By David Monti
(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (07-Sep) -- It was exactly 11 years ago when Colleen
De Reuck, then a 34 year-old South African citizen, won her first New
Haven Road Race 20-K, setting a world record time of 1:05:11. De
Reuck, now 45, set another world record here today, running the
fastest-ever 20 kilometers by a woman over 45 by some seven minutes in
1:07:21. For good measure, she also won the USA 20-K title, beating
Serena Burla --19 years her junior-- by 17 seconds.
"It's great racing," De Reuck, a mother of two from Boulder, Colo.,
told reporters while her two year-old daughter Tara scurried around
her. "Sometimes the training gets a little bit old," she quipped.
De Reuck took the lead at the 8 km point (26:35), and was never
seriously challenged. Today's victory was De Reuck's third her in six
appearances here.
"I just tried to relax," she said, explaining that her goal pace was
five minutes and 20 seconds per mile (3:19/km). "At 10-K along the
water I slipped a bit to 5:30 (3:25/km). I was just hanging on at the
end."
De Reuck did not expect to win here today, but she did hope to contend.
She was using today's race to prepare for the Medtronic Twin Cities
Marathon on Oct. 4, the site of the USA women's Marathon Championship.
"I was like hoping top-3," she said.
Burla, who also finished second at the USA 7-mile championship at the
Quad City Times Bix 7 in Davenport, Ia., last July, clocked 1:07:38.
Magdalena Lewy Boulet, the 2008 USA Olympic Trials Marathon runner-up,
finished a distant third in 1:08:11. Rebecca Donaghue (1:08:39) and
Amy Hastings (1:08:58) rounded out the top-5.
The men's race was much more dramatic. Brett Gotcher, Jason Lehmkuhle
and Mohamed Trafeh, none of whom had ever won a USA title, used the
fast opening 10-K pace (28:56) of defending champion James Carney to
break away from the field. The three made their way through the
streets of New Haven, well ahead of Scott Bauhs, Andrew Carlson and
Jason Hartmann, their nearest chasers. Trafeh injected several surges
in the second half, but couldn't break up the pack.
"I made a mistake," said the 23 year-old Trafeh, who lives in
Flagstaff, Ariz., and only got his USA citizenship last year. "I
wanted to break them early. I thought I'd break away and run by
myself."
But the trio ended up rotating the lead through the race's final
kilometers, and they were eyeing each other warily. Through 19 km they
were still together, when Gotcher pushed, Trafeh responded, and
Lehmkuhle fell back a few steps. Trafeh did his best to hang on, but
Gotcher was just too strong in the final meters, winning his first USA
title in a personal best 58:57, and locking in a USA team spot for the
IAAF World Half-Marathon Championships in October in Birmingham,
England. Coach Greg McMillan was thrilled.
"It's very special for me because when we started the program two years
ago, Brett was one of the original members," McMillan explained. He
added: "Right out of school, he came to our program. He's really good."
Trafeh hit the line four seconds behind Gotcher and, despite the narrow
loss, was satisfied. Without a sponsor, his $4,500 second place
paycheck was important.
"Second place is really good for me," said Trafeh. "This is my best
result so far in my career." He added: "This race will open a lot of
doors for me."
Lehmkuhle held on for third in 59:04, while Carlson (59:26) and Bauhs (59:46) completed the top-5.
Both De Reuck and Gotcher earned $8,000 in prize money, part of a
$40,000 total purse. In addition, the top-14 men earned automatic
invitations to the USA Men's Marathon Championship which will be held
at the ING New York City Marathon on Nov. 1, because they broke
1:01:30. USATF and New York Road Runners designated today's race here
as an additional one-day qualifying window for the championship,
provided athletes ran at least 1:01:30.
The next USA road running championship will be held in Providence, R.I., at the CVS/pharmacy Downtown 5-K on Sept. 20.
Women
Place Bib # Name Age City State Timei> 1 3 Colleen Dereuck 45 Boulder CO 1:07:21 2 47 Serena Burla 26 Ballwin MO 1:07:38 3 6 Magdalena Lewy Boulet 36 Oakland CA 1:08:11 4 46 Rebecca Donaghue 33 State College PA 1:08:39 5 45 Amy Hastings 25 Mammoth Lakes CA 1:08:58 6 75 Kristen Nicolini 31 Minneapolis MN 1:09:06 7 4 Elva Dryer 37 Gunnison CO 1:10:09 8 2 Jill Swope 25 Athens GA 1:10:22 9 44 Sheri Piers 38 Falmouth ME 1:10:43 10 43 Ilsa Paulson 20 New York NY 1:11:11 11 49 Heidi Westerling 28 Walpole NH 1:11:33 12 87 Cassie Slade 26 Indian Hills CO 1:13:28 13 76 Kasie Enman 29 Huntington VT 1:13:32 14 81 Kristin Barry 35 Scarborough ME 1:13:35 15 79 Shannon McHale 38 West Simsbury CT 1:13:48 16 50 Victoria Jackson 27 Johnson City TN 1:13:52 17 85 Emily Harrison 23 Flagstaff AZ 1:15:06 18 48 Alvina Begay 28 Flagstaff AZ 1:16:10 19 88 Caroline White 24 Colorado Spring CO 1:16:16 20 78 Cheryl Anderson 28 Branford CT 1:16:28
MEN
Place Bib # Name Age City State Time 1 14 Brett Gotcher 25 Flagstaff AZ 58:57 2 30 Mohamed Trafeh 23 Flagstaff AZ 59:01 3 11 Jason Lemkuhle 31 Minneapolis MN 59:04 4 5 Andrew Carlson 27 Flagstaff AZ 59:26 5 90 Scott Bauhs 23 Danville CA 59:46 6 13 Jason Hartman 28 Portland OR 59:52 7 18 Fasil Bizuneh 29 Flagstaff AZ 1:00:00 8 27 Seth Pilkington 26 Ogden UT 1:00:07 9 1 James Carney 31 Longmont CO 1:00:21 10 22 Lucas Meyer 26 Ridgefield CT 1:00:36 11 9 Patrick Smyth 24 Salt Lake City UT 1:00:43 12 25 Stephan Shay 23 East Jordan MI 1:00:47 13 39 Zac Hine 21 South Hadley MA 1:00:47 14 8 Patrick Tarpy 27 Providence RI 1:01:10 15 24 Sergio Reyes 27 Palmdale CA 1:01:47 16 15 Peter Gilmore 32 San Mateo CA 1:01:54 17 10 Ryan Sheehan 26 Pittsburgh PA 1:01:57 18 16 Jeff Eggleston 24 Flagstaff AZ 1:02:04 19 40 Anthony Gallo 29 Flagstaff AZ 1:02:17 20 19 Fred Joslyn 25 Binghamton NY 1:03:04 21 32 Allen Wagner 28 Huntingdon Vall PA 1:03:05 22 38 Andrew Cloke 25 Cortland NY 1:03:32 23 33 Robby Young 24 Colorado Spring CO 1:03:43 24 21 Eric Blake 30 New Britain CT 1:03:44 25 34 Joey Zins 30 Indiana PA 1:03:54