Kirwa, Olaru Win Inaugural Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon
Sell, White half-marathon victors; more than 24,000 participate in inaugural event

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By Dan Cruz, Elite Racing
Posted Monday, 17 November, 2008

SAN ANTONIO - (November 16, 2008) - Chilly early morning temperatures on Sunday didn't discourage anyone from making the trip to San Antonio's Lions Field, site of the start of the largest marathon / half-marathon in Texas history. Romania's Nuta Olaru and Kenya's Meschack Kirwa made the inaugural running of the Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon a successful one, with Olaru claiming the women's championship and Kirwa taking the men's title.

Olaru finished in 2 hours, 28 minutes and 54 seconds, holding off a late surge from New Zealand Olympian and San Antonio resident Liza Hunter-Galvan, who ran a personal best in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 37 seconds.

"I really needed about another mile to catch her," said Hunter-Galvan. "But hey, who wanted to run another mile?"

Margret Okayo, record holder at the Boston, New York and Rock 'n' Roll San Diego Marathons, led a group of five runners through the first four miles. Then, at mile five, Olaru pushed ahead running a 2:27:00 pace over the first 10K, opening a sizable lead with a half-marathon split of 1:13:12.

Okayo dropped out after 15K with a foot injury.

"The initial pace was fast, and at the five mile mark I found myself in the lead," said Olaru, who is looking forward to the World Championships in Berlin next year. "It was a good course and the weather was perfect this morning. It feels really good to win the first event."

At mile 17, Olaru was briefly ill and began to slow, with Hunter-Galvan trailing 1:43 behind. Hunter-Galvan found a late burst over the final six miles to close the gap between herself and Olaru.

"I was a little worried that my half-marathon time was faster than I wanted it to be," said Hunter-Galvan. "But between miles 15 and 16 I passed four runners and with all the spectators cheering over the last six miles I pushed it back up again."

Kirwa, who finished second at the Country Music Marathon in Nashville earlier this year, stretched his lead over the closing stages to win the men's race in 2 hours, 14 minutes, 36 seconds.

"I knew at 30K I could win," said Kirwa. "I was running a pace I could push near the end and the people cheering along the course kept me going."

Kirwa finished exactly one minute ahead of American Matt Downin, who made late strides to finish in 2:15:36. Dmitry Safranov of Russia finished third in his marathon debut with a time of 2:15:58.

"I was hoping to run faster, but I'm not disappointed finishing second with a great field of athletes," said Downin, who hasn't completed a marathon since finishing 11th at New York in 2005. "The conditions couldn't have been any better, there were lots of spectators and the excitement was huge."

Leading the charge throughout the first 10K was Safranov, a former Russian Junior champion in the 10,000m. Ethiopian Shimeles Molla, winner of the 2006 P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon, overtook Safranov at mile 10 and quickly extended his lead to nearly a minute a mile. Kirwa closed the gap to 25 seconds at mile 19 and took the overall lead in mile 21, running the last few miles alone.

Both Kirwa, 34, and Olaru, 37, earned first-place cash awards of $17,500 for their victories in the race that attracted more then 30,000 entries and had 55 bands playing along the route. A total of $80,000 in prize money was awarded overall.

Texas Governor Rick Perry finished the half-marathon with a time of 1:47:46. U.S. Olympian Brian Sell broke the tape roughly 45 minutes before Perry, winning the half in 1:02:50, while Hansons-Brooks teammate Melissa White won the women's race in 1:13:05.

Conditions on the scenic San Antonio course were almost ideal for marathon running on a sunny day with temperatures just below 40 degrees at the start and almost no wind.

San Antonio's Brant Lutz, 33, and Bridget Binning, 26, took top local honors as the first male and female finishers from Texas, winning the Texas Showdown. Both earned $2000 for their efforts.

A record number of 30,000 people registered for the event and, of those, 24,761 runners started the race. The event had entrants from 18 countries, all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The second Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon & ½ Marathon is set for Sunday, November 15, 2009.

Inaugural Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon
San Antonio, TX, Sunday, November 16, 2008

MEN
1) Meschack Kirwa (KEN), 2:14:36
2) Matt Downin (USA / WI), 2:15:36
3) Dmitry Safranov (RUS), 2:15:58
4) Shimeles Molla (ETH), 2:17:01
5) Noah Talem (KEN), 2:19:10

WOMEN
1) Nuta Olaru (ROU), 2:28:54
2) Liza Hunter-Galvan (NZL / TX), 2:29:37
3) Karolina Jarzynska (POL), 2:33:19
4) Tatiana Pushkareva (RUS), 2:40:01
5) Michele Suszek (USA / CO), 2:42:57

More results at: RnRsa.com