UC Riverside's two-time All-American Brenda Martinez finished up her six-meet tour of Europe on Saturday with a win in the 1500m in Ninove, Belgium (
watch the race). Her unofficial time of 4:12.00 is a little more than two seconds off of her record time of 4:09.52 which she ran earlier in the tour in Ghent, Belgium
(watch Brenda's interview following the race).
Last Sunday she took second in the 800m in Wattenscheid, Germany, and much like her 800m race two days prior, her Sunday race was marred by contact between some of the runners. This time, Martinez was involved, however, as her heels were clipped late in the race. The Rancho Cucamonga managed to maintain her balance, and finished with a time of 2:01.95 just behind Lenka Masna's (CZE) 2:01.81.
On Friday, Julye 31, with approximately 400m left in her 1500m race in Leverkusen, Germany Martinez was running with the lead pack, but a collision between two runners just in front of her forced her to come to a complete stop and shift over two lanes before employing her patented end-of-race kick to try and catch up to the leaders. Martinez made up most of the distance, but ran out of track finishing in fifth place, less than two seconds off the pace. Her time of 4:11.36 was still the second fastest time of her career.
On July 26, the rising senior used another late kick to win the 800m in Brasschaat, Belgium in 2:00.86 which betters the UCR record she set less than two weeks ago by .17 seconds (
watch the race). It is the sixth fastest time by an American so far this year in the 800m.
It was just five days prior that Martinez broke the school record in the 1500m winning her race in Ghent, Belgium (
watch the race) by running a 4:09.52 - four seconds faster than her previous best (
watch Martinez's interview after the race). Her time was the 10th fastest time run by an American this year in the 1500m.
Two weeks ago, she ran what was then a UCR record 2:01.03 winning the the 800m in Liege, Belgium (
watch the race). In doing so she bested Geena Gall (the 2008 and 2009 NCAA 800m Champion) and Alysia Johnson (the 2007 NCAA 800m Champion) (
watch Martinez's interview after the race).
Brenda Martinez's European Schedule
| Date |
Location |
Distance |
| July 15 |
Liege, Belgium |
800m |
| July 21 |
Ghent, Belgium |
1500m |
| July 26 |
Brasschaat, Belgium |
800m |
| July 31 |
Leverkusen, Germany |
1500m |
| August 2 |
Wattenscheid, Germany |
800m |
| August 8 |
Ninove, Belgium |
1500m |