MANCHESTER, Conn. (27-Nov) -- With some of Ireland's greatest running heroes earning victory here 11 times before him, Martin Fagan carried the extra burden of tradition on his shoulders coming in to this morning's 72nd Manchester Road Race. He had finished a close second last year, losing to Australia's Andrew Letherby when he fell apart in the last half-mile of the race.
"Last year, the last mile was so painful," Fagan, an Olympian in the marathon, recalled.
But using that experience with the torturously hilly 4.748 mile course to his advantage Fagan, with American steeplechaser Brian Olinger, pushed hard up Manchester's famous long climb on Highland Street in the second mile. When the pair crested the hill after the two mile mark, Fagan surged hard as the course turned left and went sharply downhill on Porter Street. Olinger was gapped, and Fagan's move clearly signaled that he was going for the win.
"The first mile is pretty fast so people ease up (before the big hill)," said Fagan, who also pushed up Highland Street last year. "It worked last year and broke up the field." He paused and added: "I'm not a great finisher."
Fagan hit the three-mile mark alone in 13:50. Behind him, Olinger and Kenyan Haron Lagat were working together and were just five seconds down. Fagan, his arms sheathed in red arm warmers to keep off the cold New England air, kept pressing, opening his lead to about seven seconds. Nonetheless, he was still worried.
"I knew they were behind me," he said, recalling the first glance he shot back in the fourth mile.
Lagat, a former miler at Texas Tech and a particularly good hill runner, was trying to keep Fagan close, hoping to catch him up the short hill on Main Street just before the finish line. He and Olinger had tightened the gap back to just four seconds at the four mile mark (18:21).
"He was looking back, but I still wasn't so sure (I could catch him)," said Lagat.
On that final rise, Fagan looked back several times until he new he had clinched it. Slowing slightly to raise his arms and enjoy his victory, he hit the tape in 21:41 for his first Manchester win in just two tries.
"All my heroes: Eamonn, John and Mark," said Fagan referring to Eamonn Coghlan, John Teacy and Mark Carroll, all of whom had won in Manchester. "It's an honor to keep that tradition going."
Lagat got the better of Olinger to finish second, 21:47 to 21:49. Three Andrews --Carlson, Lemoncello, and Letherby-- filled the next three places, and two-time champion Mark Carroll, another Irishman, came home seventh.
The women's race was a battle of just two athletes. Five-time Manchester champion Amy Rudolph led nearly every step of the way, closely followed by the tiny Teyba Naser, a 22 year-old Ethiopian who carries a Bahraini passport. Coming to the finish, Naser had the stronger sprint, getting the best of Rudolph by two seconds in 25:00.
"It was very close," said Rudolph who has been dealing with a slight hip injury. "She basically sat on me and got me on the hill."
Naser, who was evasive when asked about her upbringing and nationality, said through a translator, "This course is a tough course. Today this was a good race for me. Amy is a good athlete."
Finishing in impressive 12th in 27:28 in the women's race was 1984 Olympic Marathon gold medalist Joan Samuelson. Samuelson, 51, was anxious to get on the road and drive back to her home in Freeport, Me., where she had to finish preparing a traditional Thanksgiving Dinner for her family.
"I have to have dinner on the table by four o'clock," she said.
Top Results:
MEN (course record = 21:19, Phillimon Hanneck, 1995) -
1. Martin Fagan, 25, IRL, 21:41
2. Haron Lagat, 25, KEN, 21:47
3. Brian Olinger, 25, Westerville, OH, 21:49
4. Andrew Carlson, 26, Flagstaff, AZ, 21:59
5. Andrew Lemoncello, 26, GBR, 22:05
WOMEN (course record = 23:59, Emilie Mondor, 2003) -
1. Teyba Naser, 22, BRN, 25:00
2. Amy Rudolph, 35, Providence, RI, 25:02
3. Dian Nukuri, 23, BDI, 25:18
4. Jane Murage, 21, KEN, 25:22
5. Alemtsehay Misganaw, 28, ETH, 25:27
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