Like 2007, marathon favorites could take race right to the tape

Has David Cheromei gained a step?

Has Mohamed Awol lost one?

Those questions will be answered, quite possibly in dramatic fashion, shortly after 10:15 this morning at the finish line of the 31st SunTrust Richmond Marathon.

Awol and Cheromei, who a year ago delivered the closest finish in the race’s history, are the co-favorites in this year’s 26.2-mile competition. Awol, a 30-year-old Ethiopian, won last year by a wafer-thin margin after surviving a 200-yard sprint to the finish. He and Cheromei finished with identical times (2:20:20). So inseparable were the two as they approached the line that Cheromei may have cost himself a victory by leaping to reach the tape while still a stride and a half away.

Thom Suddeth, the event’s elite athletes coordinator, expects more of the same today. He said Cheromei, a 29-year-old Kenyan, is unlikely to repeat the subtle mistakes that may have contributed to last year’s outcome.

“A marathon is a lot like a poker game,” Suddeth said. “You bluff, you hold back a little bit, you try to get inside the other guy’s head. In some ways, you could say that [Awol] was the better card player last year.”

But the cards might have turned slightly since then.

Cheromei, Suddeth said, had never run a marathon before arriving in Richmond last year. “I think it’s safe to assume that he’s changed his training to make it a little more marathon-oriented.”

But Cheromei and Awol cannot afford to become preoccupied with each other, Suddeth said. Also in the men’s field is Jynocel Basweti, a 21-year-old Kenyan who won the Quad Cities (Ill.) Marathon in September.

Suddeth said Basweti, who won Quad Cities in 2:18:04, “is probably capable of a legitimate 2:14-2:16” under optimum circumstances.

The women’s marathon will lack the local flavor of recent years. Neither Maureen Ackerly, the Richmond attorney who won two years ago; nor Casey Smith, the Atlee High School alumna and former Lynchburg College All-American who won in 2007, will compete this year.

But that does not mean the women’s field lacks quality. Suddeth said Phebe Ko, a former Duke University standout, and Melissa Rittenhouse, a doctoral candidate at Kent State, appear capable of matching the 2:44:57 delivered by Smith in 2007. Both participated in the 2008 Olympic Trials.

Suddeth said a third woman, Kristin Price, also is worthy of attention. Price, a former University of Richmond assistant track coach, won the 2002 NCAA 10,000-meter championship while competing at N.C. State. Price, he said, is “a fiery little competitor who, if things go right, could make everyone else’s day really bad.”

Elijah Kitur, a 36-year-old Kenyan, might be the most formidable individual entered in the McDonald’s Half Marathon. He might also be weary. Kitur won the Manchester (N.H.) Half Marathon two weeks ago. His time (1:07:31) was nearly eight minutes faster than the existing course record.

Organizers restored the half marathon to the lineup this year after an 11-year absence. The response has been robust. More than 4,300 runners have signed up—about four times the number that competed in any half marathon held from 1978-1997. None of which has surprised Jon Lugbill, the executive director of the Richmond Sports Backers.

“We were seeing a lot of pent-up demand” for a half marathon, Lugbill said. “It’s the fastest-growing road race in the United States. It’s long enough to still be a very significant accomplishment, but it’s easier to do, obviously, than a full marathon.”

The third of today’s races, the Ntelos 8K, offers the unprecedented possibility of husband-and-wife winners. Two-time Irish Olympian Mark Carroll has run 5,000 meters in 13:03. His wife, two-time U.S. Olympian Amy Rudolph, won the U.S. 10K national championship in 2006.

Contact Vic Dorr Jr. at (804) 649-6442 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

- Republished from inRich.com

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