MARATHON ROAD VIDEO - YOUTUBE
MARATHON ROAD VIDEO - VIMEO
IDEATAP STUDIOS PAGE
TEAM USA MINNESOTA PAGE
HOUSTON 2012 OLYMPIC TRIALS MARATHON PAGE
MINNEAPOLIS -- Augsburg College men's and women's cross country/track and field head coach Dennis Barker is featured in an online documentary film regarding the training of four runners for this Saturday's
U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston, Texas.
The film, titled "Marathon Road," was produced by a group that includes four Augsburg cross country/track and field alumni -- Paul Sanft '05, Dan Vogel '05, Riley Conway '05 and Tori Bahr '09 -- through Sanft's company,
Ideatap Studios.
In addition to his coaching at Augsburg, Barker serves as head coach for
Team USA Minnesota, a distance running training center based in the Twin Cities. Since 2001, Barker has trained runners who have won 17 national championships and earned 61 top-three finishes in U.S. championship distance events, while also producing several members of U.S. national teams, including 2004 U.S. Olympian Carrie Tollefson (1,500 meters).
The "Marathon Road" documentary profiles Barker's work with his four male Team USA Minnesota runners who will be competing in Saturday's Olympic Trials in Houston --
Jason Lehmkule,
Andrew Carlson,
Matt Gabrielson and
Josh Moen. In addition to the four men, two of Barker's female Team USA Minnesota runners are also competing in the Olympic Trials --
Katie McGregor and current Augsburg track and field assistant coach
Meghan Armstrong Peyton.
"As student-athletes, Riley, Paul, Tori and I saw these guys and many other Team USA Minnesota runners working out throughout the school year -- at very fast paces -- and were always inspired by what they could do. They were a huge source of motivation for us as Auggie athletes," Vogel said. "So we decided to give back to them by documenting their training and provide motivation and inspiration to people all over the city, state, and country leading up to Saturday's big race."
More than 300 runners are competing in the
U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, with the top three men and top three women qualifying to represent the United States at the 2012 London Olympics. The men's race will start at 8 a.m., with the women's race starting at 8:15 a.m. The event will also be featured on a same-day broadcast on NBC (KARE-TV 11 in the Twin Cities) from 2-4 p.m. on Saturday.
Since 1995, Barker's Augsburg teams have qualified 49 entrants in the NCAA Division III national championships in cross country and track and field, with 16 earning All-American honors. Forty-four Augsburg track and field athletes have earned Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference individual titles under his leadership.
