Defending his USATF National Cross Country title February 18th is merely a stepping stone on the path to international glory for 23- year- old Dathan Ritzenhein.

Though he respects the American distance runners he is up against he is tired of focusing on national titles preferring instead to challenge the world's best distance runners. A 4th place finish in the Visit Scotland Great Edinburgh Cross Country race on January 14th where he handily beat six time European champion Sergei Lebid proved his point.

"I had kind of come into it a little bit banged up," he now says of that race. "I had a really small injury, nothing real serious, but I had to take a week off training two to three weeks beforehand so I didn't know if I was going to run because I wasn't sharp. I had lost that training and I knew I was going to be running against arguably the three best runners in the world."

The formidable Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele, Saif Saaeed Shaheen, the Kenyan turned Qatari steeplechase king, and Zersenay Tadesse, the Eritrean who claimed his country's first ever Olympic medal when he won the 2004 10,000m bronze finished one-two- three.

Besides the lost training time, Ritzenhein suffered a bout of food poisoning the week of the race. The effects of the illness further tested his resolve.

"We were in a restaurant in Dublin a couple of days before the race," he recalls. "This guy said it was the best soup in Dublin. I don't think it was. It hit me that night and on Tuesday I was throwing up all night and then spent the next four days in bed before the race."

Considering what he went through he now realises that he has never been fitter than he is now. Hence the willingness to look beyond the US national championships race.

"I think there's a lot of guys who are too worried about getting the number one ranking in the U.S. Personally, if I had to take a bad race I would rather do badly at the US meets and then go over and compete against the best guys in the world and do well. I would rather have a great race at the World championships than a US championship. A lot of guys are starting to think that way."

Although he boasts modest track times when compared to the likes of Bekele and Shaheen, who are both world record holders in their respective events, Ritzenhein expects vast improvements this year. He thinks he can knock 30 seconds off his personal best 10,000m time of 27:38.50 for instance. And he understands his vision of being competitive on the world stage is not blurred.

As a junior he represented the US at the 2001 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Ostende, Belgium, where he proudly stood on the medal podium with the bronze medal strung around his neck. Next to him was none other than Bekele. Granted things are a bit different today. A year ago Ritzenhein struggled at the world cross finishing 62nd while Bekele went on to successfully complete his fourth consecutive double (victories in both the short course and long course events). He has his sights set on an impressive finish in Fukuoka on April 2nd.

"Obviously the first thing is getting on the team. But I am trying to focus my attention on the world cross because if I have trouble making the US team I would have bigger problems," he explains. "I think as long as I run what I am capable of I will definitely make the team and will be looking six weeks down the road to show that I am one of the best cross country runners in the world."

"I will definitely do the long course. Last year there was a lot of hype at what I was going to do at the world cross and I tanked it. Besides the Olympics, it was one of the worst experiences in my running career. There was a lot of talk of me medalling so I have been very cautious about saying anything. But I think I have the capability of being up there with the best runners. And if the race goes well then I can be up there. I was 24th in 2002 and I am so much stronger than I used to be so I think I can be up there in the top 10."

Friends and family tease Ritzenhein for his tendency to study the weather and climate of the sites where he will compete. He laughs it off but adds seriously that Fukuoka is likely to be going through a rainy season and that beats the 26 Celsius temperatures of St Galmier-St Etienne a year ago.

"I will be delighted if it's really muddy and raining because I think I am a really strong cross country runner and that would play to my advantage," he reveals. "When I have done the best in cross country races it has been in those conditions."

A self admitted stay at home type, Ritzenhein and his fiance, All American cross country runner Kalin Toedebusch, like to entertain friends at their Boulder home eschewing the night life that can interfere with training. "A lot of people think we are boring." he admits candidly. Wagers on monopoly games is the extent of this young man's wild streak.

After the 2004 NCAA season during which he finished 2nd in the NCAA 5,000m final, he chose to turn professional rather than compete another season for the University of Colorado Buffaloes. That meant changing coaches and training partners. Mark Wetmore, the man who had guided him from a precocious freshman to a US champion, felt it was a conflict of interest to continue coaching him when he was being paid to coach the collegiate runners. Ritzenhein signed on with agent Pete Stubbs and received a multi year contract from Nike which allows him to treat his running as a full time job. And he sought Brad Hudson as a coach. He is reflective on the decision.

"It was actually one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make because it changed my coach, my training partners, everything," he remembers. "So it was something that took a lot of thinking. I talked to a lot of people. Very difficult because I was very comfortable at CU. I made the right choice, I had to make a change and it has worked out.

"Coach Wetmore is still one of my favourite people. I think he is a great coach and still one of my favourite people that I have ever known. Whenever I can I still like to chat with him. He was kind of a mentor. He took me under his wing."

It was Wetmore who insisted the athlete undergo medical tests to try to find an explanation for a series of stress fractures he has suffered over the past four years. The tests included blood work and bone density testing. Everything appeared normal apart from some hormonal imbalances which settled once he rested. Ritzenhein concluded there is but one explanation.

"I do train really hard," he insists. "I think I train a lot more than some people and if I had to be hurt every year and have a few glimpses of glory I would rather do that than do it halfway and be mediocre."

"I run a lot of mileage, and I run hard in my workouts, and I try to be scientific and be smart about it. I try to run more within myself using heart rate as an indicator. But I have a unique ability to train hard, day in, day out. Sometimes I can wear myself down and where most people would slow down I can keep going, and that might cause some of the injuries as well. But injuries are part of the game."

Ritzenhein will graduate with a B.A. in History this spring and then comes another major fixture - his June 30th wedding to Kalin. But for now he is focusing on one event at a time. And if he can remain healthy this young man will surely be amongst the best in the world.