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(Photos courtesy Andrew Kastor)

During a rain storm last week, Deena Kastor, Shalane Flanagan and Kara Goucher, all global bronze medalists in running, took an evening training run on the bike path near Little Eagle in Mammoth.

Kastor has an Olympic Marathon bronze, Flanagan has an Olympic 10,000m bronze and Goucher has a World Championship 10,000m bronze.

Kastor’s husband, Andrew, pointed out that it was a rare sight to see all three women running together outside of a race.

On the move

Deena Kastor won the women’s division of Dodge San Jose Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon just eight short months after giving birth to her daughter, Piper. (Photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun)

Mammoth residents Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor went to San Jose to rock, and the two Olympic medalists did just that, easily winning their respective divisions on Oct. 2 in the 2011 running of the Dodge San Jose Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon, one of the Bay Area’s biggest road races.

Keflezighi, who is training for next month’s New York City Marathon, won the 13.1-mile race in 1:02:17, more than two minutes ahead of runner-up Giliat Ghebray, a Cal senior from Union City, who turned in a respectable 1:03:38. Sergio Reyes of Palmdale was third, coming it at 1:04:20.

Kastor only recently returned to running after giving birth to a daughter, but handily won the women’s division in 1:12:23. Clara Peterson of Larkspur was second to Kastor with a time of 1:15:23 while Cal graduate Brooke Wells of San Francisco was third in 1:16:15. “She’s made a lot of progress in a really short period of time,” Deena’s husband Andrew recently told The Sheet. “Everything’s coming along just fine and she’s pretty much back in business.”

Both Olympic medalists live and train in Mammoth, and are preparing for the U.S. Olympic trials Jan. 14 in Houston.

Meb wins the men's division (Photo: Victah Sailer/PhotoRun)

Keflezighi led a lead pack of five runners through an opening mile of 4:35. At mile 3 the 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist picked up the pace, running a series of sub-4:40 miles to open up a sizable lead on the rest of the field, one he held all the way to the finish line.

“It couldn’t have gone any better. A lot people were cheering, ‘Go Meb,’ and it was just awesome,” Keflezighi told Running Competitor. “My Mom is here and my brother lives here, a lot of the people are aware of what I have done and it’s nice to have the course coming back with the crowd.”

The event turned out to be a solid tune up for Keflezighi, who won the 2009 New York City Marathon–the first American do so in 27 years, and is preparing to finish at the front of the pack in the ING New York Marathon in November. “I run to win, which means challenge myself and don’t hold back. It was good today,” he added.

Equally impressive as Keflezighi’s victory was the comeback performance from Kastor, the only American woman to ever break 2:20 in the marathon.

“It was just awesome,” said Kastor, “San Jose really came out and showed their true colors today–the communities that we ran through, the neighborhoods everyone came out in their front yards cheering on all of us runners,” she told the San Jose Mercury News. “I felt good out there. It didn’t take too much out of me so it will be good to get back into training this week and use this as a stepping stone for the Olympic Trials in January.”

Runners from all 50 states and 14 countries participated in the race, including a group of California’s fastest runners, with no less than 10 athletes training to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials in January. Three-time Super Bowl Champion and race founder Roger Craig completed his sixth straight San Jose race, along with San Jose resident and soccer star Brandi Chastain. The sixth running of the half marathon was expected to attract 13,000 entrants.

This year, the race was being eyed as a proving ground on how the current crop of top U.S. runners would measure up against recent fierce competition from top runner from other countries.

Tracy Sundlun, co-founder of the Rock ‘n’ Roll racing series and a promoter and coach for 30 years, said a big factor is money. A $5,000 first-place prize, Sundlun said, does not “raise an eyebrow” in the United States, but runners from East Africa, for example, see that amount as significant and will throw themselves into the race to capture that kind of prize money.

