The Perfect Storm. That about describes Sunday’s 3M Half Marathon.
Perfect in just about every way. With a persistent tailwind, cool racing temperatures and a newly configured but still precipitous north-to-south downhill course, 3M was strewn with personal bests on Sunday.
Alene Reta certainly got his. The 24-year-old Ethiopian native, who was second at 3M last year, dominated the elite international field to win in a PR of 1:01:46. So did Kathy Butler. Scottish-born and Canadian-raised, the 33-year-old overwhelmed the women’s field right from the gun to win in 1:11:12, to better her best by 12 seconds.
A record field of 4082 runners gathered outside the Gateway Shopping Center in north Austin for the 13th running of this jewel of the half-marathon circuit. The temperature at the 7 a.m. was 36 degrees, but the moderate northerly wind was at the runners’ backs for most of the race.
The first mile of 3M is the slowest with a couple of easy grades and the huge lead pack of 25 runners went out in a pedestrian 5:20 first mile. But once the field crossed Capital of Texas Highway, the 13.1-mile course began its plunge toward downtown.
Heading up the lead pack, was 3M defending champ Nicodemus Malakwen, a notorious front-runner, who was just coming off a 2:14 marathon in Houston two weeks ago. On a downhill mile along Spicewood Springs, the pack began to fly as Malakwen led the top guns through a 4:35 fourth mile.
But once the course began to flatten out around the Northcross Mall, the pack was weeded down to six, including Reta, Demesse Tefera, Joseph Chirlee, Malakwen and Joe Driscoll of North Carolina who was hanging on in the back.
"The pace wasn’t real steady," said Driscoll. "Malakwen was going back and forth. Then, my stomach cramped up a little and I knew was in trouble."
Driscoll got spit out the back and by the seventh mile, Reta began to assert himself with a 4:38 mile which opened up a gap on Malakwen and Chirlee.
By the eighth mile down a long stretch on Burnet, Reta was all alone after a couple of 4:32 miles. "I didn’t like the cold so much," said Reta who lives in Manhattan and trains in Central Park, " so I had a hard time at first. But once I got to the downhills, I wanted to push them."
Which is exactly what he did. By the time the course turned onto a nice downhill stretch on Duval near the 10-mile mark, Reta had opened up a 12-second lead on his countryman Tefera and 30 seconds on Chirlee. Reta flowed down the hills (reaching 10 miles in 47:28) and extended his lead on Tefera to more than 30 seconds as he reached the UT campus.
As Reta cruised the moderate downhills through UT and past the football stadium, his intent was clearly on the event record of 1:01:16 (and the $500 bonus that went with it). He didn’t slow down (his 11th and 12th miles were 4:33), but any shot at the record was long gone with the slow first two miles.
"I came back to Austin to win," said Reta who finished second last year Malakwen in 1:02:01. "I’m happy with my time (1:01:46), but a record would have been nice." He and Butler earned $1000 for their wins.
Tefera was second in 1:02:23 with Chirlee third in 1:02:53. Driscoll was the first American in eighth in a respectable 1:03:38—one of the few who didn’t PR.
Kathy Butler also got her PR, but was slightly disappointed with her time of 1:11:12. "I was hoping to go out a lot quicker," said the former University of Wisconsin star who still lives in Madison. "But going into the wind in the first mile, I must have lost 30 seconds. Then, when we were running with the wind, I never really felt the tailwind that much. Still, I was running between 5:17 and 5:30 miles for the entire race, except for that first mile. I liked the course, but there was so much downhills that it was a little hard on my knees."
Following Butler to the finish were Caroline Cheptanui of Kenya in 1:13:54 and snagging third in a huge PR was Austin’s Desiree Ficker. Ficker, who did a Half Ironman last weekend in Chile and was tired from all the travel, popped a 1:14:06 which was over a minute faster than her time from last year’s 3M. (It also gave Ficker her third consecutive win in a Distance Challenge series race.)
Ficker went out uncharacteristically hard and was locked in a duel with Kenya’s Joyce Chematui that went back and forth. Finally, on San Jacinto, Ficker got a little gap on her and coming down Trinity toward the finish, she pulled away from Chematui to beat her by five seconds.
In the process, Ficker also dusted her boyfriend Paul Pugh who always places ahead of her in road races. "We didn’t run together at all," said Pugh. "But Des pulled even with me with about a mile or so to go and I could see she was in a fight with this Kenyan woman so I just drifted back to watch."
"I’m very happy with my time," said an exhausted Ficker, who will shoot for an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time (she needs a 2:47) at the AT&T Austin Marathon in three weeks. "My goal was anything under 1:15."
Also happy with his time was Lance Parker who finished 14th overall in a massive PR of 1:04:06. Parker, who has already qualified for the ’08 Olympic Trials, hadn’t run a road race since Sacramento in December when he got his qualifier, and according to him, hadn’t done much running since then.
"I just wanted to come here this morning and have a good time," said Parker, like Ficker, a top triathlete. "I felt good. I mean, I dropped my PR by 1:40 which is kinda surprising since I haven’t done all that much running. Mostly, I’ve been riding and swimming. I guess fresh legs count for something."
Evidently. After Parker, the next fastest Austinite was Derick Williamson, a UT grad student, who ran 1:06:53 and just happens to be Parker’s coach and was his roommate in college.
Among the women, Christine Kimbrough was the second fastest Ausinite to Ficker. Kimbrough, a 37-year-old mother of four who is training for her shot at an Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier as well, ran yet another huge PR in a brilliant 1:15:38. "I ran with Richard Mendez {who—typically—ran without a shirt} and we were very consistent the entire race," said Kimbrough. "Richard really pulled me though the final six miles. Without him, I--"
"You looked great Chris," interrupted Jody Hawkins who gave Kimbrough a hug. Hawkins, a former national-class runner, who at 40, was the second women’s masters in 1:16:42, added, "Chris, you’re so ready to run a great marathon. I just know it."
The first men’s master was Ruben Chesang, 44, of Mexico who ran 1:08:46 to edge out Paul Zimmerman, 46, of Cedar Creek who ran 1:09:09.
First old guy was the Flyin’ Kiwi, 51-year-old Keith Dowland of Austin who ran 1:15:57. First really old was Jesse Sturgeon, 56, who came up from San Antonio to drop a sensational 1:21:06. Danny Spoonts, 55, ran a great 1:24 but was still three minutes in back of Sturgeon. Ben Harvie, topped the 60+ age group, with a gutty 1:27:05.
Among the women, Albina Gallyamova, 42, was the fastest masters in an insanely fast 1:15:50. Hawkins was second with 45-year-old Deborah Torneden in third in 1:20:13.
Final race in the seven-race Austin Distance Challenge series is the Big Enchilada: The AT&T Austin Marathon on February 18th. Make sure you say your prayers every night for a day like this.
