Browne, Kilpatrick-Morris Take USATF 25K Titles
GRAND RAPIDS - The 27th Fifth Third River Bank 25K was a study in contrasts, best symbolized by the finish-line looks of Debbi Kilpatrick- Morris, who flashed a huge smile, and Dan Browne, who glowered, waved an arm in disgust and stormed off to the nearby elite tent to change. Despite their contrasting looks, both had won national championships - Browne defended his USATF title from last year and Kilpatrick-Morris at the age of 40 proved that her long and difficult comeback from taking several years off to give birth to her two children was finally complete. The open races were also polar opposites. The men's winner, Simon Wangai, 25, of Kenya, slowly and steadily pulled away from the field starting at the two-mile mark, which the pack hit in a relatively pedestrian 9:57 on a nasty, cold, blustery day. The elites did manage to avoid the drenching downpour and lightning and thunder that most of the field of more than 4,500 had to contend with. Wangai finished in 1:15:15 to win by 71 seconds, as undramatic and convincing a win as anyone here could remember. Alevtina Ivanova, on the other hand, defended her open title with a surprising, stealthy, come-from-behind win in the late going. Her fellow Russian, Firaya Sultanova-Zhdanova, 43, looked as if she was in control for both open and master's prize money, taking the lead from a struggling Victoria Klimina on an uphill just before 10 miles. At that point, Ivanova, 28, was 29 seconds back and hidden from view, literally, tucked behind men to give her some protection from the wind and to hide her from her competitors in case they tried to take a peek back to see where she was. "I was hiding behind the men so nobody could see me," she would say later, with a smile. "That was my tactic, to sneak, up on them." And sneak up on them she did. Just before mile 12, while the Sultanova- Zhdanova and Klimina ran together on one side of the road, Ivanova zipped by them on the other side. "I was very surprised when Alevtina came by," said Sultanova- Zhdanova. "I had no idea she was there. I had slowed down a little to get my stamina for the closing miles." Bad move. Ivanova finished in 1:26:38 to claim the $4,000 first-place prize. Sultanova-Zhdanova finished 22 seconds back, with Klimina third in 1:27:39. Their open wins mirrored the runs for the U.S. titles - Browne, 28, of Portland, Ore., won going away, beating Michigan native Ryan Shay, 25, by 51 seconds, while Kilpatrick-Morris, fearful of her top rival's deadly kick, had to throw with less than a mile to go to pull out the win. Kilpatrick - who had won the 1995 U.S. national marathon championship with a 2:34 in Columbia, S.C. - had come into the race with the goal of winning the U.S. master's title. She had no idea she had also won the national open title until informed by the media in the elite tent. "This is a surprise for me," she said. "I expected to have a good race, but . . . I've been trying to get back in shape. It's been a roller-coaster ride. I was used to training harder and having things go easier than they do now. It's tough getting old." No, on this day, at least, maybe not. She made the first of two dramatic moves with two and a half miles to go. While Friend-Uhl was fumbling to grab some water at a water stop, slowing to do so, Kilpatrick-Morris threw in a surge and briefly broke free. Friend-Uhl was able to cover it though. Kilpatrick-Morris knew she couldn't let the race come down to a kick. She knew Friend-Uhl is a former 1,500-meter specialist, who was sixth at the Olympic Trials in 1996. So with less than a mile to go, she threw in a surge, and when Friend- Uhl tried to respond, her legs, not used to hilly, 15.5-mile courses, cramped up and the race was over. Kilpatrick-Morris, from Strongville, Ohio, won first-place money of $4,000, finishing in 1:31:14, 12 seconds up on Friend-Uhl, 33, of West Palm Beach, Fla. "The longest I've ever run is 16 miles," said Friend-Uhl. "This was a stepping stone for me. I ran the 15K earlier this year (the Gate River 15K in Florida) so this is another step up." Jeanne Hennessy, the early leader and the 2002 champ here, had a substantial lead on her American rivals in the early going but faltered over the second half. "I had problems with my breathing, asthma. Sonja passed me about 11 and I couldn't go with her." Last year, Browne became the first American in eight years to win the open title. This year, he was determined to repeat. Word was that a last- minute entrant, Simon Wangai of Kenya, was the man to beat. Joseph Kariuki of Kenya had been entered in the event, but when he came up hurt in the days leading up to the race, his agent sent Wangai as a replacement. Some replacement. Earlier this year, Wangai, 25, had finished second at the Los Angeles Marathon and last Sunday he won the Lilac Bloomsday 12K in Spokane, Wash. At the starting line, someone pointed out a tall man as Wangai. So Browne, made sure to keep him covered. He ran with him from the start, as a small, short man slowly pulled away from the field of more than 4,500. The only problem was the tall guy was actually Wilson Komen of Kenya, who finished fourth in 1:17:48. The short guy was Wangai, and by the time Browne, who qualified for the U.S. Olympic marathon team in February, decided to try to reel him in, at 10 miles, it was too late. "I definitely thought I had a chance to catch him. But I ran three miles in a row at 4:46 and wasn't gaining ground." said Browne. In fact, he was losing ground. Angry that he had let Wangai get away, Browne admitted he was in a foul mood despite the nice payday, winning $4,000 for the U.S. title and $2,000 more for runner-up money in the open division. "I don't race for the money," he said. When Browne took off at 10, Shay, arguably the best prep runner in the history of the state of Michigan, gave chase. But just as he did last year, Browne slowly pulled away from him. Shay improved his finish one spot to third, though, in 1:17:12, winning a total of $3,500. "I'm happy with it," said Shay. "I just wanted to stick my nose in with the leaders. I tried to stay with Dan as long as I could. I'm trying to get to his level. One of these days, he'll go and I'll be able to stay with him." Teddy Mitchell was third U.S., finishing in 1:17:55, 12 seconds up on 2001 USA Marathon champion, Scott Larson. Bad luck kept either Ernst Van Dyk of South Africa or Saul Mendoza of Mexico from winning $5,000 from breaking the world wheelchair world record. With two miles to go, runners in the accompanying 5K mistakenly crossed the road in their path as they were approaching at more than 20 miles an hour, and ahead of record pace. Van Dyk hit one runner, both of them missed a turn and had to go back, and they both had to weave slowly in and out of runners. "It would have been a sprint to the finish," said Van Dyk, who finished in 52:50 to win $1,000. Mendoza was 13 seconds back.

