Even on a day in which the Polar Express somehow made it all the way south to Central Texas and chilled every single one of the record field of 12,000 runners to the very marrow of their bones, PRs fell by the wayside like USC tacklers bouncing off VY.
It was that kind of day for the 15th Freescale Marathon. Certainly not every runner set a personal record on Sunday, it just seemed that way.
Especially among the elite field who seemed impervious to the bitter cold front that blew through Austin and dropped the temperatures to 29 degrees at the start and along with a little drizzle, iced the highways.
How bad was it Sunday morning? Sections of MoPac were closed in the early morning hours and so was 183. The icing wasn't nearly as catastrophic as predicted, but it delayed many thousands of runners who had to get to the starting line at the Freescale plant on Parmer Lane. By early Sunday morning, it was obvious that the weather had caused massive delays and traffic tieups.
So race director John Conley wisely decided to delay the start from 7 a.m. to 7:30-a delay which nobody in his right mind disagreed with.
Fortunately, by the time the marathon and half got underway, the north wind had stopped blowing for the most part and although the temperature never made it much above freezing the entire morning, most of the field adapted just fine.
The only negative effect the winter weather had on the race was the city had spread rocks, gravel and deicing stuff on many of the roads in the first half of the race. The roads weren't icy at all (except for one small patch on an overpass), but the gravel was a nuisance.
But you have to ski the conditions. That's part of marathoning.
The top skiers on Sunday morning were Mindi Pukstas of Lithuania who won a dogfight with Abebe Yimer of Ethiopia to win the men's race by nine seconds in 2:13:43-a PR, natch.
The women's race was completely dominated by Tatyana Pozdnyakova of the Ukraine who won in 2:34:23. Her winning time is five minutes slower than her PR, but she has an excuse: Pozdnyakova is 51. That's not a typo (even though my hands are still numb from the race). She is the top masters runner in the world and proved why on Sunday. Her time may well be a new world age group record, pending certification.
The race between Pukstas and Yimer was exceptional. The Lithuanian took off right from the start and tried to run away with it. But Yimer caught him around the 9th mile and then a pack of five gobbled up both of them just past halfway outside the Northcross Mall.
Eventually everyone dropped off Pukstas' pace a few miles down the road-except Yimer who hung on. The duo flew down Congress and rolled west on Cesar Chavez in lock step. At the 24-mile turnaround, just outside the Lake Austin RunTex, they were still even steven. But Pukstas found a little extra left in the tank in the final mile and gapped the Ethiopian.
Not only was Pukstas time a PR, but Yimer, who finished in 2:13:52, earned himself a personal record by more than four minutes.
The victory is worth $10,000 to both Pukstas and Pozdnyakova.
But this PR scenario was played out over and over again all morning. Nobody exemplified that better than Jim Jurcevich of Columbus, Ohio (no boos allowed; he can't help it if he's from Buckeye territory) and Heather Hunt of Englewood, Colorado.
First Jurcevich. A 29-year-old who owns a running store, Jurcevich has been hobbled with injuries the past two years (that's what happens when you own a running store). On Sunday, he started conservatively and at the 10-K mark, he was way back in 12th place. By halfway, he had moved up a little to ninth. At 30-K, Jurcevich had picked off a few more runners and was sitting in ifth.
Along Cesar Chavez, Jurcevich picked up even more steam and dusted Mykola Antonenko of the Ukraine. At the finish on Riverside, the Ohioan was fourth in 2:14:28-a PR by 45 seconds.
"I'm thrilled with this race," an obviously ecstatic Jurcevich said afterward. "I'm super excited to get my Olympic Trials qualifer out of the way so early so I concentrate on my training. Dinner's on me tonight."
It should be. Jurcevich will take $5500 back to Buckeyeville, including time and American bonues.
Heather Hunt didn't earn quite as much as Jurcevich ($5250), but she was even more excited to finish fifth in a personal best of 2:42:52. When told at the finish line by elite athlete coordinator Greg McMillan, she draped an American flag over her shoulders (probably more for warmth than patriotism) and broke down in tears. Tears of joy.
Although Eastern Bloc women took the first four spots at Freescale, Hunt led the American gals who took the next 10 places.
The American men made an even more impressive showing. Jurcevich was fourth, but American men swept eight of the next nine spots. Insane PRs were recorded by Casey Moulton in 2:15:26 (his best by 4:53), Josh Ordway in 2:15:39 (his best by an unreal 8:54) and Jacob Fry who ran 2:17:37 to better his best time by 8:23. Nate Jenkins made his marathon debut in 2:15:28 and so did Patrick Moulton (Casey's twin) in 2:15:35.
All those times are Olympic qualifiers. In all, 25 Americans (16 men/nine women) achieved Olympic Marathon Trials qualifers on Sunday.
"I think this really makes a statement about our race," said McMillan who engineered the Olympic Development Program, sponsored by Coke (thanks a lot). "This should have a major impact on our race next year when we should see even more Americans trying to get their Olympic Trials qualifers here. We definitely have the course and we have the weather for fast times."
We'll give him a little slack on the weather, but the new course proved to be a gem. Crowds were much bigger (despite the bitter cold) and the course was much, much faster and runner friendly. The second half of the course was faster than in previous years and some of the dreariest sections were elemination. Everyone raved about the newly layout designed by Conley and his team of Diana Wightman, Mike Riggs, John Patterson and Stacey Conley who deserve major props.
This was the final race in the Austin Distance Challenge Series and since Freescale is a race with a national scope, Austinites certainly weren't as dominant as in most of the other races in the series.
Gilbert Tuhabonye, who likes cold weather about as much as George Hamilton, gutted it out and finished in 2:24:18 and was the first Austinite. Second to T-Bone, was young gun Lane Parker, 24, who ran a brilliant 2:25:22. (Note: This is a guy with a future.) He was followed by another 24-year-old puppie-Mike Long-in 2:28:36. Paul Pugh-one of the golden oldies at 37-also ran a sensational marathon in 2:36:12. G
Liz Shelton capped a great Distance Challenge with the top Austin time among the women with a 2:56:21. Lisa Pohlit was next in 2:57:41 and Elsa Sprunt had a major-league PR with a 2:58:41. Unfortunately, Sara Pizzochero did not fare as well as she had hoped and finished in 3:02:17.
The masters were led by Russell Boore of Hampton, Illinois who ran 2:32:47. Distance Challenge stalwart Jim Cleary, 42, ran a monumental PR of 2:42:52 for fifth masters. The really old guys (50+) were led by Tony Hahn of Springfield, Missouri in 2:51:40.
The women's winner-Pozdynakova-led all the old gals. But Maria Yamin of Mexico was the fastest 40+ (not from the Ukraine) in 2:49:47. Cindy Salazar, 41 of Austin, was fourth in her first marathon in 3:11:41.
In the accompanying half, Ian Dickinson of Maryland won in 1:05:48 with Sammy Unberhagen, who has left Austin for the frigid climes of Nashua, New Hampshire, at least returned home to take third in the half in 1:07:13. (In case you were wondering, what attractions there are in Nashua, New Hampshire. It has the only bridge in the world that is wider than it is long. Think about it.)
Terra Moody of Boulder, Colorado took the women's half in 1:16:51 with top legal mind Tamara Lave of San Diego, coming back from injuries, in second in 1:17:45. Our own Desiree Ficker-the future Queen of Kona-was third in 1:18:21.
It wasn't a PR for any of the top three women half marathoners. They may have been the only elites who didn't.
2006 Freescale
Marathon Slideshow
