Organisers of the third annual International Track Meet being staged at QEII Stadium in Christchurch on Feb 26th announced today that the coaching clinic for marathon and distance running enthusiasts will now be a double bill, with legendary American athlete and coach Alberto Salazar also participating in the session, along with his compatriot Ron Warhurst.
Salazar will be attending the International Track Meet to watch his young charge, Galen Rupp, attempt the New Zealand Allcomers record for the 10,000m set by Dick Tayler in winning the gold medal at the 1974 Commonwealth Games at the same venue. Salazar is best known to New Zealanders as an endurance athlete himself, winning the New York Marathon three times in succession from 1980 to 1982, sharing the winner's rostrum in 1981 with New Zealander Allison Roe, who won the women's race. He also won the Boston Marathon in 1982, in the famous "Duel in the Sun" with compatriot Dick Beardsley. Salazar dominated the US road running scene around that time, and went on to win the 90km Comrades Marathon in South Africa in 1994. He now coaches a number of elite American athletes, including Rupp, US mile record holder Alan Webb, and double Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein, 9th in the marathon at Beijing, 2009 World Half Marathon Championships bronze medallist and US record holder for 5000m.
The seminar, held in conjunction with the Bill Richards Marathon Trust, has been shifted from the Sunday morning after the event to 6pm the Friday night before, and will have a presentation as planned from iconic University of Michigan team mentor Warhurst. Warhurst is well known in this country as the coach of Olympic 1500m silver medallist Nick Willis, and is also responsible for training many top marathoners including Boston Marathon winners Greg Meyer (1983, 2hr09) and Lisa Weidenbach (1985, 2hr33). Following a short refreshment break, Salazar will then lead a further session, after which the two will combine on stage for a question & answer panel session.
Tickets to the Ron Warhurst & Alberto Salazar coaching seminar are available now through the International Track Meet website www.internationaltrackmeet.co.nz.
