Johnson and Heath Compete at World Track Indoor Championships

Johnson and Heath Compete at World Track Indoor Championships
March 17, 2010, 2:06pm

This past weekend, Bay Area Track Club athletes Alysia Johnson and Garrett Heath raced at the World Indoor Track and Field Championships in Doha, Qatar. Johnson ran a personal best and won the bronze medal in the women's 800 meters, while Heath finished 7th in the men's 1500 meters.

Johnson took the pace out fast, leading the pack through the 400 meter split in 58 seconds. Jenny Meadows of Great Britain took the lead in the third 200, but was passed by Mariya Savinova of Russia (1:58.26) for the gold medal. Meadows (1:58.43) hung on for the silver, while Johnson ran her fastest time ever (1:59.60) to take the bronze. See full results from this race here.


Heath finished 7th (3:43.81) in the very tactical 1500 meter final. Deresse Mekonnen (3:41.86) won the gold medal by a mere .10 seconds over Abdalaati Iguider (3:41.96) of Morroco. The race started slowly, with the field bunched up and elbows flying to fight for space on the 200 meter track. The pace picked up over the last half of the race and ended in a wild sprint finish. Less than 2 seconds split the finishing times of the first 7 finishers. See full results from this race here.




Garrett leading the men's 1500m final


The action in Doha capped a successful weekend of racing for BATC athletes that included a first place team finish for the BATC women and third place for the BATC men at the Gate River Run 15k in Jacksonville, FL. You can read more about the BATC's experience at Gate River here.

Courtesy Bay Area Track Club