Sports writers and analysts have lamented that the U.S. running elites might have fallen off the pace recently. But the top finishes Sunday by Kastor and Keflezighi are being viewed as indicators that U.S. distance competitors are back in top form and ready to rock in upcoming major races, including shots at Olympic medals next summer. – AG/Running Competitor/San Jose Mercury News

Piper Bloom Kastor was born at 5:58 p.m. Monday Feb. 21, at Mammoth Hospital. Piper weighed in at 6 lbs, 5 oz and measured 19 inches upon arrival. Piper’s dad, Andrew, said momma Deena and baby are doing great! (Photo: Kastor)

Deena and Andrew Kastor (and baby) on top of their “office” on Sherwin Creek Road, Dec. 21. (Photo: Kastor)

Deena Kastor, who along with hubby Andrew calls Mammoth home, has run races in the most prestigious venues all over the world … London, New York … and in the most prestigious of races, namely the 2004 Olympic Marathon in Athens, Greece, where she won a Bronze Medal. She’s garnered many accolades, and has been an inspiration to runners, both professional and amateur.

These days, however, she’s running a different kind of race … one that marks its finish line with a delivery date. That’s right … Deena’s becoming a mom. The Kastors recently said Deena is currently pregnant with a young “runner-in-training.” The next winner’s podium she’ll reach will yield her the biggest prize of her life.

We asked Deena for a look back on 2010 and ahead to what comes next for “the running mom.”

Sheet: Okay, the obvious questions: due date? Boy or girl?

Deena: We are having a girl, who’s due at the end of February.

Given her career and the demands of her line of work, did the Kastors decide the time was right or did it just, as these things do sometimes, happen? “With our ambitious, busy schedules, parenthood was something we didn’t seem to have time for,” Deena related. “We talked about it for years and the timing never seemed to be right. There was always more to accomplish in our careers and we always chose to postpone having a child. It needed to ‘happen’ this way and the joy we feel makes us wonder why we ever postponed doing this!”

Kastor’s very candid about how the baby has changed their lives. “The best line I keep hearing is, ‘Your lives are about to change.’ Well, our lives changed the second we found out we were expecting. But we’ve traveled the world for more than a decade and haven’t found anywhere we like better than being right here in Mammoth Lakes; to be able to share this area with our little girl is the best gift we can give her.”

Deena said she stopped intensive training immediately when she became pregnant. “Maintaining an elite level of fitness seemed so absurd when wanting to make sure I could nurture this baby throughout the pregnancy.” Deena said her goals changed “immediately” from winning last November’s New York City marathon, to wanting to ensure the baby was healthy and strong. “My coach and teammates have been so supportive. I can’t run at all without terrible side-stitches, so I just don’t. I get to catch up with teammates over coffee or dinner instead of a 20-mile run.”

Sheet: How has the last year or so been for you overall?

Deena: This last year was fun and, as always, teaches us great lessons. I was heavy into training for the ING New York City marathon when I found out we were expecting. To make such a huge adjustment to the focus of the remaining 2010 was so easy and made me question why other transitions seem so difficult to digest. I think Andrew and I both will take life with more flexibility in the future. Our careers have always had us well planned and organized, but this was lesson in the immense value of flexibility.

As to short term/long term plans, Deena likened the months and years ahead to something of a balancing act. “I haven’t been able to workout during the last couple months so I have lost a lot of fitness while gaining the knowledge of motherhood. I look forward to running and racing again, and embrace the climb back to the world stage of marathon running. This is a great opportunity to be a role model for our little girl as I balance being a good mom, wife and athlete.”

How soon will she be back up to full speed? “Since it will take me 9 months to de-condition, I assume it will take me just as long to get my legs under me again,” Deena posited. She’s hoping that happens sooner rather than later. “I’ve been running competitively since I was 11, so this long hiatus not only gives me motivation to return to running, but I feel really healthy having not depleted myself with running 120 miles a week.”

Her story may have its own sources of inspiration, but at least for now, if you want to read about a local running star’s life, she actually recommends reading Meb Keflezighi’s book. “Meb has a great story to tell and did it well in ‘Run to Overcome.’ I read it in one day and although I knew a lot of it, I was moved by the words on the page,” she said. “He not only comes from a challenging background, but every member of his family has lived the quintessential American dream. I am fortunate to know Meb’s dad as being the ultimate storyteller, but he is also a supreme motivator in that all his children are doctors, lawyers and so on. My story, unlike Meb’s, was an easy one. I’ve always had a ton of support and smooth pavement to run across and that doesn’t make for exciting reading.”

