Ben St Lawrence - Australian 10,000m record & now off to Daegu WC

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/ben-st-lawrence-smashes-australian-10km-record/story-e6frfglf-1226048717378


Ben St Lawrence clocked 27min 24.95sec at the Stanford Payton Jordan Invitational meeting to smash the Australian 10,000m record. Source: Herald Sun


Ben St Lawrence smashes Australian 10km record
AAP.
Herald Sun
May 03, 2011

NSW distance runner Ben St Lawrence has smashed the national 10,000m record in California.

Lawrence, 29, clocked 27min 24.95sec at the Stanford Payton Jordan Invitational meeting, taking almost five seconds off the mark set in 2009 by Collis Birmingham.

The time bettered the A-qualifying standard for August's world titles in Daegu, South Korea, for which has already been chosen to run the 5000m.

"My results these past few months have been pretty mixed and to be honest my training has been up and down so this is a real thrill," said St Lawrence, who was third behind Kenyan Bedan Karoki and American Bobby Curtis.

"Tonight though I was just feeling stronger and stronger, I was hoping for a qualifier and was pushing for it mid-race.

"I really picked up on the back straight in the last lap and just made a bee line for home - it's fair to say I'm pretty happy."

It was the first time that St Lawrence - the Australian 5000m and 10,000m champion - had bettered the 28-minute mark for the longer event.

St Lawrence contested the two events at last year's Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, finishing seventh in both finals.

Countrywoman Eloise Wellings also recorded a world championships A qualifier in the women's 10,000m at the Stanford Payton Jordan Invitational, clocking 31:41.31 to finish seventh behind Kenyan winner Sally Kipyego (30:38.05).

The PB moved Wellings to fourth on the Australian all-time list.

"Eloise's performance was equally impressive, especially across those closing few laps,'' Athletics Australia national distance coordinator Tim O'Shaughnessy said.

"Her last four or five laps were very strong and she judged what she was capable of heading into those closing stages when the pace picked up very well."

http://www.theleader.com.au/news/local/sport/athletics/lawrence-wellings-run-a-class-race-for-middle-distance/2154076.aspx

Lawrence, Wellings run a class race for middle distance
BY BRAD FORREST
St George & Sutherland Shire Leader
08 May, 2011

FORMER world-record holder Albie Thomas has hailed the Australian record run of Australian and St George club distance runner, Ben St Lawrence, at an athletics meet in America this week.

Sutherland's Commonwealth Games runner, Eloise Wellings, also crossed the line in a world championships qualifier in the women's 10,000m event to provide a second fantastic result for Australian middle distance running,

St Lawrence ran a new Australian 10,000 metre record 27 minutes 24.95 seconds, smashing Collis Birmingham's old mark (27.29.73) to place third at the Payton Jordan Cardinal Invitation held at Stanford University.

"This is a really superb result, world class," said Thomas, president of the St George Athletics Club of his third behind eventual winner Bedan Karoki (27:13.67) and just pipped out of second place by American, Bobby Curtis (27:24.67).

St Lawrence, a world championships and Commonwealth Games representative and a rising star of Australia's distance ranks said his recent results had been pretty mixed. "To be honest my training has been up and down, so this is a real thrill," he said.

"I was just feeling stronger and stronger, I was hoping for a qualifier and was pushing for it mid-race. I really picked up on the back straight in the last lap and just made a bee line for home."

St Lawrence is the Australian 5000m and 10,000m champion and his time is his first 10,000m world championships qualifier and his first sub-28 minute run. The qualifier comes two weeks after him being named in the men's 5000m for the IAAF world championships this August.

"Congratulations to Ben and his coach Sean Williams," said Tim O'Shaughnessy, Athletics Australia national distance co-ordinator. "He has continued his great Australian domestic season form and absolutely flew home to show his class on the world stage."

Wellings stopped the clock at 31.41.31 to finish seventh overall, with her personal best time launching her to fourth on the Australian All-Time list for the event.

"Eloise's performance was equally impressive, especially across those closing few laps," O'Shaughnessy said.

"She judged what she was capable of heading into those closing stages when the pace picked up very well."

The eventual winner was Kenyan Sally Kipyego (30:38.35).

http://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/news/local/sport/athletics/ben-st-lawrence-on-fast-track-to-korea/2172966.aspx

Ben St Lawrence on fast track to Korea
BY MICHAEL CLEGGETT
Blue Mountains Gazette
24 May, 2011



Distance runner Ben St Lawrence will head into the final three months of his World Athletics Championships preparations with a string of strong results including a treasured Australian 10,000m record.

The Bullaburra born and raised athlete was an automatic selection for the 5000m when the initial Australian squad was announced in April after claiming national championships victories in that event and the 10,000m during the local season.

He has only recently returned to Australia after an impressive U.S. and European stint that saw him lay down a number of impressive times including shaving five seconds off the national 10,000m record when he stopped the clock at 27 minutes 24.95 seconds at Stanford University earlier this month.

The run added to a growing list of credentials that includes the second fastest Australian 5000m time of 13:10.09, set at the Melbourne Track Classic in March.

Despite the career-best form the 29-year-old remained guarded about his expectations for the world championships, beginning in Korea at the end of August.

“There is a lot of talent out there in distance running at the moment, and I will literally be coming up against the fastest humans on Earth — it is a little daunting,” St Lawrence told the Gazette.

“I will try to do all that I can in preparation to be in the best shape of my life on race day, and if all goes well and I run a smart heat to qualify for the final, anything can happen in a final. I’ll back myself and try to execute a good race to finish in the top handful.”

The Commonwealth Games representative has an invaluable advantage for the upcoming championships having been chosen in Athletics Australia’s advanced 24-member squad. It means he will not be forced into competition in an effort to put himself into one of the selection panel’s discretionary team positions.

“It is great knowing early on that I’m in the team. This means that I don’t need to be travelling around too much chasing the qualification times, instead I can focus on doing what is necessary to be ready for race day in Korea,” said St Lawrence.

That luxury will now allow him to put his head down for five weeks of intense training before returning to Europe for some top-class racing to prepare himself for Korea.