100th Drake Relays
Des Moines, IA
April 23-25, 2009

In less than ideal conditions, American Record holder Suzy Powell (Modesto, CA) led Team ASICS at the 100th Drake Relays beating a very competitive field in the Women's Discus Throw including the Gold Medalist from the Beijing Olympic Games. Competing in cold and wet conditions, Powell's winning throw came in the 4th round measuring 59.15m/194' 1". Her victory at Drake gives Powell 2 wins this outdoor season as she won the same event at the Mt. SAC Relays one week earlier.

Latosha Wallace (San Marcos, TX) also found her way to the podium with a 2nd place finish in the Women's 400m Hurdles. Wallace was in 4th place coming off the last turn but ran well over the last 2 hurdles to secure 2nd place in a season best time of 57.02sec.

In other events, Amy Acuff (Isleton, CA), Greg Nixon (Columbia, SC), and Rory Quiller (Vestal, NY) each finished 4th in their respective events. Acuff cleared 1.81m/5' 11 1/4" in the Women's High Jump and Nixon, the defending champion in his event, ran 46.38sec in the Men's 400m. Due to the wet conditions, the Men's Pole Vault was moved indoors as the track surface became to slick and dangerous for the vaulters to jump in. Quiller, whose poles did not arrive until 4 hours before the event due to an airline baggage error, managed to clear 5.37m/17' 7/14" on his first attempt but failed to clear any more bars after. Tora Harris (Chula Vista, CA) finished 6th in the Men's High Jump and Sharon Day (San Luis Obispo, CA) failed to clear a height in the Women's High Jump.

Hometown favorite and Des Moines native LoLo Jones (Baton Rouge, LA) pulled up at the 8th hurdle and failed to finish the race. She was later diagnosed with a grade 1 hamstring tear and will be out of action during the month of May for rest and rehab.

Thanks to all who of you who have been keeping up with me on my blog during the lead up to yesterday's Boston Marathon.  It was a great experience to run in the oldest continuous marathon in the world and my podium finish proved my training is heading in the right direction.  Under the guidance of Coach Terrence Mahon, we feel a win at a Major Marathon is definitely in my future.  Every race provides me with lessons which I will take to the next one and soon you will see me on the top of the podium.

Aside from the race itself, there were many memories from my first Boston experience which I will always remember.  One that will always stand out is being on the mound at Fenway Park.  I've carried the baseball around with me since throwing out the first pitch and I even had it in my backpack as we went to the starting line yesterday morning.  The baseball is now one of my good luck charms!  Lastly, I want to thank all of you who lined the streets in yesterday's cold and windy weather to cheer on all of the runners as we made our way to Boylston Street.  You kept us going when the hurt started to set in especially in the last 10K.  

I look forward to my return to Boston next year!

Irvine, CA (April 20, 2009) - ASICS elite marathoner, Ryan Hall took third place in the 113th annual Boston Marathon running 2:09:40. Deriba Merga of Ethiopia took first with 2:08:42, followed by Daniel Rono of Kenya second at 2:09:32.

On a crisp and windy day in Boston with the start time temperature of 52 degrees, Hall, true to his game plan took the pace out from the start and led through the first two miles of the race. Comfortable with running a fast pace from the beginning, Hall dictated the pace to ensure the race would not go out too slow. Hoping that someone would take the lead after two miles, Hall found no willing taker and continued to run from the front going through five miles at 23:36. Then At the 15K mark, the pack came through at 44:44, indicating a 2:05 marathon. Around mile 10, Hall, still looking strong, with his easy stride, tucked himself into the pack and instead of leading the group sat back and followed closely behind the leader.

At the hills of Newton at mile 16, Merga took the lead and Hall fell back to ninth place. Similar to London, Hall was able to regroup and made his way back up the pack and up to sixth place, but couldn't overcome the famously tough Heartbreak Hill just beyond the 20 mile marker. Hall started to hurt up the hills, but picked up some speed coming down from the hills and fought back into third place, but still was 59 seconds behind Merga in first place.

Hall coming down the last mile, blazing down Boylston Street with everything he had left in him, tried to take on second place finisher, Rono, and unfortunately, could not overtake him and crossed the finish line in third place.

Hall's goal going into the marathon was to finish in first, breaking a long standing record that was originally established with Greg Meyer in 1983. Hall said at the press conference afterwards, he felt like a rookie out there and continues to learn so much with each and every race, "my day will come and I will be back".

Ryan began blogging Wednesday, April 15th about his Boston Marathon experience and will finish with his final thoughts after the race.

ASICS Corporation, with more than 50 years of footwear manufacturing experience, offers a full line of performance-driven athletic shoes and technical active sports apparel and accessories. For more information, please visit www.asics.com.

Ryan Hall crosses the finish line at the 113th annual Boston Marathon in third place with 2:09:40.

Went on a 35 minute run this morning followed by some strides and drills so all the preparation for tomorrow's race is in the books!  Excitement continues to build so it was great to have Sara with me on the run this morning to make sure that I kept everything easy and not push the pace or intensity in my run or strides/drills.  All of my workouts for tomorrow's race could not have gone any better.  They were better than what I put in last year when I ran in London so I am hoping all will translate to a good run tomorrow.  Thanks to all of you for your kind words and prayers.  Now where did I put my singlet? 

Arrived in Boston on Thursday afternoon and was excited to finally make it to the city.  I'd put in the all the miles, tempo runs, drills, weight training, etc. and in 4 days I will be on the starting line for my first Major Marathon in the US.  Sara and I went for a light run with Coach & Jenn, had dinner at the Village, and then went to our room to unpack and get ready to call it night.  As I slowly unpacked my bags, I realized I had left my singlet (and other items) in Mammoth!  Had to give Ben from ASICS a call to let him know.  How dumb do you think I felt having to make that call? He told me not to worry about it and that he would have one for me by race day.  Never in my entire running career had I ever left my singlet at home.  This morning, Ben gave me my singlet so I am ready for the race tomorrow.  Glad I won't have to run shirtless; it would have been hard to figure out how and where I was going to put my race bib.

The home stretch is here...one more day before the big race.  I relaxed this morning - slept in and had a good breakfast.  Went on a leisurely 35 minute run along the river with a posse of my good friends.  I felt really good this morning, I know I have trained hard and I'm not only physically ready, I'm also mentally ready for tomorrow's challenges.  I'm actually impatient for the race to start, that's how ready I feel!  I will spend the rest of the day off my feet in my hotel room.  Nothing special planned for the day - I will take advantage of the quiet time by praying and reading.  My wife Sara and I will just relax and maybe watch a movie later tonight.  I plan to eat in the cafeteria at the Athlete Village...I'm thinking rice tonight instead of pasta.  I have never done this before, usually I load up on pasta the night before, but I feel like rice and think it will be a good change for me.  I have to turn in my water bottles at some point tonight, then I will be in bed by 9PM tonight, I have a 6AM wake up call scheduled for tomorrow morning.  I wish all of you running in tomorrow's race, the best of luck - I will be thinking of the challenges that everyone will be facing along with me.