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Denisova Sets Course Record at Honolulu Marathon HONOLULU - (December 10, 2006) - Ambesse Tolossa of Ethiopia broke away from defending champion Jimmy Muindi around the 23 mile mark and won the 34th Honolulu Marathon on Sunday morning, ending a 10-year domination of the race by Kenyan men. Tolossa's time was 2 hours, 13 minutes and 42 seconds. Muindi, who was seeking a record sixth Honolulu victory, was almost a minute behind in 2:14:39. Eric Wainana of Kenya was third in 2:16:08, Araya Haregot of Ethiopia was fourth in 2:16:59, followed by Eric Nzoiki of Kenya (2:17:10). After running with a pack of five, Muindi made a move at the 20 mile mark, but Tolossa followed, with Wainana dropping behind. |
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Muindi and Tolossa ran together, with the Ethiopian on the Kenyan's shoulder and then on his heels. At 23 miles, Tolossa made his move, constantly looking over his shoulder until he opened a comfortable lead. Muindi said after the race that he was annoyed by Tolossa's tactics, and told him several times to back off. Finally, Muindi pushed Tolossa away. "The Ethiopian way of racing is very bad," Muindi said after the race. "He was trying to mess with me. It was unfair." Muindi said he wasn't feeling well, and has been suffering a cold the past few days. He said if he had been in top shape, he easily could have pulled away from Tolossa. Muindi was aiming for a 2:10 finish, hoping to break his 2004 course record of 2:11:12. He said Tolossa's finish time was slow for a winner. Tolossa, running in his Honolulu debut, said he was hanging close behind Muindi because the defending champion was familiar with the course. He also said he and Muindi were helping each other to improve their time, and that he was trying to get a sense of his breathing pattern to get an idea if he could make a move. Both runners said they were comfortable with the very fast opening pace, with the lead pack reaching the 10K mark at a sub-five minute mile pace. It was Tolossa's third marathon victory this year (worth $43,000). He also won the Tokyo International Marathon in February and the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in June. Today's win was the first time since Josiah Thungwane of South Africa won in 1995 that a Kenyan has not won the race, and Tolossa became the first Ethiopian to win the Honolulu Marathon. Tolossa and Muindi both said they will be back next year. In the women's race, Lyubov Denisova of Russia met her goal, winning the Honolulu Marathon women's title and setting a new record. Denisova's time was 2:27:19, beating fellow Russian Lyubov Morgunova's 2004 mark of 2:27:33 by 14 seconds. Morgunova did not compete this year because of an injury. Alevtina Biktimirova of Russia was runner-up in 2:29:42, followed by 2003 champion Eri Hayakawa of Japan in 2:32:31, defending champion Olesya Nurgalieva of Russia, 2:36:02 and Albina Ivanova of Russia, 2:39:44. Nurgalieva's twin sister, Elena, was sixth in 2:41:15. "I was not invited, and wanted to show that I could win," Denisova said. Race officials said Denisova was not among original invited runners, but was given elite status after she entered the race. The winner told a reporter several days before the race that she intended to win and break the record. Denisova was the 2002 pacesetter, but said she doesn't remember much about that experience and that it didn't help much. The women's pacesetter was slow, Denisova said, so she passed her at the two-mile marker and went on her own pace. Biktimirova caught up with Denisova at the eight-mile mark and the two ran together until Denisova moved out at 15 miles and ran solo to the finish line. Denisova said preparing for the marathon was not just physical. "Mental preparation was about 90 percent and physical preparation was 10 percent," she said. Last March, she was third in the Los Angeles Marathon. The record-breaking victory gave Denisova $67,000 in prize money and time and course record bonuses. The 6th largest marathon in the world had race day temperatures in the 70s with partly cloudy skies for the over 28,500 entrants. 34th Honolulu Marathon MEN WOMEN Complete results and more at: HonoluluMarathon.org |
