This was filmed at the 2009 Eugene Marathon Expo at the Eugene, Oregon Hilton shortly after returning from the Flora London Marathon where Ritzenhein set a new PR.

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For more information on the Marathon Performance Training Group and our athletes, please visit our website at http://www.marathonperformance.com

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From the Register Guard:

In the best marathon effort of his career, Dathan Ritzenhein finished 11th at the Flora London Marathon here today, setting a personal-best time of 2 hours, 10 minutes.

But the two-time Olympian and Eugene resident was frustrated that the best marathon preparation of his career, which included running over 120 miles a week on Eugenes trails, didnt translate into a faster time.

We went out fast, and I felt very comfortable, Ritzenhein said. I felt great right up until 20 miles, and I started to get some cramping issues again, the same thing that plagued me in Beijing, in my calves and hamstrings.

I went from feeling great to feeling like someone had punched me in the hamstrings.

Ritzenhein, 26, was running in the races second pace group, which was targeting a 2:07:30 finish time.

The group, which included American teammate Meb Keflezighi, the 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medalist, was just slightly ahead of schedule at the halfway point, covering 13.1 miles in 1:03:33.