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Pomoco Group Hampton Coliseum Half-Marathon/8K
Hampton, VA - February 7, 1999
Craig Young Breaks American Masters Half Marathon Record
Top Two Men Finish Within Inches for $3,500 Prize Money
- Rick Platt
Craig Young, 42, of Colorado Springs, CO shattered the American Masters
(ages 40-and-over) record in the half marathon Sunday with a time of
1:05:01 at the 8th annual Pomoco Group Hampton Coliseum Road Race in
Hampton, Virginia. The previous record of 1:05:27 was set by Steve
Plasencia in the 1998 Indianapolis Life 500 Festival Half Marathon last
May. In that same race Young had his previous half marathon PR of
1:05:38, placing second to Plasencia, a 2-time Olympian. Young's 1:05:01
is also a new men's 40-44 age group record, as well as a single-age-42
record (the previous single age best was 1:08:14 by Sal Vasquez of
Alameda, Calif. in 1982).
The Hampton Coliseum race was the Road Runners Club of American (RRCA)
National Half Marathon Championship. The half marathon, with $15,800 in
prize money, attracted over 900 entrants, with 792 finishers. The
accompanying 8K race, with $5,000 in prize money had almost 400 entrants,
with 373 finishers.
The men's overall race was thrilling, as mere inches separated
first-place Australian Andrew Letherby, 24, of Albuquerque, N.M and
second-place Reuben Chesang, 36, a Kenyan based out of San Francisco.
Both were timed in 1:03:36. Out of the 830,610 inches in a half marathon
race, only one or two inches was the difference, a difference worth
$2,000.
The trio of Letherby, Chesang and James Bungei, a Kenyan from Albuquerque
were still together entering the Hampton Coliseum parking area, just over
a half mile from the indoor finish. Bungei, who had handled most of the
pacing chores throughout the race, was the first to drop back, eventually
finishing a tired third in 1:03:52. Chesang assumed the lead in the final
mile, pushing hard, and held it going inside the Hampton Coliseum, just
50 yards from the finish line. Letherby, the 1998 Penn Relays 10,000
meters champion, never had the lead during any portion of the race until
the final few yards, and put on a furious kick to nip Chesang at the
line.
John Hort, who has judged hundreds of road events as race manager of the
Peninsula Track Club (which handles the finish line and results) gave the
nod to Letherby, although Chesang was first down the chute when Letherby
slowed after crossing the finish line. Bruce Davis, the computerized
results coordinator for the PTC, was on the judging platform adjacent to
the finish line, and he agreed with the decision by Hort, confirming that
Letherby was one or two inches ahead at the line, "the only time he was
ahead," said Davis. Davis used the chest and body of the runners as the
determinant, not any flailing arms.
The race was so close that Chesang still thought he was the winner well
after the finish. Chesang only discovered that the official decision went
to Letherby when he was being interviewed 30 minutes later. He claimed he
never saw Letherby pass him.
That decision made a difference of $2,000 as the winner earned $3,000,
plus a $500 course record bonus (the previous race record of 1:04:33 was
set by Brian Ferrari in 1991, the first year for the Hampton Coliseum
race). Second place was $1,500 for Chesang, while Bungei earned $1,000
for third. Sean Wade of Houston and New Zealand, part of the lead pack
through 8 miles, was fourth in 1:04:55, good for $600.
Young was fifth overall with his 1:05:01, but the Hampton Coliseum race
did not allow "double dipping," so he earned just $750 ($500 for first
Masters, plus a $250 Masters race record bonus). Jim Hage was second
Masters with a 1:08:47, almost a minute under the previous Masters record
of 1:09:45.
Bill Rodgers, 51, a 4-time winner of both the New York and Boston
Marathons, was the guest speaker for the race, and was the first 50+
runner across the line (as well as the third 40+ runner), finishing in
1:11:11, close to the U.S. single-age 51 record of 1:10:33 and the U.S.
50-54 age group record of 1:09:30, both by the legendary Norm Green.
The women's Masters record was also broken, as professional triathlete
Lee DiPietro, 40 (who ran a 2:51:55 at the Houston Marathon three weeks
earlier) ran a 1:19:40. Patti Shull (she ran a 2:58:32 at Houston) was
also under the former Masters record (1:21:00 by Canadian Diane Legare in
1997) with her 1:20:58.
The open women's race was tame in comparison with the men's battle, as
three Canadian women (Tania Jones, Michelle King and Isabelle Ledroit)
shared the pacing chores, with Yugoslavian Suzana Ciric tucking in
behind, and never leading until the end. At 12 miles Ciric, 29, surged
into the lead, and quickly pulled away to a 1:16:43 win over Jones
(1:17:00), King (1:17:21) and Ledroit (1:18:39).
The shorter 8K race was won easily by Breeda Dennehy Willis, 28, of
Ireland in a solo 26:23. Willis's coach had wanted her to do a hard 8K
time trial in preparation for the Irish Trials to the World Cross Country
Championships (two weeks later), and the Hampton Coliseum 8K was the
right distance and the right time.
The men's 8K had a four-man lead pack at 3 1/2 miles, but Henno Haava,
26, of Estonia and Sissonville, W.Va. (24:03) outkicked Philippe Rolly of
France and Arlington, Va. (24:07) and two Kenyans, Simon Cherogony
(24:17) and Julius Rotich (24:21). Masters 8K wins went to Peter Kirk
(25:54) and Debi Bernardes (30:28).
After the race Letherby (after running his half marathon PR) was quoted
as saying, "I never expected a half marathon to come down to a sprint
finish. I was just trying to win the race. We both gave it everything
coming down the straight."
Letherby continued, "I thought James [Bungei] wold be very tough. He was
doing a lot of the work into the wind. A couple times I went to their
shoulders, and they [the two Kenyans] would surge. The whole race we were
together. It was the two Kenyans who were surging most of the way. I was
just hanging on."
Letherby ran for Division I Georgia State in downtown Atlanta, where he
placed 9th in the '97 NCAA Championships 5000m, then graduated in '98
with a degree in exercise science.
Did Letherby think he had won? "Yes," he said confidently, but admitting
"the last couple feet was the only time I led." Letherby felt the margin
of victory was "a couple inches, not very much. It was very close. I
didn't want to look sideways, it would slow me down. I felt I ran through
the line just ahead of him [Chesang]. He ran though the chute faster." He
attributed the fast finish and the win to his track background and recent
speedwork. "That was very important. I started training more like a track
runner [in the past month]."
Letherby said from 600 meters in, "Reuben made a move and I followed him.
He still had a lead coming into the Coliseum, two or three yards. I just
thought I'd give it one last shot, sprint as fast as I could the last 50
yeards, and hope I can pull him in."
Chesang's recollection of the finish was different than Letherby's.
"Yeah, I thought I won. I didn't see anybody come in front of me."
Bungei, the sacrificial lamb, said, "I was going for the course record,
so I pushed by myself most of the way. Sometimes I have a good kick, but
not this time." Bungei may have been slowed by a cold he'd been fighting
the previous two weeks.
Sean Wade commented, "James [Bungei] made nearly all of it [pacing] til 7
[miles]. That's probably what cost him the race." About finishing just
six seconds ahead of Young, Wade said, "I'm just glad I held him off. I
don't want to lose to a 42-year-old. That's a hell of a time."
Although Letherby won $3,500, the happiest person inside the Hampton
Coliseum was Craig Young. "That's what's so exciting. It's one thing to
break the course record, it's another thing to break the American record
when it's so respectable."
"I thought it was possible, to break the existing record. I certainly had
that in mind. It was evident right from the gun that I had a shot at it.
I felt strong. I knew I was on pace [5 miles in 24:40]."
Publicly the night before the race, Young would only admit to an attempt
at the single-age record of 1:08:14. To himself, though, he was hoping
for as fast as 1:05:00 (one second faster than his actual time). "That's
a bold prediction," said Young, wearing a "Young at Heart Racing"
singlet. "We had ideal conditions, the wind wasn't bad, the temperature
was cool and overcast, and with a flat course, it was everything you'd
want."
Young hung with the lead pack through five miles. "I felt I was going
just a little too fast. They had a slight surge at 5 miles, and I let
them go." When Sean Wade fell of the lead pack at 7-8 miles, Young said,
"I had something to shoot for. I set my crosshairs on him, and used him
to try and stay on pace for the record. I was confident. I knew I had the
endurance and the strength."
In contrast to Young, Bill Rodgers wasn't sharp yet. "It was my first
race in three months, and I haven't done much speedwork." He felt his
1:11 was good preparation for an April attempt at the Boston Marathon age
50-and-over record.
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