Return to top / Return to main page ZAP Fitness, Boston Athletic Association Win National
Club Cross Country Crowns SAN FRANCISCO - (December 9, 2006) - The Boston Athletic Association (BAA) unseated defending women's team champions, See Jane Run, while the men of ZAP Fitness held off Team XO to win the Open team titles at the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships Saturday in San Francisco, Calif. Intermittent rain and temperatures in the mid-fifties - ideal cross country conditions - met the record field of nearly 1,200 runners as America's top post-collegiate club teams came to Golden Gate Park for the eighth annual event, which featured Open and Masters races at 10 kilometers for men and 6 kilometers for women. In the women's race, Amy Hastings from Tempe, Ariz., who represented Team USA at the 2003 World Junior Cross Country Championships, took command after the mile mark and gradually separated herself from the field as she went on to win the Open women's title in 19 minutes, 59 seconds, defeating Catherine Ferrell (Eugene, Ore.) by 16 seconds. 2003 USA Junior Cross Country champion Clara Peterson (Runsom, N.J.) - a native of nearby Oakland, Calif. - finished third in 20:18. "I came out here with a couple of guys from school (Arizona State) to have a fun weekend. I really needed a break from finals. I'm familiar with this course, having raced the Pac-10 Championships here two years ago. I really like this course. After I committed to going for it, my thought was to just hang on. The last 600 meters I was hurting," recounted Hastings. The BAA women's team came to San Francisco with their minds set on winning their third team title since 1998 and after finishing runner-up in two out of the previous three years, they accomplished their mission, scoring 140 points to defeat the women of Wisconsin Runner RT by seven points. See Jane Run rounded out the top three, scoring 158 points. In the men's Open race, 1999 Big 10 Cross Country champion Matt Downin of Madison, Wis. (Wisconsin Runner RT), was content to sit behind Tom Morgan of Blowing Rock, N.C. (ZAP Fitness) and Max King of Bend, Ore. (Team XO) until 8K (5 miles) before making his move to pull away for a four second win over Morgan, running 30:13 to win his second individual title at the USATF National Club Cross Country Championships (also 2000). "I knew I was ready to run decent. I had a little bit of a rough stretch training after my son was born in July, and I finally turned the corner in mid-September. There were about 4 or 5 guys grouped up at 8K. I took the lead with about 1200 meters to go, and thought that I could run it in from there, and opened up a bit when we hit the horse track. I was really looking forward to this test today," said Downin. Morgan's runner-up finish led ZAP Fitness to their first ever USATF national team title, with 52 points for a 31 point win over Team XO. Host team ASICS Aggies finished third with 136 points. The Masters women's championship - 40 and older - saw 1996 Olympian Linda Somers Smith of Arroyo Grande, Calif. (ASICS Aggies) go directly to the front at the gun and build a seven second lead by 2K. Somers Smith eased her way through the remaining 4K, finishing in 22:15 for a ten second overall win and the 45-49 age group title ahead of Alysun Deckert (Seattle Running Club). Somers Smith's win also led the ASICS Aggies to the 40+ team title, while the Impala Racing Team captured the 50+ crown and the Tamalpa Runners Inc. took the 60+ team title. Additional individual national age group titles were won by: Alysun Deckert (40-44), Christine Kennedy (50-54), Kathryn Martin (55-59), Janet Bowman (60-64), Melody Anne Schultz (65-69) and Barbara Robben (70 and over). In Masters men's race, Tracy Lokken of Marquette, Mich. (Front Line Racing Team), was the surprise winner of the 10 kilometer title, in a time of 32:44, upsetting defending champion Peter Magill of South Pasadena, Calif. (Team Runners High), who finished third in 32:52. Danny Martinez of Alhambra, Calif. (Run with Us) was runner-up in 32:51. Lokken's overall win led