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Dathan Ritzenhein
One of the More Pleasant Michigan Winter Running Days
FROM DATHAN: It was like a race everytime out and I never got sick of it. I would come in just gasping and anyone who knows what a Michigan or midwest winter is like... you will know that many times I did this in deep snow and howling wind chills of sub zero.
KR Mini-Interview
 Photo Victor Sailer/Photo Run, Courtesy of RUNNER'S WORLD KR: Which sports did you play at the age of ten? DATHAN: I played football and baseball. KR: Did you participate in any training for running? DATHAN: Not at all. I didn't start running until around age 12, I think, but I did ride my bike with my dad while he ran. KR: Did you run during your playtime? DATHAN: I played all sorts of tag games like TV tag and stuff. KR: How many hours or miles did you spend or cover on running and other sports? DATHAN: Probably about 2 hours a day like 5 times a week on pitching during baseball and throwing the football, including practice. I worked really hard in all the sports I participated in. FACTS BIRTHDAY: December 30, 1982 PLACE OF BIRTH: Grand Rapids, Michigan SOMETHING FROM THE HEART (When Dathan's Play turned into Training) DATHAN: I started this whole running thing when I was only about 11. I didn't take it seriously at all, because at the time I was involved in football and baseball. They were fun but I just never got to challenge myself to the full extent. At this time, my dad started going to the local running club called the North Kent Running Club. I began to run every Wednesday, but we all know you can't get any good running one day a week, but for some reason it was something that I loved to do. So in the 7th grade at the age of 12 or 13, I decided to quit baseball and do track. I was far from good. I ran 12 minutes in the 3200m and was only like the middle of the pack on the team. I was still convinced that I was going to play football in the fall of 8th grade but my coach told me I should give cross-country a try. I resisted at first but I just loved running so much that I finally joined the cross-country team in 8th grade. I was still not great. I was like 3rd on our team. The season ended and I thought I was doing okay. Little did I know how good I was about to get. I watched the movie Prefontaine when I was in 8th grade; probably in the late fall. I don't think it was that but something -a force- I don't understand... got me to get up everyday after school and run the same 4 mile loop. I tried to run it faster everyday and I did. I wouldn't warm up or anything. I would just go out and run hard from the get-go (which by the way I don't recommend to any for it was a surprise I didn't get hurt). It was like a race everytime out and I never got sick of it. I would come in just gasping and anyone who knows what a Michigan or midwest winter is like... you will know that many times I did this in deep snow and howling wind chills of sub zero. This whole time I continued to go to the running club every Wednesday. Well, I ran a road race and it was a hilly course. I went 17:52. I was suprised. The first race on the track of the year I broke the school record in the 3200m and by the end of the year I had lowered that record to 10:24. I went right out and started running with the high school team and my coaches Brad Prins and Mark Nessner, heads of the running club. After just a few weeks, I ran a road race and went 16:42. I knew I was in for a great season but I never realized just how good I would become until my sophomore year when I made the national cross-country finals and finished in 8th place and then in the spring I won my first national championship in the 2 mile run and I was only a sophomore. I think that a defining moment in my life was the divorce of my parents. It was extremely hard but it has made me a better person in all aspects of my life. Running was my passion and it got me through the rough parts of my life. I became closer to my family especially my mom and dad and my sister. They all supported me but never pushed me and that's what parents need to do. They need to sit back and cheer, not instruct. I also feel that running is something I use now as a way to get closer to God. Everytime I do something that is tough, like running a race, it makes me feel closer to Him just because I know that He is helping me the whole way. He is probably that force that made me get up and get out the door for every one of my runs. I love running and if you love something you should devote your absolute effort to it and make it as strong as it can get. GREATEST RUNNING ACHIEVEMENTS: 3rd in the World Junior Cross-country Championships as a senior in high school and placing 4th at the NCAA Cross-country Championships as a freshman. 2/14/02 QUOTE FROM BILL ROE, PRESIDENT OF USATF: "Did you see what Dathan did this past weekend? A year after being a medallist in the World Junior Cross-country Meet, he made the USA Senior Cross-country Team and will be going to Ireland with me for the World Championships in late March! That's a first in USA history - Junior to Senior World Team member in a single year!" LINKS Ritzenhein, Dathan | Back to LOOK and SEE How they RAN Index 
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