Sheet: What about your cookbook?

Deena: Yeah, the cookbook. It’s been finished for a while I just haven’t pursued publishing it. That is the only book I want to put on the shelves!

Deena shows her love for the High Sierra Striders with a club shirt. (Photo courtesy Andrew Kastor)

Catching up with Andrew and Deena

What do 100-pound Olympic medalist and world renowned runner Deena Kastor and apple turnovers have in common? Both make occasional appearances at High Sierra Striders workouts in Mammoth Lakes. The club, which has officially been an entity since 2005 and has reached a membership of 75, is run by Kastor’s husband, Andrew, and is a great source of training for runners all over the Eastern Sierra. While Deena doesn’t train with the Striders, the organized running club is one of her biggest inspirations.

“I enjoy coming to their practices. Not just because they get bagels every Tuesday from the Old New York Deli [and sometimes homemade goodies such as the abovementioned turnovers], but because the people in the club are so uplifting and motivating to be around,” Deena explained. “They work really hard no matter what their reasons for being out there. It is the most optimistic, hard-working and amusing group to rub shoulders with. I don’t run until later in the morning, but I love taking my cup of coffee to Strider practice to get inspired by the group.”

Deena credits the Striders with warming up Shady Rest Park for her and leaving good energy behind that helps her exceed her expectations during her own workouts.

This year, in addition to donating good vibes to Deena, the Striders also gave back to the community at large with four running scholarships for high school seniors in the Eastern Sierra. Each scholarship was valued at $1,000. One was presented to a student in Lone Pine, one to a student in Bishop, and two to Mammoth students. The worthy athletes were headed to college not only to pursue academic careers, but running careers as well.

“Criteria included having run for two years in high school, planning to run cross-country or track in college, and a 3.0 GPA,” Andrew explained.

Supporting top-ranking student athletes is just one of many things the Striders are dashing into this year. This weekend they are heading up the Footloose Freedom Mile once again.

“We have to start at 10:10 in order to allow the police to shut the road down at 10 a.m. but be finished and have the equipment broken down before the parade begins at 11,” Andrew said. “It’s very tightly scheduled, plus the awkward time makes the start stick out in people’s minds.”

It’s definitely not a race that slips Deena’s mind. “I always look forward to the races in town,” she said. “I will be running the Footloose Freedom Mile as it has become such a great event within the July 4^th celebrations. I love the fact that every finisher gets an American Flag that we can all wave during the parade that follows.”

The Striders are also taking over the Footloose/Charthouse 10k/5k, which will be held on Aug. 8 this year, as well as the Moeben Ultra Marathon on Sept. 18. The Ultra Marathon is a 25k and 50k, which will be held at Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, making it the highest race in California.

But the biggest project of all for the Kastors, the Striders, and all other interested runners in the Eastern Sierra is helping the Mammoth Track Project break ground at Whitmore.

“Right now we are waiting for the current DWP lease to be amended to add a paragraph that says a track and field facility is an OK use for the land,” Andrew said. “That could take 10-12 months, so we are hoping to break ground next spring [2011].”

“Although we are hung up on paper-work for the Mammoth Track Project, it by no means has been frustrating,” Deena added. “We knew this project was big and it would take a mammoth effort to move it. It will get done in due time, but we want to do everything right so the facility will be well utilized by the community and guests for many years to come. It’s exhausting, but we are not exhausted yet.”

The High Sierra Striders, along with the Kastors and Jim and Elaine Smith, are heading up the Mammoth Track Project. For more on the project visit www.mammothtrackproject.org.

A few more questions for Deena while we could catch her:

Sheet: What’s new in your career? Your life in general?

