by Larry Eder
Emily Infeld won the only medal for Americans, male or female, above 400 meters in Beijing. Her spirited finish was one of the most amazing moments of the Beijing World Champs. The women’s 10,000 meters with their third, fourth, and sixth finishes for the U.S. was one of the most human moments of the World Champs. In her exhaustion at the end of the 10,000 meters, Molly Huddle celebrated one meter early. In her focus at the end of the 10,000 meters, Emily Infeld just dug in and ran through the finish. In her return to a focus on the track, Shalane Flanagan ran one of her best 10,000-meter races in years.
This was the perfect storm. For Emily Infeld, it was the moment of a lifetime, where the coaching of Jerry Schumacher, the advice of Shalane Flanagan, and the frustrations of times, good and bad, came together. That is why we believe that at RunBlogRun, Emily Infeld gets our RBR Athlete of the Month for August 2015. A race of true grit, a race full of emotions, but, in the end, Emily Infeld earned her bronze medal by giving it her all that day.
Emily Infeld will treasure that day, full of human emotions and full of what makes our sport, at certain moments, so thrilling. Really wonderful people, who have trained all of their young lives for one or two moments, and when those moments come, with emotion, sweat, and clarity, the honesty is almost overwhelming.
Such was the women’s 10,000 meters from those of us at RunBlogRun and the Shoe Addicts.
