There were no real surprises at the top in the 26th annual Anheuser-Busch Colonial Half Marathon Sunday afternoon in Williamsburg. There were 1,821 runners entered in both the half marathon and accompanying 3 mile run, with 1,108 finishing the half marathon and 279 finishing the shorter event.
Three international runners were all given a chance to win the $500 first-place men's prize money, and Azat Rakipov, 36, of Belarus set a course record 1:05:22 to win over Kenyan Charles Kibiwot, 30, who also dipped under the old mark with his runnerup 1:05:31, good for $300. The previous course record of 1:05:46 (for the current Carter's Grove Country Road/Kingsmill course) was held by Mark Andrews of Chapel Hill, NC in 1998 (the last American to win the men's division). The overall race record is 1:04:39 (from 1991) by Steve Taylor of Blacksburg, the only three-time winner for the men. Rakipov and Kibiwot were the only two runners to set race age-group records, Rakipov breaking Jim Hage's men's 35-39 mark of 1:06:22 from 1993, and Kibiwot tieing the 1:05:31 record for men 30-34 by Paul Mbugua (another Kenyan) in 1995. The two had both raced a marathon just two weeks earlier, with Rakipov placing second in Austin's Freescale Marathon in 2:14:00, and Kibiwot sixth in that Texas event in 2:17:34. Clearly they were quick to recover from the demands of a 26.2-mile race.
From the start it was a two-man race, with Rakipov setting the pace until 10 miles, then Kibiwot surging to the lead. Rakipov came back and pulled away for his nine-second victory. "They were running for the win, not the course record," said Kibiwot's agent Natasha Smith, a Russian who acted as Rakipov's interpreter. The surprise for the top three men was that the third race favorite, John Korir, 25, of Kenya, who trains in Chapel Hill, was not close to the leaders. The reason was that he missed the start by less than a minute and had to dart through hundred of runners to eventually catch Kevin Taylor, 29, of Raleigh, NC for the third-place $200 prize money. Korir, with a PR of 1:02:45 from 2003, could only manage 1:10:32 Sunday, nine seconds ahead of Taylor, the first American.
The top four men across the finish line inside William and Mary Hall had race numbers 2-1-3-4. The women's race was even more predictable, as the top three seeds finished in that order. Tetyana Hladyr, 29, of the Ukraine, with a PR of 1:12:07, was a strong favorite, and she pulled away after three miles from runnerup Casey Smith, to win with a relatively slow 1:19:44, the slowest winning time since Connie Buckwalter ran a 1:22:58 in 2000. Smith, who had run 1:19:57 in 2003 and 1:18:52 in 2004 at Colonial, then had 1:17:48 and 1:17:49 half marathons later in 2004, was disappointed with her runnerup 1:21:28 on Sunday, saying it was just a bad day. Third for the women (same $500-300-200 prize money as the men) was 1993 race winner Tammy Slusser, 39, of Monroeville, PA in 1:23:40 (her 1993 time at age 27 was 1:16:51). The other race winner present was 2000 champion Buckwalter, fifth in 1:28:02, with only unseeded runner Michelle Mudge, 28, of Richmond (4th in 1:25:28) breaking up the expected order of finish.
What was surprising Sunday was that the top local finisher wasn't one of "The Usual Suspects" of the area's best roadracers--Williamsburg's John Piggott (who was eighth in 1:12:56), Hampton's Michael Mann (who was sick and didn't run), W&M chemistry professor Rob Hinkle (2nd in the men's Masters 40-and-over category in 1:16:18) or even Billy Edwards, if you include Virginia Beach (sixth in 1:11:44). Edwards, Piggott and Mann went 1-2-3 in last September's Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in the local division.
