MAKING STEADY STRIDES, DIANE NUKURI-JOHNSON BECOMING A CONTENDER
MAKING STEADY STRIDES, DIANE NUKURI-JOHNSON BECOMING A CONTENDER
MAKING STEADY STRIDES, NUKURI-JOHNSON BECOMING A CONTENDER
By David Monti
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, Used with Permission
CAPE ELIZABETH, ME. (05-Aug) -- It was nearly 11 years ago that Diane Nukuri-Johnson stepped on the track at the Sydney Olympics to compete in the women's 5000m heats. She was just 15, from the village of Kigozi/Mukihe, about 30 minutes from the Burundian capital Bujumbura, and she would finish 14th out of 17 women in her heat. Nonetheless, she was proud to represent her war-torn nation and didn't realize at the time that her race there was the beginning of a better life.
"Nobody was ever good enough to qualify (for the Olympics)," Nukuri-Johnson, now 26, said in an interview here today before tomorrow's TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10-K where she is a contender for the podium. "Running for a woman back home is not something popular, because as a woman you shouldn't be running. You should be watching kids or being in the kitchen."
Nukuri-Johnson ran a personal best 16:38.30, and her international running career was born. Burundi is a French-speaking nation, and she was selected for her national team to compete in the Francophone Games in Ottawa, Canada, the following year. She took the bronze medal in the 10,000m in a then national record of 34:30.66. But more importantly, she had found a way to stay in Canada, a move which would eventually lead to an NCAA scholarship and the professional running career she enjoys today.
"I have a cousin in Canada," she explained, her long hair elaborately braided. "I think my wake-up call was when I was taking a bus (in Burundi). There was a guy who was in the army in my bus. He got shot (on the bus). I remember, there was no room so they had to lay him down, and we took him to his parents'. I just saw that happen; I had never seen anything like that. That was to me a wake-up call. I'm going to go to Canada and I'm going to stay with my cousin."
In Canada Nukuri-Johnson attended a French-speaking high school, but she had to learn English if she wanted to go to an American university.
"The hardest part was six months after I had to learn a language and I missed home so much," she recounted. "I missed my family because I'm so close to my family. So, I stayed there, did my high school and then I got recruited because I ran for my high school for one year."
In 2004 she enrolled in Butler Community College in Kansas, and in the fall of 2006 she transferred to the University of Iowa in Iowa City where she still lives. She took 8th in the NCAA Cross Country Championships that year, and was soon a big player in the Big 10 Conference under cross country and distance coach Layne Anderson. She took 7th in the NCAA Championships at 10,000m in 2007, and was the Big 10 5000m champion in 2008.
"My coach was very patient with me; there is no way I was going to go anywhere else but Iowa," said Nukuri-Johnson who met her husband, Alexander Johnson, while in school there.
In 2011, Nukuri-Johnson is enjoying the best season of her career. She ran a personal best 2:33:47 at the Honda LA Marathon last March, good for fourth place, and ran a national record 15:57 for 5-K at the Freihofer's Run for Women last June in Albany, N.Y. She also won the Steamboat Classic 4 mile in Peoria, Ill. (20:41), and was third at last Saturday's hot and very humid Quad-City Times Bix 7 mile in Davenport, Ia. She said she is feeling more confident with every race.
"After L.A., I felt like a different runner from last year," she said, crediting her steady work as opposed to any kind of new training program for her improvement. Her confidence has soared. "Since L.A. everything is getting better, and I've been getting stronger. It's a good thing knowing you're getting better and better." She added: "I'm really starting to believe; I have the same talent as those girls."
At tomorrow's race, Nukuri-Johnson will face two-time Olympic Marathon medallist Catherine Ndereba of Kenya (a five-time winner here), Olympic Marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., Carlsbad 5000 champion Aheza Kiros of Ethiopia, and Bellin Run 10-K winner Jelliah Tinega of Kenya. She likes her chances.
"I'm very excited," Nukuri-Johnson said. "My PR is what I ran in the Mini 10-K, 33:28 (in New York City last June). I believe that I am in a good position where I can run much faster. So, I'm going to get in a group... and just stay there and push the last two miles. I think I should be able to place way high tomorrow."
