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Oct-30-2005
Garcia, Kvasnicka Win Marine Corps Marathon
by Steve Nearman
(c) Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
Carl Rundell already is talking about running next year's Marine Corps Marathon.
And for the 37-year-old Birmingham, Mich., resident, maybe the third time will be the charm.
"I keep taking a step closer," said Rundell, fifth in 2004 and runner-up on Sunday morning. "I tried all the way."
When asked seconds after he crossed the finish line - just 9 seconds off the winner - if he would come back again next year, he quickly replied: "Heck yeah. I moved up three places today."
But it wasn't enough to take the 30th Marine Corps Marathon. Ruben Garcia of Mexico gapped him up the ramp onto the 14th Street Bridge at Mile 20 and Rundell never recovered. Garcia hit the tape in 2 hours, 22 minutes, 14 seconds ahead of a record 20,045 starters and more than 19,100 finishers.
The women's race was anything but close. Susannah Kvasnicka, running in her second marathon in four weeks, virtually led from the start and won by nearly three minutes in 2:47:07. Kvasnicka, from nearby Great Falls, Va., sliced 50 seconds off her time from the Twin Cities Marathon on October 2.
"I have to have my head examined," she joked at the finish line. "I really didn't have expectations. I've never done this before (back-to-back marathons). I planned that at about 10 miles if I didn't feel well to drop out."
It was her first victory in seven marathons and a personal record. The big difference between Twin Cities and Sunday was the weather, which reached the 70s at Twin Cities and just the pleasant 60s here.
While the 33-year-old Kvasnicka ran uncontested, Garcia and Rundell broke away from a large pack by the half-marathon, which they recorded at 1:11:54. They played cat-and-mouse for much of the 26.2-mile race, testing each other with a 5:10 14th mile as they passed Washington's historic monuments.
Until the ramp, Garcia, the #8 ranked Mexican marathoner by the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, quickly put 15 meters on Rundell, and while Rundell would get as close as six seconds in the latter stages, he never could catch Garcia.
"He wasn't going to give up," said Garcia about Rundell through an interpreter. "So keeping up was hard. Mile 24 was the hardest (when his hamstring tightened). Only when I reached the finish line did I know I would win."
Garcia was the first Mexican to win Marine Corps since 1996. The Mexican military dominated here from 1991-96, triumphant four times and stacking the top 10. This year, Garcia, a Navy corporal, led a 1-5-6-10 Navy finish.
Liz Wilson of Eugene, Ore., a two-time Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier ('00/'04) who decided to run the day before the race, was second among the women in 2:49:55, while Emily Brozozowski of Savannah, Ga., was third in 2:54:55.
30th Marine Corps Marathon
Washington, DC, Sunday, October 30, 2005
MEN
1) Ruben Garcia, Mexico, 2:22:14
2) Carl Rundell, MI, 2:22:23
3) Eric Post, VA, 2:23:51
MASTERS Men (40+)
1) Dauvio Roberts, 43, United Kingdom, 2:30:39
WOMEN
1) Susannah Kvasnicka, VA, 2:47:07
2) Liz Wilson, OR, 2:49:55
3) Emily Brozozowski, GA, 2:54:55
MASTERS Women (40+)
1) Alisa Harvey, 40, VA, 3:10:11
For full results, go to: MarineMarathon.com
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