Ben Blankenship
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Ben Blankenship (born December 15, 1988) is an American middle distance runner. He is a
world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...
holder as a member of the 2015 USA Distance medley relay team, of which he ran the 1600-meter anchor leg.


Running career


Elementary school

Blankenship attended St. Croix Catholic school in Stillwater, Minnesota. Classmates from his elementary recall Blankenship to be the fastest runner at St. Croix Catholic when running the mile run at the Old Athletic Field located near the elementary school.


High school

At
Stillwater Area High School Stillwater Area High School (SAHS) is a public school located in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota, United States. It serves as the primary high school for the Stillwater Area Public School District (834), the oldest public school district in Minneso ...
, Blankenship was the Minnesota State AA Champion at 1600 meters in both 2006 and 2007. Also in 2005, he led his team to second place in Cross Country. His high school had previously molded other prolific distance runners such as Luke Watson and Sean Graham.


Collegiate

He began his collegiate career at
Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...
. After a year there he transferred to his home state
University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...
. By 2010, he became the first Golden Gopher to break the 4 minute mile, when he ran 3:57.83 at the indoor Washington Qualifier meet. In December 2011, his
sacrum The sacrum (: sacra or sacrums), in human anatomy, is a triangular bone at the base of the spine that forms by the fusing of the sacral vertebrae (S1S5) between ages 18 and 30. The sacrum situates at the upper, back part of the pelvic cavity, ...
fractured from his training, and Blankenship made a decision to quit running during his junior year at Minnesota.


Post-collegiate

After graduating from Minnesota, he moved to Colorado and worked for a friend's excavation company. However, he traveled to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
to watch a friend participate in the
2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, and became interested in returning to running after he felt his injuries were gone. He subsequently moved to
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, where he lived for a year. After working out consistently for the first time since college, he won the 2013 Crystal City Twilighter, a 5K road race, in 15:10. His agent, Stephen Haas, worked to convince Oregon Track Club to invite Blankenship to train professionally in Eugene, and eventually Blankenship accepted the offer. Both his best 1500 meters and
mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a imperial unit, British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of Unit of length, le ...
personal track records have been set indoors, his 3:53.13 mile set while finishing second in a world class field at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in 2015 ranks as the #8 time by an American. His road mile personal best of 3:52.7, set while winning the "Minnesota Mile" is the fastest mile in Minnesota state history. At the 2015 IAAF World Relays Blankenship put the weight of his team on his shoulders at the end of the distance medley relay. While he received the baton in first place, similar to a move in
track cycling Track cycling is a Cycle sport, bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its i ...
strategy, he immediately conceded the lead to Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot, who in turn broke contact and attempted to run away with the race. Blankenship's even paced lack of aggression also let the Australian team anchor by
Collis Birmingham Collis Birmingham (born 27 December 1984) is an Australian middle- and long-distance runner. He is a two-time participant at the Summer Olympics (2008 and 2012) and four-time participant at the World Championships in Athletics (2009, 2011, 2 ...
back into contention. When Cheruiyot paid the price for his front running, Blankenship passed the tiring Cheruiyot. But Cheruiyot was not broken and stayed with in contact all the way to the final straightaway where Blankenship's speed put the race away. With the oddly strategic ending, the 0.06 of a second improvement on the existing world record by a Kenyan team in 2006 was more of an accident than a plan. A month and a half later, at the
2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number) *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album), 2007 * ''15'' (Phatfish album), 2008 * ...
, Blankenship finished a disappointing fourth place, .02 behind Leo Manzano, only 0.03 behind second place Robby Andrews who finished with a late rush, to miss making the team for the 2015 World Championships. He won the 2016 Medtronic TC 1 mile, setting a course record of 3:55.8 and taking home the USATF Road Mile title. On July 10, 2016, Blankenship finished third in the 1500 meters finals at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials, qualifying him to compete in the 1500 meter race at the 2016 Olympic Games in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the sixth-most-populous city in the Americas. Founded in 1565 by the Portuguese, the city wa ...
. Blankenship then finished 8th in the Olympic Final. In September 2017, Blankenship set a record for the fastest 1 mile time in Alaska, achieving a time of 3:57.85. This makes Blankenship one of only two to run a mile in under 4 minutes in Alaska ever, along with Kyle Merber. Blankenship currently lives in
Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie River (Oregon), McKenzie and Willamette River, Willamette rivers, ...
and trains with the Oregon Track Club. Blankenship won a US national xc title over 10 km in 29:21 at 2018
USATF National Club Cross Country Championships The USATF National Club Cross Country Championships are an annual cross country running, cross country competition for running clubs in the United States organized by USA Track & Field. The championships typically feature a 10K men's race and a 6K ...
.2018 USATF National Club Cross Country Championships - December 8, 2018 - Plantes Ferry Sports Complex - Spokane, WA
USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is a United States national governing body for the sports of track and field, cross country running, road running, and racewalking (known as the sport of athletics outside the US). The USATF was known between 1979 and 1 ...


References


External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blankenship, Ben 1989 births Living people Sportspeople from Stillwater, Minnesota Track and field athletes from Minnesota American male middle-distance runners World Athletics record holders (relay) Minnesota Golden Gophers men's track and field athletes Mississippi State Bulldogs men's track and field athletes Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes for the United States USA Indoor Track and Field Championships winners 21st-century American sportsmen