Mar/Apr 2012 - Level Renner

New Balance Grand Prix
race became a onewoman
show very early
and within 3 laps, it
was Defar out front by
an entire straightaway
and everyone else
splitting into two chase
packs with Simpson
struggling to remain at
the front of the first.
Hall, who has had an up
and down last two
years, seemed content
to bide her time and sit
back with fellow American
Shannon Rowbury,
as Simpson was
struggling to keep
form as well as pace.
By the halfway point, it
was apparent that
Defar was not going to
set a world record, so
she simply settled in
and ran strong, finishing
in a still extraordi-
nary 8:33.57, followed
by an impressive
showing
from Gebreselase
in 8:46.01. Simpson’s
final 200 was
a sad 38 seconds
and she struggled
to a last place finish
in 8:58.70. Hall,
though slowing in
the last 400 meters,
finished well
for 4 th place in
8:54.75. Afterwards,
Simpson
made no excuses,
other than to say
she’d been training
hard at alti-
tude and had really
upped her miles recently,
coming into the race
fatigued but healthy. It
just wasn’t her night. But
that’s why track fans
love to watch and why
athletes love to compete,
because once that
gun is fired, anything
can happen, stuff you
couldn’t even make up.
Joe Navas is a senior writer
who has the ability to write
race reports and snap photographs
simultaneously.
(Editor’s Note: We debated
whether or not to add identifying
captions to the photos but
ultimately decided that the
sharpness of the pics made that
unnecessary. Just read the
bibs. Plus, we didn’t want to
muddled them up w/ script.)
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