NARI, the official sponsor of the US National 50K Championships, is teaming up with racewalk.com to bring you coverage of the 2002 50K.
Here is a quick preview from webmaster Jeff Salvage with help from Elaine Ward and the race walkers from the center of excellence at the ARCO Olympic Training Center.
A post race summary, complete with a photo recap, should be posted shortly after the race.
This year's 50K nationals will have the berth of the World Cup team as a prize. The top five male finishers will gain a berth on the World Cup team headed to Turin, Italy.
The heavy favorites are the group training at ARCO.
Curt Clausen, John Nunn, Sean Albert (Hidden behind Curt), Philip Dunn, and Tim Seaman. |
Al Heppner (Perhaps missing from the other photo do to fatigue from his mile of men activity earlier?) |
The man behind the vast improvement of this squad is world class coach, Enrique Pena. Talking with Pena during their practice yesterday, Pena hopes for a strong showing of the men's 50K team at the World Cup. With Curt Clausen coming back strong from a recent knee surgury, Philip Dunn at the top of his game, Tim Seaman apparently making the move to 50K, Al Heppner hoping to regain his 2000 year form, and new comer to the 50K Sean Albert banging it out, the squad is sure to be a strong one. John Nunn is also racing, but a racewalk.com source says that he is aiming to walk a strong 30K and then see what happens. In a candid interview with PFC Nunn, a source from racewalk.com found out rumors of his knee surgury were greatly exaggerated.
With a team this deep, a top ten 50K team finish at the World Cup is anticipated!
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Susan Armenta is the sole woman in the race, but she will not be walking alone. Her PR (4:49), which she will probably beat, is better than many of the men's times. I, for one, would be happy to still have her in my sites at the end of the race! |
Others in the race sure to be a factor are Theron Kissinger, Dave McGovern, and John Souchek. Will one of these three crack the ARCO Training Center block? Perhaps newcomer to the 50K, Steve Quirke, will be the one. Steve is competing in his first 50K and is the sole walker competing for college(Wisconsin Parkside). Rouding out the entrants are Steve Pecinovsky and Dave Doherty, two veteran walkers who have been training together for this one. Steve is also the heavy favorite in the Master's division with his competition being Bill Vayo (2nd at the 40K Nationals) and Rod Craig.
As for myself, I will be humbely walking on a bum knee just hoping to finish, so my view must probably will look like this:
However, if I am smart, I'll take this view ;-)
| A complete list of competitors follows |
| COMPETITOR |
NUMBER |
BEST TIME |
| CURT CLAUSEN |
#301 |
3:48:04 |
| SUSAN ARMENTA |
#302 |
4:49:57 |
| PHILIP DUNN |
#303 |
3:56:33 |
| AL HEPPNER |
#304 |
3:58:45 |
| TIM SEAMAN |
#305 |
4:05:35 |
| DAVE MC GOVERN |
#306 |
4:29:34 |
| THERON KISSINGER |
#307 |
4:20:55 |
| STEVEN PECINOVSKY |
#308 |
4:30:55 |
| SEAN ALBERT |
#309 |
1st 50k |
| STEVE QUIRKE |
#310 |
1st 50k |
| JOHN SOUCHEK |
#311 |
4:43:20 |
| BILL VAYO |
#312 |
5:23:00 |
| ROD CRAIG |
#313 |
5:14:00 |
| DAVE DOHERTY |
#314 |
1st 50k |
| JEFF SALVAGE |
#315 |
1st 50k |
| JOHN NUNN |
#316 |
1st 50k |
More Photos 
Sean, Tim, Curt and John
John, Curt, Sean, Philip, and Tim
Pena and Al
Pena and Susan
Click here, because the story continues
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