Kastor's Olympic marathon ends prematurely

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BEIJING -- Deena Kastor spent months planning and training, running hundreds of miles and arranging her schedule -- her life, really -- to prepare for the Olympic marathon.In an instant, with a pop, all of that was lost.After the elation of a bronze medal in the 2004 marathon in Athens, Kastor - considered a medal favorite for the 2008 Olympics - was left at the other end of the emotional spectrum when a broken right foot forced her to drop out of Sunday's women's marathon at the at the five-kilometer mark.She was the first athlete to drop out of the race, won by Romania's Constantina Tomescu in two hours, 26 minutes, 44 seconds, suddenly pulling off the course as it neared the Temple of Heaven on an opening loop from Tiananmen Square, going to a knee and grabbing her right foot."My foot has been sore for the past week," Kastor told a pool reporter. "I thought it was just tendons; they get hyper-sensitive leading up to the marathon. I was icing it this week. It didn't affect how I was training."It was a bit sore when I woke up, but had no affect on my running. It was tight most of way. I felt a pop in my foot. I couldn't stand on it."I didn't expect to be finishing the marathon in a bus."Kastor eventually was brought to the National Stadium, where the race finished, but did not meet with reporters before being taken for evaluation and treatment. "We prepare forever for the marathon," she told the reporter on the course. "... I was excited to get out. I made my country proud and tried to win another medal. As athletes, we have ups and downs. Unfortunately, you can't pick the days they come on."Blake Russell was the only U.S. runner to complete the race, taking 27th in 2:33.13."I had no idea what was going on with Magdalena (Lewy Boulet) and Deena," said Russell, who lives in Pacific Grove, Calif. "... I was bummed to hear it didn't work out for them today."It was tough out there. ... (The lead pack) kind of pulled away right after the half. I just tried to relax and stay tough and run my own race. I kind of thought more people would come back to me. I didn't really end up passing that many people, so I'm kind of glad I got a good start."Lewy Boulet was the second runner to drop out, because of a knee she'd injured about a week before the race on a shuttle bus between the Olympic Village and the U.S. training facility at Beijing Normal University, hitting it on the armrest of the seat in front of her."As soon as I hit it, it was hurting, and it limited by training," said Lewy Boulet, a naturalized American citizen originally from Poland. "... The swelling is all gone. There's just a bruise that prevents me from proper range of motion."Lewy Boulet eventually pulled up at the 20-kilometer mark, just shy of the halfway mark of the 42.1-kilometer (26.2 mile) race."It's still very painful," she said, tearfully, of the decision to stop. "Your dream goes away."Kastor unquestionably knows the feeling.The 38-year-old Tomescu, who lives and trains near Boulder, Colo., pulled away from the pack at the midway point of the race and eventually led by almost a minute and a half. She ended up winning by 22 seconds, with Catherine Ndereba of Kenya outdueling Zhou Chunxiu of China during the final lap on the National Stadium track, with Zhou briefly taking the lead before Ndereba passed her for good.(Contact David Lassen of the Ventura County Star in California at dplassen(at)venturacountystar.com.)