SAN DIEGO, Calif. - (June 3, 2001) - At the 4th Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, John Kagwe and Margaret Okayo of
Kenya ran controlled races for convincing victories. Kagwe, the two-time New York City Marathon winner (1997-98), signaled his return to form, while Okayo defended her Rock 'n' Roll title by
breaking her own course record.In the men's race, after a moderate opening mile of 4:56 the four pace setters and eventual champion Kagwe, separated themselves from the field and at 3 miles
(14:38), the lead was about 100 meters. These five athletes stayed together reaching the 10 kilometer mark in 29:38 and the 10 mile mark in 48:03, 57 seconds ahead of the second pack. The
overcast marine layer protected the runners from the sun and the mile average of 4:48 had people on the press truck speculating a finish time of sub-2:08. The Ethiopian pacesetter Negussa
Urge, after leading the race for a mile, dropped back leaving the three Kenyans, Kiprotich, Kimondiu and Kumatai, to set the pace for Kagwe. They reached the halfway point in 1:03:35, almost a
minute ahead of the planned schedule and dropped out of the race leaving Kagwe to run on his own, 45 seconds ahead of the field. Kagwe, 32, managed to maintain a sub-5 minute pace for the next
few miles reaching 25K in 1:15:45. Then the toll began to tell and the pace dropped to slightly slower than 5 minutes a mile and former two-time race champion Philip Tarus, running with
countryman Phillip Tanui, steadily cut into the lead. At 18 miles Tarus had dropped Tanui and was only 20 seconds behind Kagwe. At 20 miles in 1:38:11 the two were side-by-side. They ran together
for the next mile and a half when Kagwe tested Tarus and with a sudden surge opened a 5 meter gap. Tarus immediately responded and appeared to be a likely winner. At 22 miles, Kagwe surged
again as both runners slowed their overall pace. This time Tarus who appeared to lose his form could not respond and by 23 miles the lead was back to 24 seconds. The sub 5 minute pace had dropped
to 5:10 but Kagwe was unchallenged as he cruised to victory in 2:10:07 while Tarus faded to fifth. In his second marathon attempt, Eric Polonski of Austin, Texas was the top American in 11th
(2:17:24). "In running, there is good luck and bad luck and I had my bad luck in 1999 and 2000, and now it looks like it is time for my good luck," said Kagwe who also recently won
the River Bank 25K. In the women's race, a pack of nine runners ran together for the first 7 miles and then going up the hill they dropped 1999 champion Irina Bogacheva and Ornella Ferrara. The
next miles were run at just under 6 minutes which enabled a pack of eight to be together at the halfway point. 1996 Olympic marathon champion Fatuma Roba and Elfinesh Alemu of Ethiopia made a
strong move at the 14th mile and the 5:30 split broke up the pack. These two maintained the lead until the 16th mile when Margaret Okayo surged to the front running the next 4 miles in 5:19,
5:06, 5:13 and 5:14. This pace enabled her to enter the finish area at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot unchallenged as she hit the tape in 2:25:05 to demolish her course record (2:27:05). Okayo
took home $15,000 (which includes a $5000 record bonus) plus $60,000 in Suzuki products including the XL-7 Sport Utility Vehicle. "When I pushed ahead after the halfway point, I felt great
and I wanted to see if they would stay with me," said the happy repeat winner Okayo. The 4th edition of the Suzuki Rock 'n' Roll Marathon showcased the beauty of San Diego as the 20,000
runners ran through Balboa Park, the Downtown area and the Mission Bay Park. "We are really happy, the competition was great, the weather was great, and the operations were impeccable. It
was a privilege to finish in the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. They did a terrific job," said Tim Murphy, race director |
