Byline: BERT ROSENTHAL Associated Press -
BOSTON -- All David Morris has to show for being a one-time American record-holder in the marathon is a piece of paper.
He doesn't have the record anymore and he still doesn't have a marathon victory.
Morris hopes to change that today in his first appearance in the Boston Marathon.
``I would like to run faster,'' Morris said, referring to the U.S. record of 2 hours, 9 minutes, 32 seconds, he ran in finishing fourth at the 1999 Chicago Marathon, his career best by nearly six minutes.
Since that memorable race, in which Khalid Khannouchi set the world record of 2:05:42, Morris' performances have sagged. He is hopeful that the hills of Boston will provide him with an uplifting effort.
``I've heard it's a rough course because the downhills beat you up a lot,'' said Morris, a native of Eagle River, Alaska, now living in Missoula, Mont.
Being a newcomer on the demanding and exhausting course will not be beneficial to Morris, who will be facing a powerful field of tested foreigners. Included in the group of approximately 15,000 starters will be defending champion Elijah Lagat of Kenya, Olympic gold medalist and 2000 Boston runner-up Gezahegne Abera of Ethiopia, two-time Boston winner Moses Tanui of Kenya, 1996 Olympic silver medalist Bong-ju Lee of South Korea and 1999 Boston champion Joseph Chebet of Kenya.
The women's field also is strong, with defending champion and Chicago Marathon winner Catherine Ndereba of Kenya, three-time Boston champion Fatuma Roba of Ethiopia, New York City Marathon winner Ludmila Petrova of Russia and 20-kilometer world record-holder Lornah Kiplagat of Kenya.
Kenyan men have won the last 10 Boston Marathons. Ndereba was the first Kenyan woman to win.
When Khannouchi won the Chicago Marathon in 1999, he was representing his native Morocco. Since then, he has become a U.S. citizen, and his 2:07:01 in Chicago last year broke Morris' American record.
Morris finished seventh at 2:12, blaming his subpar performance on lack of motivation. He had flopped at the U.S. Olympic Trials, finishing 38th at 2:29:26, the slowest time of his seven-race marathon career. He started to cramp up at mile two and never recovered.
Morris blamed the disheartening performance on too much training and too much heat on race day.
``It was very disappointing,'' he said. ``I had trained harder for that race than for any race in my life.''
About a month later, Morris competed in the Olympic trials 10,000 meters, but did not finish. He took a few weeks off to regain his composure, before preparing for Chicago.
``I did the same workouts I did before Chicago in 1999, but I didn't feel good except six weeks before the race,'' he said. ``When I finish my workouts, I always feel I can go faster. Last year, I didn't feel that way. I felt like I was struggling.
``In 1999, I developed a good base in Japan. Then I ran for two months in Boulder (Colo.). I didn't have that base last year for the trials or for Chicago.''
Now, Morris has a different attitude. He has been training at low altitude in Albuquerque, N.M., and Missoula, concentrating on his speed and combining part of the Japanese philosophy he learned while training there with a corporate team that went undefeated in 14 relay races in 1999.
``They train more for endurance,'' Morris said. ``When we did workout training for a race, we started long and slow. As the race got closer, we started getting faster. In the United States, we do shorter intervals.''
Morris' training for Boston was interrupted in December and early January by minor injuries, costing him a strong base and forcing him to run a lot of miles in late January and February.
``I didn't do a lot of speed work until March,'' he said, ``and my legs got sore. Maybe I crammed too much.''
Morris will find out today whether he prepared properly.
