THE BROOKS BLOG

Melissa White

Kudos to Hanson-Brooks runner Melissa White , who finished eighth at 2:32:55 in the 2009 Chicago Marathon on Sunday. White shaved five minutes off her personal record and was the second U.S. woman to cross the finish line.

Hansons teammate Patrick Rizzo finished tenth in the men’s field. He also achieved a PR with a time of 2:15:48.

>>Read the Detroit Free Press story

Desiree Davila of the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project finished 11th overall and was the 2nd American at the IAAF World Championships last weekend in Berlin!  With her time 2:27:53, Desi now has the second fastest marathon time for US women in 2009. Check out her interview below and take notice: Desi has cemented her spot as a favorite for the 2012 London team with this performance….Go Desi!

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ATLANTA, GA. – Melissa White and Nick Arciniaga each had strong showings for Hansons-Brooks at the 40th running of the Atlanta Track Club Peachtree 10-kilometer road race. The Peachtree 10km also served as the 2009 United States men’s 10km road championships and drew a star-studded field of America athletes.

White finished an impressive 17th overall and was the 5th American female to cross the finish line in a time of 33 minutes and 37 seconds.

Arciniaga had a breakthrough performance finishing the race in 29 minutes 45 seconds for a new 10km personal best, bettering his old mark by a full minute. Arciniaga finished 30th overall in the deep men’s field and was the 17th American to finish.

The Hansons Luke Humphrey also had a solid performance, finishing as the 20th American in the field in a time of 29 minutes and 51 seconds.

Sammy Kitwara of Kenyan ran away with the overall title in his Atlanta debut. Kitwara covered the 6.2-mile course in 27 minutes and 21 seconds.

Abdi Abdirahman won the U.S. Championship in a time of 28 minutes and 11 seconds. Abdirahman was seventh overall.

The top seed in the women’s field, Lineth Chepkurui of Kenya, won her first Peachtree race in 31 minutes and 19 seconds.

With more than 55,000 registered participants, the Peachtree race is the largest 10km race in the United States. Participants from 47 states and the District of Columbia competed in this year’s event.

The normally balmy race began at 7:30 a.m. with temperatures in the upper-60’s with low humidity. The coolest starting temperature recorded since the event’s inception was 62 degrees in 1986 and 1989.

Joseph Kimani, of Kenya, holds the course record of 27:04 in 1996. Lorhan Kiplagat holds the women’s course record of 30:32, from her 2002 Peachtree victory.

Hansons-Brooks (powered by Saturn) athletes Desiree Davila and Ryan Sheehan will race in the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon this Sunday.

Davila will be racing for first time since her fifth place and top-American performance at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, where she ran a six-minute personal best of 2:31:33.  Her half marathon best is 1:12:10 from her runner-up finish at the USA Half Marathon Championships in Houston last January.  The time from Houston is currently the third fastest time by an American this year.

Sheehan returns after running to a fourth place finish and a personal best 1:03:36 at the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon last year.  It will be his first race back after a debut marathon at the USA Marathon Championships in the Twin Cities last October.

The race will begin at 8:00 a.m. CST on Sunday.  Track Desiree and Ryan during the race at the Dallas White Rock results page on Active.com.

Hansons-Brooks women Melissa White and Dot McMahan led team USA to a fourth-place finish at the 2008 IAAF/CAIXA World Half Marathon Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Rochester Hills, MI, teammates were the first US finishers at 21st (1:14:37) and 24th (1:15:14), respectively. Ethiopia won the first-place team title, with Kenya and Japan taking second- and third-place honors.

Read the USATF press release here.

Desiree Davila at Brooks HQ, Feb. 2007

The Chicago Tribune chats with Hansons-Brooks Distance Project team member Desiree Davila after she finishes fifth in the women’s field at the Chicago Marathon. In her third-ever race at this distance, Davila was the top American woman finisher, with a personal record of 2:31:33.

Read the story here.

Congratulations, Des!

Melissa White, Hansons-Brook ODP

Melissa White, the first woman member of the Hansons-Brooks ODP team, was inducted into the State University of NY (SUNY) Geneseo Sports Hall of Fame on Sept. 27.

All White did in four years under coach Mike Woods is become the premier female distance runner in the history of Geneseo and the SUNYAC Conference and one of the most successful distance athletes all-time in Division III.

She was a seven-time All-American, a two-time SUNYAC individual cross country champion, a 22-time SUNYAC indoor and outdoor track champ and a member of the SUNYAC Cross Country Hall of Fame. She holds three school records and two conference records.

Read the whole story here.

Congratulations, Melissa!