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A U.S. Olympic Marathoner and Her Coach
By LIZ ROBBINS
Courtesy of the New York Times, published: June 7, 2008
Four years ago, Blake Russell’s stunning tumble from first place to fourth at the Olympic women’s marathon trials provoked whispers of pity from the running community and tears from Russell and her coach, Bob Sevene.
When Russell triumphantly put memory and injury behind her in April, finishing third in Boston at the trials for the Beijing Games to clinch an Olympic team berth, she draped a flag around her in redemption.
But where was Sevene to share the glory?
Sevene, the coach who led Joan Benoit Samuelson to the first women’s Olympic marathon gold medal, had been out on the course and stayed there. Russell knew he was too nervous to see her finish. Plus, he hates crowds.
Sevene soon learned she had fulfilled her potential — and his pledge.
“I made a promise to myself in 2004,” Sevene said in a telephone interview from Monterey Bay, Calif., this week. “I would help Blake get on the team this time.”
Russell is in New York with her United States women’s marathon teammates to run the Mini 10K, the women-only race held in Central Park on Saturday for the 37th straight year.
Hearing of Sevene’s promise for the first time Thursday, Russell averted her pooling eyes. “You make me cry,” she said.
Russell’s Olympic story is not just about redemption. It is about the emotional bond between a free-spirited 32-year-old distance runner and a crusty 64-year-old coach who, locked into old-school ways, have overcome career adversity together.
“We’re actually very similar,” said Russell, who has worked with Sevene for eight years.
They are both strong-willed. Sevene, a promising miler before he went to Vietnam, sees running as a reflection of life. “I’ve been to war, except no one gets hurt in this war,” he said. “Here you learn how to lose, be disappointed, you learn how to sacrifice.”
They left Boston in 2003 to train in Monterey Bay with a young team partially financed by U.S.A. Track & Field. They stayed together when the team was disbanded two years ago and the local and national sponsorship ended.
Russell’s husband, Jon, works as an I.T. specialist, so she was able to quit her job as a physical therapist to train full time with Sevene. He follows her on a bicycle during runs in the hills of the Monterey Peninsula or times her on a track.
“Blake is a throwback; she does not use altitude, does everything on her own,” Sevene said.
Toiling on the outskirts of running recognition, Russell finished sixth at the 2005 Chicago Marathon (2 hours 29 minutes 10 seconds). In 2006, she won the United States Cross-Country Championships at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, finished 11th at the world cross-country championships, and third in the 1,500 meters at the Reebok Grand Prix on Randalls Island, where she ran a personal best (4:06.71).
Flying home from that race, Jon accidentally dropped a suitcase from the overhead bin onto Blake’s foot. Russell kept running, but later learned she had broken the second metatarsal in her right foot. The injury caused subsequent injuries in her hip and knee.
“My biggest tragedy in her career is people have no idea how good she is,” Sevene said.
Russell had no idea how good he was when she hired him in 2000. After finishing seventh in the 10,000 meters at the Olympic trials, Russell wanted a coach. Jon, a Boston native, recommended Sevene, one of the founding members of the Greater Boston Track Club.
When Sevene started telling stories about “Joanie,” she was embarrassed to realize his connection with Samuelson.
But Russell has had other quizzical moments in her career. At the 2004 trials in St. Louis, she ran the first mile in a too-fast 5:05, unable to see her watch because of the glare and bad eyesight. Russell wears glasses to drive at night, but she says she has resisted wearing contacts because of the bother.
She also forgot to stop for water at key junctures, which she attributed to inexperience. She did it again in Boston, but this time she overcame it because she followed Sevene’s plan to run conservatively.
“I think she was everyone’s sentimental favorite because of her performance the last time around,” said Deena Kastor, the trials winner and the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist. “She took the race out in 2004 so hard and really showed guts in doing that.”
Magdalena Lewy Boulet did the same thing in this year’s trials, leading for 23 miles and holding on for second.
The three women are together this week for the first time since Boston. Sevene unapologetically held Russell out of the United States marathon team summit in Colorado Springs two weeks ago, fearful she would miss practice time at home.
“I’m glad I didn’t go because that’s when I felt my body was coming around,” she said.
Like her fellow Olympians, Russell is treating the Mini more like a training run. The heat and humidity, with temperatures expected in the 80s Saturday morning, could simulate conditions in Beijing. Hilda Kibet, Kenyan-born but now a citizen of the Netherlands, is the race favorite, having recently run a 30:58 in the 10,000 meters at Utrecht.
In the Olympic marathon, Sevene said, Russell could finish in the top 10, but he said he was thrilled that she made the team. “I told her, no one can ever take this away from you — this will follow you your whole life,” he said.
“I thought just making the team would be enough,” Russell said. “But it isn’t.”
She said she realized this when she returned from the trials to see Sevene for the first time since he was on the course in Boston.
“I don’t want to talk about the race,” she told him. “I’ve moved on.”
Sevene nodded, hiding his pleasure. “Good,” he said gruffly. “Here’s what your training will be like.” |
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