# # # # # #
The 14th TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10-K takes tomorrow here. Organizers expect 6400 runners to take to the starting line. The professional field will be competing for a $60,000 purse with $10,000 going to the race winners. There is a $2500 bonus for new course records.
By David Monti
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, Used with Permission
CAPE ELIZABETH, ME. (05-Aug) -- It was nearly 11 years ago that Diane Nukuri-Johnson stepped on the track at the Sydney Olympics to compete in the women's 5000m heats. She was just 15, from the village of Kigozi/Mukihe, about 30 minutes from the Burundian capital Bujumbura, and she would finish 14th out of 17 women in her heat. Nonetheless, she was proud to represent her war-torn nation and didn't realize at the time that her race there was the beginning of a better life.
"Nobody was ever good enough to qualify (for the Olympics)," Nukuri-Johnson, now 26, said in an interview here today before tomorrow's TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10-K where she is a contender for the podium. "Running for a woman back home is not something popular, because as a woman you shouldn't be running. You should be watching kids or being in the kitchen."
Nukuri-Johnson ran a personal best 16:38.30, and her international running career was born. Burundi is a French-speaking nation, and she was selected for her national team to compete in the Francophone Games in Ottawa, Canada, the following year. She took the bronze medal in the 10,000m in a then national record of 34:30.66. But more importantly, she had found a way to stay in Canada, a move which would eventually lead to an NCAA scholarship and the professional running career she enjoys today.
"I have a cousin in Canada," she explained, her long hair elaborately braided. "I think my wake-up call was when I was taking a bus (in Burundi). There was a guy who was in the army in my bus. He got shot (on the bus). I remember, there was no room so they had to lay him down, and we took him to his parents'. I just saw that happen; I had never seen anything like that. That was to me a wake-up call. I'm going to go to Canada and I'm going to stay with my cousin."
In Canada Nukuri-Johnson attended a French-speaking high school, but she had to learn English if she wanted to go to an American university.
"The hardest part was six months after I had to learn a language and I missed home so much," she recounted. "I missed my family because I'm so close to my family. So, I stayed there, did my high school and then I got recruited because I ran for my high school for one year."
In 2004 she enrolled in Butler Community College in Kansas, and in the fall of 2006 she transferred to the University of Iowa in Iowa City where she still lives. She took 8th in the NCAA Cross Country Championships that year, and was soon a big player in the Big 10 Conference under cross country and distance coach Layne Anderson. She took 7th in the NCAA Championships at 10,000m in 2007, and was the Big 10 5000m champion in 2008.
"My coach was very patient with me; there is no way I was going to go anywhere else but Iowa," said Nukuri-Johnson who met her husband, Alexander Johnson, while in school there.
In 2011, Nukuri-Johnson is enjoying the best season of her career. She ran a personal best 2:33:47 at the Honda LA Marathon last March, good for fourth place, and ran a national record 15:57 for 5-K at the Freihofer's Run for Women last June in Albany, N.Y. She also won the Steamboat Classic 4 mile in Peoria, Ill. (20:41), and was third at last Saturday's hot and very humid Quad-City Times Bix 7 mile in Davenport, Ia. She said she is feeling more confident with every race.
"After L.A., I felt like a different runner from last year," she said, crediting her steady work as opposed to any kind of new training program for her improvement. Her confidence has soared. "Since L.A. everything is getting better, and I've been getting stronger. It's a good thing knowing you're getting better and better." She added: "I'm really starting to believe; I have the same talent as those girls."
At tomorrow's race, Nukuri-Johnson will face two-time Olympic Marathon medallist Catherine Ndereba of Kenya (a five-time winner here), Olympic Marathon bronze medalist Deena Kastor of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., Carlsbad 5000 champion Aheza Kiros of Ethiopia, and Bellin Run 10-K winner Jelliah Tinega of Kenya. She likes her chances.
"I'm very excited," Nukuri-Johnson said. "My PR is what I ran in the Mini 10-K, 33:28 (in New York City last June). I believe that I am in a good position where I can run much faster. So, I'm going to get in a group... and just stay there and push the last two miles. I think I should be able to place way high tomorrow."
# # # # # #
The 14th TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10-K takes tomorrow here. Organizers expect 6400 runners to take to the starting line. The professional field will be competing for a $60,000 purse with $10,000 going to the race winners. There is a $2500 bonus for new course records.
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