Instead the top local finisher was Trevor Cable, 22, of Williamsburg, a W&M senior and member of "Team Blitz" a group of W&M students who train together, eat dinner together and socialize together. Cable, in his first road race since high school, was fifth overall in 1:11:35, a 5:27 pace per mile. Seven Team Blitz runners competed, and six finished under 1:18, including Cable, team leader and founder Bert Jacoby, a senior (10th, 1:13:23), sophomore George Ingham (14th, 1:14:28), senior Chris Healey (15th, 1:15:07), freshman Marshall Miller (22nd, 1:17:14) and senior Ryan Stevens (23rd, 1:17:26). All won age group or overall awards.
The group gave a Tour de France look and feel to the half marathon, as a bicycling friend chalked various motivational slogans on the course to encourage Team Blitz, as well as the other 1,100 finishers. On some of the tough hills on the course were the words "Don't Give Up," "Kill the Hill" and "What Would Lance [Armstrong] Do" (with a bicycle depiction).
Most of Team Blitz ran at one time or another with the W&M men's cross country and track teams (the organizers of the Colonial Half Marathon), but either got injured, couldn't handle the mileage, or got burned out. Jacoby started the club with Stevens his sophomore year, and it has blossomed this past year, with over ten regulars to serious training. Four are planning on running the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach as a team on March 19th.
Cable was a star in high school with a 4:15 mile (4th in the 2001 Penn Relays) and a 9:24 for 3,200 meters. He improved as a freshman at W&M to 8:39 for 3,000 meters and 15:00 for 5,000 meters, but then regressed and finally reluctantly quit the team after his junior year. This year he covers 40 miles per week (vs. 70-80 before), and his enthusiasm for running has returned, and he has made lifetime friends.
For full details on Team Blitz, check their website at: http://ahjaco.people.wm.edu/blitz/
The top Masters finisher was Mark Malander, 46, of Oak Hill, VA in 1:15:22, ahead of Rob Hinkle, 40, of Newport News (1:16:18) and two-time defending Masters champion Chuck Moeser, 53, of Sterling, VA (1:17:31). The women's Masters winner was Leisa Ensle, 46, of Virginia Beach, 10th overall in 1:31:19.
The top local female was Ashley McWilliams, 28, of Williamsburg, in 1:36:01.
In the three mile race, former Bruton runner Adam Canning of Williamsburg won easily in 15:21, almost a minute ahead of Brian Derr of Newport News (16:15). Aurora Scott, second in the Virginia AAA high school cross country meet last fall as a freshman, dominated the women's race in 16:27 (third overall, including the men), a whopping 2 1/2 minutes ahead of second place. Linda Sawvell of Newport News was third in 19:03, while Pamela Lovett of Newport News won the women's Masters (40-and-over) division in 20:03.
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Brief race writeup via Bruce Davis of the Peninsula Track Club, and edited by Rick Platt
Below are the award winners for the 26th Annual Anheuser-Busch Colonial Half Marathon and 3 Mile Fun Run held on the campus of William and Mary and the Carter's Grove Country Road on Sunday afternoon, February 27, 2005. The course for the 3 Mile Fun Run winded its way around the campus of William and Mary, finishing inside William & Mary Hall. The featured race, the Colonial Half Marathon, started on the campus of William and Mary and followed a course taking runners out the Carter's Grove Country Road to Kingsmill, with a return on the Country Road to finish inside William & Mary Hall. Conditions at race time for both races were partly cloudy with temperatures in the 40s.
Records were set in the Colonial Half Marathon for the men. Azat Rakipov, 36, of Belarus and West Chester, PA won the half marathon with a time of 1:05:22, breaking the old course record of 1:05:46 (set by Mark Andrews of Chapel Hill, NC in 1998). Finishing second was Charles Kibiwot, 30, of Kenya and Germantown, MD with a time of 1:05:31, enough to break the old record, but not enough to beat Rakipov.
For the women, Tetyana Hladyr, 29, of the Ukraine, and also running out of West Chester, PA was first woman with a time of 1:19:44. Second for the women was Casey Smith, 25, of Arlington, VA in 1:21:28.
In the 3 Mile, Aurora Scott, 15, of Chesapeake had a very fast time for the women with a time of 16:27 making her first woman and third overall.