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 Ritzenhein in 2015 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Dathan James Ritzenhein |
| Born | (1982-12-30)December 30, 1982 (age 42) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) |
| Weight | 121 lb (55 kg) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Cross country,Track and field,Distance running |
Event(s) | Marathon,Half marathon,10,000 meters,5000 meters |
| College team | Colorado Buffaloes |
| Turned pro | 2004 |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Olympic finals | 2004 10,000 m, DNF 2008 Marathon, 9th 2012 10,000 m, 13th |
| World finals | 2007 10,000 m, 9th 2009 10,000 m, 6th 2013 10,000 m, 10th |
| Personalbests | |
Medal record | |
Dathan James Ritzenhein (born December 30, 1982) is a retiredAmericanlong-distance runner, and current head coach of theOn Athletics Club (OAC). He held the American record in the5,000 metres (12:56.27) from 2009 to 2010, until it was broken byBernard Lagat.[2] He is a three-time national cross country champion with wins at theUSA Cross Country Championships in 2005, 2008 and 2010. Formerly aNike athlete for the majority of his professional career, Dathan joined theHansons-Brooks Distance Project team in 2017. In early May 2020, he announced his retirement from competition. He signed with the Swiss shoe brandOn shortly thereafter in June 2020 and currently acts as the coach for theOn Athletics Club inBoulder, Colorado.
Ritzenhein was a standout runner atRockford High School in Michigan and theUniversity of Colorado at Boulder. He was part of the high school class of 2001 which also produced distance runnersAlan Webb andRyan Hall.
Ritzenhein ("Ritz") attendedRockford High School.[3][4] Ritz set numerous state and national high school records during this time, including in the 1600m (4:05.9), 3200m (8:41.10) and 5000m (13:44.70). He won back-to-back regional (Midwest) and national titles in theFoot Locker high school championship races in the fall of 1999 and 2000. In the 2000 Foot Locker Championship inOrlando, Florida, Ritz defeated Webb and Hall winning the 5 kilometer run in a time of 14:35, six seconds behind the course record he set the year prior. As a senior in high school, he set the Michigan high school 5 km cross country record of 14:10 at the state finals, beating the previous record by one minute. His final cross country race in high school was at theIAAF Junior World Cross-Country Championships inOstend, Belgium where he won a bronze medal.[5]
Ritzenhein made hismarathon debut in the 2006 INGNew York City Marathon, finishing in 11th place with a time of 2:14:01.[6] Ritzenhein finished second in 2:11:07 at the 2008 Olympic Marathon Trials which automatically placed him on Team USA for theBeijing Olympics.[7] In the 2008 Olympic Marathon, Ritzenhein was the first American runner to cross the finish line, finishing ninth with a time of 2:11:59. His teammate,Ryan Hall, finished just behind him in tenth place.[8]
In January 2009, Ritzenhein placed 2nd at the U.S. Half Marathon Championship. Three months later, he set a personal best at the2009 London Marathon, finishing 11th in 2:10:00. In May 2009, Ritzenhein and longtime coach Brad Hudson parted ways. He moved fromEugene toPortland, Oregon in order to train withAlberto Salazar'sNike Oregon Project.[9]
On August 17, 2009, Ritzenhein placed sixth in the10,000 meters at the World Championships in Berlin, Germany, where he set a personal best of 27:22.28.[10] Eleven days later at theWeltklasse Meeting inZurich, Switzerland, Ritzenhein placed third in the 5,000 metres, setting a new American record with a time of 12:56.27, becoming the third American to run under 13 minutes.[11][12] At the2009 Half Marathon Championships inBirmingham, Ritzenhein placed third with a time of 60:00, which was then the second fastest American time ever behindRyan Hall's 59:43.[13][14]
In the January 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials, Ritzenhein ran a personal best of 2:09:55, but placed fourth, missing a spot on the US Marathon Team by eight seconds behind the third-place finisherAbdi Abdirahman. On the evening of June 22, 2012, Ritzenhein placed third in theUS Olympic Trials in the10,000 meters and achieved the Olympic 'A' standard of 27:45.00. In poor conditions, Ritz and his teammateGalen Rupp worked together to pace the race for the first 5000 meters, with Rupp pulling away in the final three laps to win the national title.[15] On August 4, 2012, at the2012 London Olympics, Ritzenhein finished thirteenth in the 10,000 m finals.[16] After the Olympics, he ran at thePhiladelphia Half Marathon and came third, running a time of 1:00:57, which was the fastest by an American that year.[17] At the2012 Chicago Marathon, Ritzenhein finished in ninth, setting a new personal best of 2:07:47.[18]
On May 9, 2014, Ritzenhein announced that he would leave theNike Oregon Project to move closer to his hometown ofGrand Rapids, Michigan. He was sponsored by Brooks.[19][20][21]
On February 13, 2016, Ritz dropped out of the 2016 US Olympic Marathon Trials.[22][23] Ritzenhein retired from professional running in May 2020.[24][25][26] In an interview with Flotrack, he reminisced memories of his 16-year career. He stated that "I guess I'm not necessarily 25 and retiring in my prime. I have things that I wish that I have done in my career, but I'm also very satisfied, too. I think right now it's something that I thought a lot about the last year. I've had a lot of nostalgic moments, looking back a lot more than looking forward. So, I don't know that I had a lot more goals that I was looking to accomplish."[24]
During his career, Ritzenhein regularly trained atSt-Moritz,Switzerland at 5,900 ft (1800 m) above sea-level, to prepare for his major competitions.[27]
In August 2020, Ritzenhein was named the head coach of the newly formedOn Athletics Club, based inBoulder, Colorado.[28] Notable OAC athletes includeHellen Obiri,Yared Nuguse,Geordie Beamish, andOliver Hoare.[29]
Ritzenhein is married toRockford native and formerUniversity of Colorado distance runner Kalin Toedebusch. The two have a daughter Addison (born 2008) and a son Jude (born 2011).[20]
