Barker Talks About Lehmkuhle and Moen

Team USA Minnesota coach Dennis Barker offered some additional information on the ING New York City Marathon performances of his charges Jason Lehmkuhle and Josh Moen in a recent media release by the post-collegiate training group.

Lehmkuhle (pictured, in orange), of course, finished 10th at the race, running 2:14:39. He placed 5th in the USA Men's Marathon Championships held in conjunction with the race.

Moen, who established himself as one of the race's most intriguing entrants after his 46:38 Medtronic TC 10 Mile performance in October, dropped out of the NYC Marathon at mile 17.

"Jason had another strong run in New York," Barker said. "The city always seems to bring out the best in him. The field was very strong both nationally and internationally so a top ten finish again this year was a good effort."

"He wanted to run a little faster time," Barker added, "as did most of the other top runners, but there was a steady headwind for much of the race. You could tell by First Avenue (where the course is at 16 through 19 miles) that it was starting to wear people down."

Barker tried to put Moen's disappointing day into a broader perspective.

"Josh has had a great year, setting PRs in the 5000 and 10,000 on the track and in the 10 mile, but Sunday wasn't his day," Barker said. "Sometimes even when you're in great shape you wake up and you're just not going to be 100 percent and in a race like New York that will take a toll. But he'll bounce back. Meb proved that you can't keep a good man down, and Josh is a good man."

Complete results of the ING New York City Marathon can be found HERE.

Photo by Sean Hartnett.