Leaving no doubt

Misgivings accompanied Jynocel Basweti to the starting line of the 31st SunTrust Richmond Marathon. All had been banished by the time Basweti reached the finish line in Shockoe Slip.

Basweti outran his doubts to win yesterday’s 26.2-mile race in impressive fashion. He finished in 2:22:22—2½ minutes faster than second-place finisher Mohamed Awol, last year’s champion; and 5½ minutes faster than third-place finisher David Cheromei, last year’s runner-up.

The 21-year-old Kenyan said he “wasn’t sure” about his chances as he awaited the starter’s gun yesterday morning. He was aware, he said, that Awol and Cheromei had posted formidable times—a pair of 2:20s—en route to last year’s photo finish. And he wondered how thoroughly he had recovered after winning last month’s Denver Marathon in 2:22:16.

Answers soon became available.

“I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew my training had been good,” he said. “I felt good” from start to finish.

The humidity and wind that bothered some of the top women’s competitors seemed not to affect Basweti. “No, no problems,” he said. “I felt very good.”

Basweti, who has won three marathons in the past three months, ran a tactically shrewd race. He was content to run as a member of the lead pack for the first 12-13 miles. But as the halfway point approached, Basweti, Awol and Cheromei began to spit out sub-5:00 miles.

Cheromei was the first to drop out of this high-stakes game. He began to fade as the leaders reached the Lee Bridge, the 16-mile mark. Thereafter it was a two-man race between Basweti and Awol.

Basweti made his decisive move at the 20-mile mark. He began to push hard as he ascended the railroad overpass on Boulevard just south of The Diamond. He pushed harder on the downhill side. Thom Suddeth, the marathon’s coordinator of elite athletes, accompanied the leaders on a bicycle. Basweti made his move, Suddeth said, at a moment when “the heat, I think was starting to get to everybody.”

Said Suddeth: “What it was, was classic racing, textbook racing, on [Basweti’s] part.”

Awol could do little more than maintain his position over the last six miles.

“Today, he had more than I did,” said Awol, a 30-year-old Ethiopian who placed 13th (2:19:13) in the New York City Marathon on Nov. 2.

The new champion encountered but one forgettable moment. He was within sight of the finish line—perhaps 150 yards away—when the pace car turned off of Cary Street to give Basweti an unobstructed run to the tape. Basweti followed the pace car off the course for about 10-15 yards. Spectators, shouting and gesturing, steered him back onto the proper path.

“I was just following the vehicle,” he said. “Everybody told me, ‘Go back . . . go back.’”

Basweti earned $2,500 and Awol $1,500.

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

- Republished from inRich.com

Related Stories: