THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603170222
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
It was supposed to be a balanced, competitive race. Then Brad Hawthorne blew into town and left a bunch of Shamrock Marathon hopefuls muttering, ``Who was that guy?''
The three-time U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier flew in from Tulsa, Okla. Friday night, registered a hour before race time, then dominated the 24th running of the Oceanfront marathon Saturday, finishing five minutes ahead of his closest pursuer.
``I didn't know who he was, but it didn't matter,'' said runner-up Mike Harrison of Virginia Beach. ``He was in his own league today.''
Hawthorne, 40, finished in 2:18.23, which while more than enough to carry the day was still nearly three minutes shy of the course record. Harrison, rebounding from a disappointing showing during February's Olympic Trials, posted a 2:23.55.
England's Phil Barker, one of the men to beat going in, suffered from dehydration and did not finish, according to a race official.
In other Shamrock races:
A confident Anna Brook, a Ukraine native now living in Somerville, Mass., won the women's marathon title ahead of favorite Tatyana Buliaschenko.
An untied shoelace may have cost Mexico's Martin Mondragon a shot at a world record, but it didn't stop him from winning the master's 8K event.
Maureen de St. Croix of North Gower successfully defended her women's masters 8K title.
And Lazarus Nyakeraka and Catherine Nderaba engineered a Kenyan sweep of the talent-rich men's and women's open 8K races.
Each winner earned $1,000.
Near-ideal weather conditions greeted the nearly 4,000 Sportsfest competitors - temperatures were in the high 50s, although each race began with runners having to negotiate a fairly stiff headwind.
For most of the top runners, this meant starting conservatively. For Hawthorne, it meant blowing away from the pack in a virtual sprint. The move left Harrison believing Hawthorne was either a rabbit sacrificing himself for the benefit of another runner, or a fool.
``I thought it was suicidal,'' Harrison said.
No one wanted to keep up with Harrison at the start. No one was able to keep up with him the rest of the way.
``Once I got that lead, I put the hammer down,'' Hawthorne said. ``And when nobody closed on me the first 8-10 miles, I knew there was no way anyone was going to catch me today.''
Meanwhile, don't tell Brook there's no such thing as women's intuition.
``You know that feeling you get when you know something's going to happen,'' a beaming Brook said. ``That's the way I felt about this race as soon as I entered. I just knew I was going to win.''
So confident was Brook that she refused to respond to strong start of Ft. Lee's Lori Robertson despite the pleas of Brook's husband Peter, who ran with his wife until he gassed out around the 20-mile mark.
``He kept telling me I had to catch her, but I said no, I'm running my own pace,'' Anna Brook said.
Her patience paid off in the 18th mile, when she finally ran down a cramping Robertson. The two dueled for the lead briefly before Brook pulled away for good. Fearing more intense cramps if she tried to keep up with Brook, Robertson gave up the chase and eventually finished third.
Already the holder of masters world records in the 10K and 25K, Mexico's Mondragon saw no reason why he couldn't add the international 8K mark to his collection Saturday until midway through the first mile, when he noticed a shoelace untied. While he stopped to take care of it, seven runners passed him by.
Mondragon overcame his pit stop and wound up with a nine-second victory over England's Steve Jones. But his time of 23:48 fell 35 seconds short of the world record Nick Rose set on the same course in 1992.
``I'm disappointed I didn't get a chance to set the world record,'' Mondragon said through an interpreter. ``But it took a great effort on my part just to catch up.'' ILLUSTRATION: L. TODD SPENCER PHOTOS
Bea and Charles Baldridge of Garden Valley, Idaho, link hands
leaving the Pavilion start-finsh area after running the marathon.
Charles' time of 5:40.45 was fifth fastest of men 70 years and
over.
Men's winner Brad Hawthorne: ``When nobody closed on me the first
8-10 miles, I knew there was no way anyone was going to catch me.''
Richard Bordelon runs along the boardwalk of the Virginia Beach
Oceanfront. He and about 4,000 fellow racers enjoyed a cool, clear
day.
by CNB