DK: I just began running after taking more than seven weeks off. It doesn’t feel so good starting back up again, but every day I feel a little smoother than the previous attempt. I am getting ready to help crew my friend at Badwater. She has done it before, but it should be a fun adventure for me. In fact, I’ve been going to Bishop for some heat training since Mammoth has had such a cold “spring.” I’m not sure how much of the 135 mile distance I will do, but I am going to log everything that happens. The first thing on my packing list is a journal. After this race I am going to be home training for the ING NY City Marathon. I am really excited to be here in Mammoth for the entire summer and preparing for this race.

Sheet: How’s the foot? Does it give you problems anymore?

DK: I am grateful that my foot doesn’t give me any problems. I owe a huge thanks to Mammoth Hospital and Dr. Karch who figured out that the fracture I endured at the Beijing Olympics was due to a Vitamin D deficiency. Since then I have been able to reverse the bone deterioration that the dexa-scan showed, and have strong bones once again.

Sheet: You said you are training for the ING New York City Marathon. What would winning this race mean for you?

DK: I will be running the Philadelphia Half-Marathon in September as preparation for the ING NY City Marathon. Meb and I work well together when we are preparing for similar races. By working well together I don’t mean physically, but spiritually. We are great supporters and encouragers of one another. I look forward to training with Meb this summer and racing NY together in the fall. I would love to capture the title there as Meb did last year. Even better, if we won together this year.

Sheet: What are your career goals for the next five years? Do you plan to go to the Olympics again?

DK: The next summer Olympics are in 2012 in London and it is my goal to make my fourth Olympic team. There are other races in the nearer future that have my attention, but that is my next big goal. It is my biggest hope to improve on my bronze medal.

Sheet: Are you still working on your cookbook?

DK: My cookbook is an embarrassing topic because it is finished, just needs to be published and I don’t have the energy to follow through with it. When it becomes a priority, I will see it through. My kitchen and the trails in Mammoth remain my two favorite places to be.

The Kastors pitch the Whitmore Track Project (Photo courtesy High Sierra Striders)

When Mammoth resident and Olympian Deena Kastor and her husband, High Sierra Striders co-founder Andrew, hit the ground running, they mean it, both physically and metaphorically. The two are part of the team behind the Whitmore Track Project, a high-altitude outdoor running and training facility destined for Benton Crossing Road off of U.S. 395.
In a little more than a year’s time, they’ve already secured half of the project’s $4 million price tag, enough to break ground this April and install the track and infield (aka Phase 1) this year. Deena, for her part, is chomping at the bit to get shoes on the track.
“What we’ve heard from many athletes and coaches is that Mammoth is gorgeous, they love the high-altitude aspect, but there’s no track,” Kastor told attendees at Mammoth Lakes Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon. A track, she explained, is a basic tool to measure runners’ progress. “As excited as I am about getting the rubber surface poured, I want to get programs off and running!” (Pun intended, no doubt.)
The Kastors are itching to get the project, which bears the slogan, “Elevate your fitness … stay on track,” used by runners and other athletic programs. Wasting no time, she’s already had talks with Deanna Campbell at Cerro Coso College to host “21 Day” running camps, 21 being the “magic number” for acclimation to the facility’s elevation of 7,061 feet.
The complex, designed by architect Brett Long, actually has its roots in a vision or concept that dates back to the 1980s, and the Kastors said that once the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power designated it an ”active recreation site,” the project’s way forward was cleared. Whitmore will, when fully completed, boast not only the state-of-the-art track, but also an exercise path with fitness stations, a healthy-food concession stand/gym locker/storage pavillion, lots of free parking AND (drum roll, please) a DOG PARK, which was recently added to the site plan.
And the site, the design of which fits the “Eastern Sierra motif,” will be nearly as green as grass. Enviro-conscious rock-based stadium seating will ring the track, which will be composed in part of recycled tires, and a synthetic infield that requires no watering.
Deena said the facility will be open and available to the public, and will be heavily promoted to schools and other organizations. “It can be used for everything from jumping and throwing training to staging for the Fall Century Ride,” Kastor pointed out. The infield will be designed to allow for soccer and football, not to mention javelin.
Winter usage, naturally, is an issue. According to Deena, the surface is based on a similar all-weather version in Lake Tahoe. There will, however, be a handful of days that the track will be closed.
High Sierra Striders co-founder Elaine Smith said that much of the funding for Phase 1 came from local donors, including community members and businesses. In addition to money, donations of in-kind services have come from Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, and local businessman Steve Klassen, a former pole vaulter, has donated pole vault gear to the facility.
After completing the Whitmore Track facility, next on the Kastors’ list of things to do is an indoor training center, perhaps located near Cerro Coso college, that will sport tennis, basketball and climbing, among other goodies. At roughly $10 million, though, it’s a “much longer term” endeavor. “But we’re young; we’ve got time,” Kastor quipped.
For more information on the project, including how to donate, visit www.mammothtrackproject.org.

