Let it be said right at the front, that nepotism played absolutely no role Sunday morning in deciding the 15th annual 3M Half Marathon. Nor is it true that race director Matt Fagan and men’s winner Martin Fagan are twins separated at birth. Although they share the last name, Matt is short, round and balding, while Martin is tall, tattooed—and fast. Plenty fast.
Both Fagans’ various skills were on display at 3M. Once again, great racing weather (39 degrees, cloudy and barely perceptible breezes) and 5600 runners graced Matt’s race, while Martin, a 2008 Irish Olympic marathoner, dominated 3M from the very first mile to win in a 3M event record of 1:01:05 which bettered the 10-year-old existing mark of Andres Espinosa by 11 seconds.
Fagan, who lives in Flagstaff, Arizona and trains with McMillan Elite, led right from the get go, outside the Gateway Shopping Center in north Austin. He and Andrew Lemconcello—his McMillan teammate who was second in this race a year ago--rocketed the first mile in 4:35 and quickly established themselves as the men to beat.
"I knew from what Andrew had told me that this was a fast course," said Fagan. "I wanted a PR. I didn’t come here to run a tactical race."
Indeed. Fagan clicked off miles that ranged from 4:18 (for the almost entirely downhill fifth mile) to 4:45 which never allowed any of the contenders to get back in the race with him.
"The plan was for Andrew and Martin to run the first four miles hard, get out in front and then just go from there," said Greg McMillan, the former Austinite, who coaches Lemoncello and Fagan.
Mission accomplished. Fagan was so dominant that coming down Burnet, nobody was within hailing distance. "I looked around early on to see who was with me to help with the pace and I couldn’t see anyone," said the 25-year-old who ran at Providence College where he was coached by another Irishman, Ray Treacy. "I felt so good this morning that I didn’t see any sense in slowing down so I just kept up the pace."
Even the famed 3M downhills played into Fagan’s hands. "I’m a very good downhill runner," said the Irishman who hails from Mullingar in central Ireland, "and I was able to take advantage of them."
Was he ever. Fagan cruised through 10-K in a scintillating 28:27 and the only question left was whether he would have a shot at breaking Espinosa’s record, set on the old course which finished at House Park, off Lamar.
The last couple of miles down Duval played right into Fagan’s hands…er legs as he flew down the hills until the final straightaway on Trinity, next to Waterloo Park. "Being out there in front by myself," said Fagan who plans to add another tattoo to his expanding collection to commemorate the victory, "was kind of lonely. It was hard to keep my focus in the final miles."
But he never wavered and his winning time of 1:01:05 improved his PR of 62:20 (set at the Great North Run in England) by more than a minute. "I thought it was an awesome race," said Fagan (the runner, not the race director). "I wanted to run the first four miles hard like Greg told us and then just hold on. This was really a great race for me. Hopefully, when I run my next marathon {if he listens to his coach—Greg McMillan--it won’t be until fall when he hopes to better his 2:14:06 best} this should pay off for me."
Pay offs? Did someone mention pay offs? Fagan received $1500 for the victory and also picked up an additional $500 for the 3M record.
Coming in second to Fagan was Monder Rizki, a track-trained, 5000-meter runner from Belgium, who motored down Duval to the finish in 1:01:47 with Lemoncello of Scotland holding onto third in 1:01:52 which was a significant improvement on his 1:03:12 from last year.
Women’s winner Delaynesh Gebre of Ethiopia also collected $1500 for the victory and like Fagan, lives and trains in the 7000-foot altitude of Flagstaff. She also enjoyed a PR morning.
But her’s came with a wee bit more drama than Fagan’s.
Gebre, 21, spent the first five miles chasing Elizabeth Chelagat of Kenya. The two went through 10-K shoulder-to-shoulder in 33:34, but around the eight-mile mark, Gebre forged a short lead. Once Gebre scooted ahead of Chelagat, she upped the ante coming down Duval and wasn’t threatened.
Gebre won in 1:11:17 (2 ½ minutes slower than the record set last year by Jacqueline Nyetipei), but the Ethiopian’s time still bettered her PR of 1:12:40, set six months ago. "I felt good," Gebre said . "I could see the Kenyan up ahead. But once I got past her I was able to keep going."
Said Dawit Seyfu of Austin—a native of Ethiopia—who finished just in back of Gebre watched the woman’s battle up close. "The two of them were going back and forth for a couple of miles on the downhills," said Seyfu who finished in 1:11:41. "I could tell they were really racing against each other."
Chelagat held on for second in 1:11:48 with Kathy Butler, a British native who lives in Nederland, Colorado, coming in third in 1:12:12.
The first American woman was Melisa Christian, a 32-year-old dentist from Dallas, who placed sixth in 1:15:37. Christian, who ran her marathon PR of 2:41:18 at last year’s US Olympic Marathon Trials, was a veritable jogger until just a few years ago. She had her breakthrough in the 2006 Austin Marathon (the ice year) when she broke three hours for the first time.
Second American was Fiona Docherty of Philadelphia in eighth in 1:15:56 with Austin’s Chris Kimbrough coming in ninth in an identical time as Docherty. Kimbrough, who PR’ed on this course a year ago in 1:15:38, was hardly disappointed she didn’t run faster. "I felt good and strong," said the 39-year-old mother of four, "but I never expected to run faster than last year. A year ago I was training for the Olympic Trials Marathon and I was much more consistent with my training."
The masters woman were led by 44-year-old Albina Gallyamova of Austin in 1:17:19, followed by 41-year-old Sylvia Mosqueda of Los Angeles in 1:21:24 and Austin’s Carmen Troncoso, the 49-year-old wonder, in third in 1:21:25.
What made Troncoso’s time significant was that it came in a distance she’s not fond of and hardly races (her last half was in 2004). "I haven’t really been doing any distance work," said Troncoso who is a lock to rewrite the 50-year-old age group records next year, assuming she stays healthy. "To run this well is definitely a plus for me."
Master of his domain was 40-year-old Sergey Kalendin who overwhelmed the masters competition with an unbelievable 1:08:36, good for 16th overall. Victor Viesca, 41, was second in 1:11:16 and Ernesto Caballero, 41, was third in 1:11:59.
The top woman in the 50-54 was Carrie Spruiell in 1:36:50 with Mary Faria, 53, second in 1:41:32 and Janet Morrison, 54, third in 1:42:12. The 55-59 group was headed by Teresa Triche, 55 in 1:41:41. Marcy Herzik-Ralph, 55, was second in 1:42:58 with Barbara Fellman (Agent 99) third in 1:45:28. Susan Kohagen continued her string of great races by winning the 60-64s in 1:49:19. The rest of her family ran pretty well too. Husband Lou was fourth in the 50-54 age group in 1:27:59 and daughter Karen Saenz had a huge PR of 1:23:14 to win the 30-34 age group.
Sergio Alarcon, 51, an executive with 3M, rolled to a 1:26:46 to capture the always competitive 50-54 division with Bert Solis, 54, second in 1:26:51 and 50-year-old Greg Baxter third in 1:27:49. Danny Spoonts, the 57-year-old running marvel, took top honors in the 55-59 with a terrific effort of 1:26:09. Al Guevara returned to the road racing wars in a new age group to finish second in 1:27:40 and Denny Weiler was third in 1:29:06. Chris Wolfe took the 60-64 division in 1:43:07.
This was the fifth race in the Austin Distance Challenge series with the big enchilada—the Austin Marathon—coming up on February 15th.
