of any race in my life, so it was a bit of a struggle for me.”
Despite the outing in New York, Kastor has established herself as America’s top distance runner among women. She owns U.S. 10,000-meter record (30:50.32) and several USA Cross Country national titles. Throughout Olympic history, only Joan Benoit-Samuelson (1984) and Kastor have won Olympic marathon medals among U.S. women.
On a sun-scorched course in Athens, Kastor executed a race plan that called for a conservative start and aggressive finish. She ranked in 28th place after three miles, and then gradually moved up through the field, earned a spot on the Olympic podium with gold medalist Mizuki Noguchi of Japan and Catherine Ndereba of Kenya.
“There is so much pride standing there on the awards podium because I was representing my country and so many people: my husband and coach and family, my training partners and so many other people that have given me spectacular advice over the years,” she said.
Kastor will share the Olympic medal — and perhaps some words of wisdom — during today’s autograph session.
“I started running when I was 11 years old . . . It took me 20 years to reach this dream and become an Olympic medalist. The last 20 years were about making the right decisions and choosing wisely. Life is a choice, and if you have goals and a dream, make the right choices to obtain your goals.”
Born Deena Drossin in Waltham, Mass., she moved to California as a child eventually captured five state running titles in high school. At the University of Arkansas, she won seven Southeast Conference titles and was inducted into the college’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2001.
In 2002, she was named USA Track & Field’s Visa Humanitarian Athlete of the Year and also won the Jesse Owens Award as the nation’s top track and field athlete.
Looking ahead, Kastor aims to win a major U.S. marathon and possibly compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
“I would love to be in another Olympics,” she said. “The amount of training needed is a daunting task, but I guess I have another four years to prepare.”
Perhaps another run to the Olympics will start here at the Millennium Mile. |