Deena Kastor during the 2008 Olympic trials (Photo: Victah Sailer)

Kastor tops Women’s field in Arizona Half-Marathon

With all the recent attention swirling around Mammoth’s comeback player of the year, Meb Keflezhighi, who won the New York Marathon in November after battling injuries for the previous year, it’s been rather easy to overlook the fact that his female counterpart, Deena Kastor, has been absent from the winners circle for the past 10 months.
Perhaps that “lull” as it were gave the 2004 Olympic Marathon bronze medalist a chance to get herself fully up to speed, but in any case, as of last Sunday, Jan. 17, the break is apparently over. Kastor, 36, launched into what is shaping up to be a busy 2010 by winning the Women’s leg of the P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n Roll Arizona Half-Marathon.
Not only did the American record holder blast her way to the top of the the winner’s podium, she also set a new Arizona state record with a time of 1:09:43, bringing what has been the longest dry spell of her stellar career to a spectacular conclusion.
After the race, Kastor told Track & Field News the finish “solidifies that my training has been going well.” On her way to victory, Kastor trampled all over a 15-year-old Arizona record of 1:13:39 previously held by Marie Boyd. Kastor noted her performance boosted her enthusiasm about her opportunities during the “next phase” of her comback, including a run at the London Marathon in April. “Today was the first time in a couple of years I felt like my old self running again,” she told T&F News.
Many locals will recall their stunned reaction when Kastor injured her foot in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was forced to withdraw from the Marathon early on in the race. It would take most of 2009 for her to recover, but long before the year was out, Kastor expressed confidence in how she was feeling and running.
According to T&F News, Kastor ran “an aggressive first mile” in 4:54 and was on American record pace through four miles before a stubborn headwind slowed her in the second half. Reigning American marathon champion Ilsa Paulson was clearly disappointed with her second-place finish time of 1:17:04, nearly four minutes off her 1:13:20 personal best.
“I felt like I could run a 5:45 pace forever, but when I had to try to run a 5:20 pace to stick with Deena for the first two miles it just fried my legs,” Paulson told T&F News.
Running in the Men’s Half-Marathon, Mammoth’s Ryan Hall finished a surprising second to Canadian Simon Bairu, who reportedly shadowed Hall during most of the race and then hit the accelerator in mile 10, finishing 1:21 ahead of Hall.
Hall downplayed the second-place finish, saying the plan for Arizona all along was as a practice session. “Boston is the big picture, so this was a test to see where I am and I still have New Orleans to go before Boston,” he explained to T&F News.
Hall, also an American record holder, is scheduled to run next in the inaugural Rock ‘n Roll Mardi Gras Half-Marathon on Feb. 28 as a “final tune up” before taking his place at the starting line for the April 18 running of Boston Marathon, in which he came in third last year.
In an interview with Runner’s World, Kastor’s coach, Terrence Mahon, said he’s “happy” with her showing in Arizona. “I think she’s definitely on track for a good year,” Mahon said, adding he thinks Kastor is “looking and training now like she did when she won Chicago in 2005 … and set records [while] winning the 2006 London Marathon. The pop’s in her legs and she no longer feels like every workout is injury-assessment day.”
Kastor, meanwhile, finds herself leading a group of eight women all jockeying for position in the upcoming Olympic trials.