Paul McMullen, Kristie Kiefer Win 5K
Paul McMullen of Grand Haven, Mich., won the 5K in 15:07, nipping Kevin Gallagher of Ann Arbor, Mich., by two seconds. It capped a busy weekend for the former Olympian on another of his comebacks. Friday night, at a track meet in Ann Arbor, he won the 1,500 in 3:40.2, meeting the B standard for the Olympic track and field trials in July and leaving him just more than a second from making the A standard. Kristie Kiefer of Sterling Heights, Mich., led the women in 17:43. Kimberly Peterson of Farmington, Mich., was second in 17:50. More than 10,000, an all-time record, competed in one of the events, which included a 5K walk and a kids' fun run. As part of the 2004 USA Running Circuit, the top 10 U.S. athletes earned points here. With his U.S. title (worth 15 USARC points), Dan Browne moved within four points of current men's leader, Meb Keflezighi, 54 points to 50, while Kilpatrick-Morris moved into fourth place with 18 points. Defending women's circuit champion Colleen De Reuck is the current leader with 45 points.

Men

1. Simon Wangai, 25, Kenya, 1:15:15, $4,000. 2. Dan Browne, 28, Portland, Ore., 1:16:21, $6,000. 3. Ryan Shay, 25, East Jordan, Mich., 1:17:12, $3,500. 4. Wilson Komen, 26, Kenya, 1:17:48, $0. 5. Ted Mitchell, 32, Abuquerque, N.M., 1:17:55, $1,500. 6. Scott Larson, 34, Superior, Colo., 1:18:07, $1,000. 7. Scott Goff, 27, Boulder, Colo., 1:18:38, $600. 8. Patrick Muturi, 31, Thornton, Colo., 1:18:48, $500. 9. Sean Nesbitt, 29, Boulder, Colo., 1:18:48, $400. 10. John Kariuki, 35, Kenya, 1:20:00, $0. 11. Paul Aufdemberge, 39, Redford, Mich., 1:20:23, $300. 12. Dennis Simonaitis, 41, Draper, Utah, 1:20:26, $1700. 13. Chris Wehrman, 28, Chicago, Ill., 1:20:31, $100.

Women 1. Alevtina Ivanova, 28, Russia, 1:26:38, $4,000. 2. Firaya Sultanova-Zhdnavoa, 43, Russia, 1:27:00, $2,000. 3. Victoria Klimina, 28, Russia, 1:27:39, $1,500. 4. Debbi Kilpatrick-Morris, 40, Strongville, Ohio, 1:31:14, $4,750. 5. Sonja Friend-Uhl, 33, W. Palm Beach, Fla., 1:31:26, $2,000. 6. Jeanne Hennessy, Manasquan, N.J., 26, 1:33:12, $1,500. 7. Janet Robertz, 44, Shorewood, Minn., 1:33:56, $1,500. 8. Lori Stick Zimmerman, 34, Stanwood, Mich., 1:35:03, $600. 9. Marie Sample, 27, Marshall, Minn., 1:35:17, $500. 10. Jackie Rzepecki, 25, Rochester, Mich., 1:35:20, $400. 11. Jenna Boren, 27, Minneapolis, Minn., 1:35:26, $300. 12. Machelle Cochran, 29, San Antonio, Texas, 1:37:21, $200. 13. Kelli Lusk, Amherst, 34, Mass., 1:37:31, $100.

Note: Runners could collect prize money in open, U.S., and master's divisions.

For full results and more go to: http://www.53riverbankrun.com