the Front Line Racing Team to the 40+ team title as Club Northwest took the 50+ title; the Raritan Valley Road Runners won the 60+ division and Snohomish Track Club won the 70+ team title. Individual age group titles were also earned by: Lokken (40-44), Magill (45-49), Kenneth Leinbach (50-54), Joe Schieffer (55-59), Chuck MacDonald (60-64), Hans Schmid (65-69) and Billy Iffrig (70+). The USATF National Club Cross Country Championships featured the elite clubs from across the United States vying for top honors and bragging rights as the nation's best cross country teams. Over 60 clubs and 1,200 competitors took part in the event. USATF National Club Cross
Country Championships MEN MEN's TEAM (top 5 score) WOMEN WOMEN's TEAM (top 5 score) Complete results at: www.usatf.org/events/2006/USATFClubXCChampionships/ Return to top / Return to main page Lundblad, Crowther Capture Sunmart Texas Trail 50 Mile
Titles HUNTSVILLE, Texas - (December 9, 2006) - Anne Lundblad found the trails through Huntsville State Park to her liking as she easily captured the women's overall title in the 50 mile race at the 17th Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Runs on Saturday. This year's Sunmart 50-mile event served as the International Association of Ultrarunners (IAU) World Trail Challenge. Lundblad, a 40-year old counselor at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C., finished the four-loop route through the bucolic park in 6 hours, 33 minutes and 23 seconds for her first Sunmart win (worth $1000). Kami Semick, 40, from Bend, Ore., finished second at 6:42:20. Tania Pacev, 47, of Littleton, Colo., was third (7:15:09). Lundblad, spurred by ideal weather conditions - temperature in the 30s and 40s with little wind - sped to an early lead over a small pack of runners, including former Sunmart champions Connie Gardner of Ohio and Pacev and Semick. By the end of eight miles, Lundblad was content to forge a solo pacing effort. Gardner would later pull out of the race, leaving Semick and Pacev to challenge Lundblad. "It was a perfect day and you just couldn't ask for better weather," said Lundblad, who competed at 5000 and 10,000 meters for William & Mary College. "At the last turnaround in the race, I had about six minutes on Semick, so I felt like I was in a fairly comfortable position." Sunmart newcomer Greg Crowther, a 33-year-old biologist from Seattle, Wash., took the men's 50 mile crown in 5:37:39. Oleg Kharitonov, 38, of Sverdlovsk-oblast, Russia, was second at 6:00:09 and Giorgio Calcaterra, 34, of Rome, Italy, third in 6:11:41. Crowther was following Russian teammates Kharitonov and Denis Zhalybin and Calcaterra when the trio of leaders took a wrong turn that, according to Calcaterra, added 10 minutes to their race and vaulted Crowther into the lead. "I was surprised, because Oleg (Kharitonov) and Denis (Zhalybin) are two of the best ultra-marathoners in the world," Crowther said. "I took the lead when they went off course. It's great to win, but it's too bad about their misfortune." In the 50K race, Wendy Terris, a 37-year-old sales assistant for a Portland, Ore, uniform manufacturer, defended her 2005 title in 3:52:22. Annette Bednosky, 40, from Jefferson, N.C., finished second at 4:11:16. Ashley Golliher, 38, from Austin, Texas, was third (4:21:24). Terris took command of her race from the start and cruised to a comfortable win worth $600. "It was a little chilly and the sandy stretches of the course were a little tough, but I can't complain," said Terris, who has twice qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. "I just had to relax and tell myself not to let my competitive urge overtake me." Jim Harrington, 41, of Negaunee, Mich., a public health educator who finished second four times in past years, won his first Sunmart 50K title in 3:37:10. Lundblad's husband Mark finished second at 3:40:14. Brett Hervat, 40, of Houston, was third (3:56:57). This year's Sunmart event attracted nearly 900 runners from 31 states and eight countries. 17th Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance
Runs 50 Mile WOMEN 50K (31 miles) WOMEN Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director |