SOUTH SHIELDS, England -- As he hunched over a metal rail trying to stretch his aching calve muscles and keep warm as rain drizzled on his head and a chill blew off the North Sea, Dathan Ritzenhein had difficulty coming to grips with his performance.
Just minutes earlier, the 27-year-old, who wears his emotions on his sleeve, crossed the finish line at the Great North Run, the world's largest half-marathon, in fourth place in 1:02:35.
He was hoping for much better.
"I guess I'm not as fit as I thought I was," Ritzenhein said. "I went out really hard with the front guys. It was just way to fast, obviously. I think my ego got the best of me a little bit. By the time I hit eight miles I was completely in the tank, and just kind of struggled to come in."
Sunday was the midterm exam for four elite athletes competing here and in the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 7. For some, there were positive signs to be gleaned from the race. For others, it was revealed that there is still plenty of work to do before toeing the start line on the Verrazano Bridge.
Ritzenhein would be the first to tell you that he falls into that latter category.
When the race went off at a swift clip -- after a moderate 4:38 opening mile the pace accelerated to 4:28 in the second mile - Ritzenhein began to struggle. When Kiplimo Kimutai of Kenya surged at the 5K mark, Ritzenhein could not respond and was dropped quickly, along with two-time world marathon champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco. He held on until the eight-mile mark but soon began struggling just to stay in the race.
"I went out closer to 59 minute pace but if I looked at it a little more objectively I was probably closer to 61 minute shape," Ritzenhein said. "When you go out like that, it's a long way those last few miles. By the time I hit 10K, I was pretty well trashed.
"I was so in the tank that it felt more like a marathon than a half-marathon. It was just a grind, and it didn't feel good. I had a lot of thoughts about dropping out of the race and I don't like thinking like that. It's something I have to work on for sure because I've got a big race in seven weeks, and I don't want those thoughts lingering around."
Ritzenhein said the upon returning to the U.S. he will regroup with coach Alberto Salazar and begin altitude training in Albuquerque for the next several weeks before coming back down to sea level and traveling to New York.
"I definitely need the next seven weeks, that's for sure," he said. "The one good thing I can take away from this is that I think I will have a greater rate of improvement than anybody else over the seven weeks. I'm just not as fit as I need. I'm just going to go to altitude, put my head down, and get as fit as possible."
Looking quite fit was Ethiopian great Haile Gebrselassie, who steamrolled the men's field to win the race in 59:33. He shed Kimutai with an incredible 4:18 seventh mile then proceeded to soldier on the rest of the way on a solo run to the finish.
It was a performance that would seem to bode well for the 37-year-old as he heads toward New York. He flashed impressive speed and knows his kick is there, and did not have to tax himself greatly while still running the fourth-fastest half-marathon time in the world this year.
"My preparations for the coming New York Marathon are doing good," Gebrselassie said. "One of my problems since I stopped running on the track is my speed work is not there anymore. But I did more speed work and now my speed is there. The next seven [weeks] until New York I will do all endurance training, about 210 kilometers (130 miles) per week."
Also well on her way appears to be Portugal's Ana Dulce Felix, who finished runner-up in the women's race in a personal-best 1:09:01, improving upon the 1:09:48 she ran in a third-place finish here last year. The 27-year-old, who will be making her marathon debut in New York, ran near the front through the first seven miles of the race and asserted herself between miles eight and 10. She continued to work in the lead during the 11th mile, but was eventually passed by Ethiopian Berhane Adere, who won here for the second time in 1:08:49.
"I am very happy with my time," Felix said through interpreter Alessandra Aguilar of Spain, who finished sixth in 1:13:20. "I will go back home and continue my training. I'm running about 200 kilometers (124 miles) per week. My goal for New York right now is just to finish. I don't know what kind of time I can run because it will be my first marathon. When New York arrives, my coach will tell me what type of time I can achieve. But this was definitely a good test."
Britain's Mara Yamauchi had mixed emotions following her fifth-place finish in 1:10:39. On one hand, the time is quite respectable, especially considering the point she is at in her training and the fact that she is coming off a cold she came down while altitude training in St. Moritz, Switzerland 11 days ago.
"I felt sort of 80 percent there," Yamauchi said. "I felt really good the first couple of miles but then at about halfway it felt like more hard work than it should be and I'm not quite sure why. The time I ran was okay. I'd hoped to be running faster by now, but it's one of those things where you have to get on with it and try not to get too despondent.
"There are seven weeks until New York and that's a reasonable amount of time to do some good training. This race provided a bit of sharpening up. I need more speed endurance, but there's time for that."
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