Eastler Advances Easily

Okay, so it was 20km – which is a flat-out sprint for us 50km guys – but Kevin Eastler made it look pretty easy. And it has been anything but easy for him this year with an early season hernia surgery and several setbacks including more injuries. As long as he keeps the wheels on, Kevin has proven once again that he is the best 20km walker we've got in the US right now.

Results:

1 Kevin Eastler         U.S. Air Force     1:27:08
2 Matthew Boyles        Miami Valley TC    1:28:20
3 Patrick Stroupe       unattached         1:29:17
4 John Nunn             U.S. Army          1:30:35
5 Tim Seaman            New York A C       1:31:35
6 Allen James           Bond Lake A.C.     1:32:13
7 Benjamin Shorey       Wisconsin-Parkside 1:33:16
8 Philip Dunn           New Balance        1:33:52
9 Charles Collier       Athletics East     1:35:00
10 Steven Quirke         Parkside A C       1:35:45
11 Michael Tarantino     World Class Walk   1:38:02
12 Jared Swehosky        unattached         1:39:14
13 Theron Kissinger      C R W/N Balance    1:40:35
-- Christopher Tegtmeier Concordia/Neb.     DQ

John Nunn took the early lead and pressed the pace for a few laps. He was soon caught by Kevin and then Matt. Kevin then pulled away for a comfortable win ahead of Matt's PR effort. Patrick Stroupe walked a steady race for his 20km PR and John held on for fourth place ahead of 2004 Olympic Trials 20km champion, Tim Seaman, who has had his share of injuries this year.

I train with John Nunn in San Diego and was really hoping to see him have a good day, but he had the double pressure of needing to win and hit the Olympic B standard (1:24:30) in order to make the Olympic Team. Kevin has the Olympic A standard (1:23:00) from last year's IAAF La Coruña race. The best time this year is still John's 1:26:22 from La Coruña in June, so unless Kevin has a speedier race in Beijing, John may end the year with the unfortunate distinction of being the fastest 20km walker in 2008.

"How did you do?" people asked me after the race. Well, this 20km was part of the bigger training picture as I prepare for the 50km in Beijing and it went exactly as I had thought it would. Beforehand, I told my brother that my plan was to walk 1:34:00 and see how comfortable I could get at that pace. I was 9 seconds fast in 1:33:51. If only I had said, "I'm going to walk 1:24:00...." Wouldn't it be nice to just pick your finishing time? Wow! "In Beijing, I think I will walk 3:38:00 for 50km." Now that would be awesome!

There was some interesting post-race media that is worth sharing.

1 The first is from YouTube and my friend Pete Banda: Philip Dunn - Local Eugene Hero. Actually, I have never met Pete and don't know if he is stalking me or what. Pete, what gives?

2 ESPN article Lack of respect? Race walking relegated to the parking lot.

3 Seattle Times photo blog – Disclaimer: the first photo is not my feet. I do wear the New Balance RC1001 but had different socks on. But racewalk is judged by the human eye not camera or slow motion video.

Now I'm looking forward to enjoying the rest of the this track meet. Especially the women's 20km tomorrow morning. Go team!