RECORDS TUMBLE, VEGA SURPRISES IN HOUSTON
By David Monti
(c) 2010 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
January 17, 2010
HOUSTON (17-Jan) -- Three of the four open course records of the
Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half-Marathon fell here
today, made possible by strong fields, beautifully cool and sunny
weather and a more than $200,000 prize money purse.
Shalane Flanagan of Portland, Ore., bagged the first of the three
records in women's 21.1 km contest, which also served as the USA
Half-Marathon Championships. Joined by Serena Burla of Ellisville,
Mo., the two women were running under Colleen De Reuck's 1:10:55 course
record pace from the gun. They passed through 4 miles (6.4 km) in
21:26, and 6 miles (9.7 km) in 32:05. Making her half-marathon debut,
Flanagan was actually running a little faster than she had agreed with
coach Jerry Schumacher.
"As soon as I finished I saw my husband and I asked if Jerry was mad at
me because I didn't exactly follow the race plan," Flanagan told
reporters. "I have a tendency to not be very patient."
Burla, who was the second American finisher in last year's IAAF World
Half-Marathon Championships, showed surprising tenacity, staying so
close to Flanagan that she clipped her heels a few times.
"I mean to apologize for that," Burla said in an interview after the race.
The half-marathon course here has a 180-degree turnaround just before
the 15 km mark, and it took that long for Flanagan, the reigning
Olympic 10,000m bronze medallist, to finally shake Burla.
"I could hear the pitter-patter of her feet; she has a nice little
shuffle," Flanagan said of Burla. She added: "I think right about the
turnaround I didn't hear her feet anymore."
Flanagan rolled to the finish adjacent to the massive George R. Brown
Convention Center on her own, clocking 1:09:41, more than a minute
faster than De Reuck's record. Burla was not far behind, also breaking
De Reuck's record and her own career best in 1:10:08. Burla said she
was inspired to push hard today by memories of her grandfather who
passed away earlier this month.
"He was a huge fan," said Burla. "To get me through those last miles I
was thinking about him. At his funeral I was a complete mess. My
grandmother said, 'Don't worry. Just think of him while you're
running.'"
Amy Hastings (1:11:19) and Renee Metivier Baillie (1:11:51) and
defending champion Magdalena Lewy Boulet (1:12:22) rounded out the
top-5. Both Hastings and Baillie set career best times.
Unheralded Teshome Gelana of Ethiopia got the next course record,
winning the men's marathon in an improbable 2:07:37. During the 2009
season, Gelana ran 2:14:32 at Barcelona, 2:21:23 at Hannover and
2:12:03 at Warsaw (his personal best was 2:11:58 set in Israel in
2008). After winning the low-key, high altitude Addis Ababa Marathon
last December, Gelana said he was pointing specifically for Houston,
then potentially even bigger races later.
"As soon as I did the marathon in Addis, I was ready and working for my
next marathon," he said through a translator. "With the help of God I
might do better in the future."
His teammate and compatriot Zembaba Yigeze got second, also setting a
personal best (2:08:27). The fastest man in the field coming into the
race, Kenya's Jason Mbote who has a personal best time of 2:07:37,
finished third in 2:08:58. American Brett Gotcher made a very solid
debut in 2:10:36, finishing seventh. (NOTE: We'll have a separate
story on Gotcher --Ed.)
Teyba Erkesso got the third and final course record, easily defending
her title in the marathon and breaking her own course and personal best
in 2:23:53, with a little pacing assistance from Kafime Adillo, her
husband, who was also entered in the race.
"Everything went according to plan," said a smiling Erkesso through a
translator sporting the Stetson hat organizers present to the race
winners here.
Russia's Magarita Plaksina (2:28:44) and Ethiopia's Alemitu Abera
(2:31:01) rounded out the podium. Paige Higgins, who like Gotcher runs
for coach Greg McMillan in the Team USA Arizona program in Flagstaff,
finished fourth in 2:33:22, just shy of her personal best.
Although he didn't set a course record, Antonio Vega's win in the men's
half-marathon, his first national title, may have been the most
noteworthy performance of the day. Since Vega lives in cold and snowy
St. Paul, Minn., he did all of his training for this race (except for
three sessions) on a treadmill.
"Yeah, 120 miles a week," he said, commenting on how refreshing it was to be able to run outside.
Running against two debutants at the distance, his Team USA Minnesota
teammate Patrick Smyth and University of Colorado alum Brent Vaughn,
Vega surged just after the turnaround, setting unofficial personal best
times for 15-K (43:45) and 10 miles (46:55).
"When we hit the turnaround, I was in the lead," Vega said just after
finishing. "I decided that was the time to go. I tried to hang on as
long as I could."
Vega slowed to a 4:52 in the 11th mile, and Smyth and Vaughn worked together to catch him.
"I thought I was going to catch Antonio downtown," said Smyth, who won last month's Emerald Nuts Midnight Run in New York City.
But Vega had enough in the tank to hold them off and get the win in
1:01:54, a personal best by a full minute. Smyth, who just signed with
a management company but doesn't yet have a sponsor, got second in
1:02:01. Vaughn finished third three seconds back, greeted by his wife
Sara at the finish line who is expecting their second child. Tim
Nelson, who also made his half-marathon debut, finished fourth in
1:02:11, and Stephan Shay, a younger brother of the late Ryan Shay, set
a personal best 1:02:26 in fifth. Pre-race favorite Josh Rohatinsky
ran with the leaders early, but faded to finish 12th.
This edition of the Chevron Houston Marathon was the 38th, and managing
director Steve Karpas said that the event counted over 30,000 entrants
in the marathon, half-marathon, 5-K and children's races for the first
time. Newly elected mayor Annise Parker called the event the "best and
most anticipated event in all of Houston" which raised nearly $1.5
million for charity.
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