Photo: Volunteers at the Windsor Riverfront spirit station encouraged runners at the Detroit Free Press / Flagstar Bank Marathon.

DETROIT (10/24/04) - It was a day for the record books at the 27th annual Free Press/Flagstar Bank International Marathon.

A record 10,318 people entered the day's events, which included the marquee marathon plus a half-marathon, 5K and five-person marathon relay. It seems long ago, but in fact it was only a few years back, when participation was less than 2,000 and the marathon was on the verge of dying from civic and general neglect.

Elena Orlova, 34, of Russia, earned a record $10,000 payday by running two hours, 34 minutes and 16 seconds to break the previous women's record by 39 seconds.

Orlova, who said she came here to break the record, had only one problem: having to run by herself for the last half of the race. She won $5,000 for finishing first, $2,000 for breaking 2:40, and $3,000 for breaking the record set by Canada's May Allison in 1994.

"I felt good the whole way," said Orlova, who set a personal record running six minutes faster than her Akron Marathon-winning time three weeks earlier.

"Next year, if I have competitors to push me, I will break the record again," she said.

Valentina Poltavska, 33, of the Ukraine, was second in 2:38:10. She too set a PR, improving on her 2:39 at the recent Quad Cities Marathon.

For the fifth straight year a Kenyan, Joseph Nderitu, 30, won the men's race, crossing in 2:19:15. He pulled away from Audrey Gordeyev, 31, of the Ukraine, and Jacob Kirwa, 28, of Kenya, at the 20-mile mark and was never threatened.

"I live at 8,000 feet above sea level, so this is my weather," said Nderitu, who had come to the U.S. six weeks earlier to run the Toronto Marathon. He ran with a cold there and, disappointed by his performance, decided to stay on the continent and run Detroit for the first time.

Though the Kenyans have been known to run marathons just hard enough to win, Nderitu said he was challenged throughout, particularly by the wind and the long steep uphill on the Ambassador Bridge into Canada. This was no mere training run with a big check at the end.

"God, it was hard," said Nderitu. "This is one of the toughest courses I've ever run."

Gordeyev finished in second, 37 seconds back, while Kirwa faded to fifth, in 2:23:08.

Kyle O'Brien of Rochester Hills, Michigan Runner magazine's 2004 Male Runner of the Year and a member of the Hansons-Brooks running team, was the top American, finishing third in 2:20:21. Recent University of Michigan graduate Nick Stanko, of Ann Arbor, claimed fourth in 2:20:29.

Hansons-Brooks women's team member Leigh Daniel, 26, was third in her gender in 2:46:47, with teammate Jackie Rzepecki, 24, who faded a bit the last two miles, fourth in 2:48:01. Ann Stewart, 41, of Ann Arbor, a former champion, was fifth overall and the first master (over-40) runner.

"We were looking to run under 2:45, but I'm not disappointed," said Daniel, who improved on her previous best marathon time, last year in Chicago, by more than five minutes. "I had a few bad patches, but I was more prepared this year for how bad I'd feel. I knew you just have to push through it."

"I felt good until about mile 24, then I hit the wall," said a tired-but-happy Rzepecki, whose previous best was a 3:02.

The marathon drew 4,172 entries, just shy of the all-time record set in 1981. But the number may be misleading. When persons hoping to run the half-marathon learned it had closed its entries more than a month before the event, many entered the marathon instead, then went out and ran the half.

This created a monstrous headache for Ann Gault at the finish line as she tried to make sense of all the folks running impossibly-fast times.

The marathon course began outside Comerica Park, then went through Corktown and Mexican Town before heading over the bridge into Canada. It returned via the Windsor Tunnel for a jaunt around Belle Isle, and through Indian Village and Greektown. It finished at the 42-yard line inside Ford Field.

Tyler Byers, 22, an engineering student at the University of Arizona, was the first wheelchair racer, in 1:49:40, leading Edwin Figueroa of Commerce, Calif., by more than 19 minutes.

"I didn't know what to expect, but it was nice out there," said Byers, racing in Detroit for the first time as preparation for the upcoming New York City marathon. He overcame a flat tire just before midway.

"Today was a beautiful day. It was fun going over the river. The island was beautiful and so was that neighborhood (Indian Village) we went through after we came off the island," Byers said. "I was pleasantly surprised."

Tricia Downing, 35, of Denver, led the women wheelers in 2:54:09. Ian Rice, 30, of Pittsburgh was the top quadriplegic wheeler, in 2:20:40.

Krige Schabort, 41, a South African living in Atlanta and one of the top wheelchair racers in the world, decided to enter the hand-cycle division and won easily in 1:26:06. Runner-up Errol Marklein, 47, a German, had a good excuse for finishing a distant second in 1:31:38. A police car took him off course twice, with the officer having to make a phone call to figure out how to get him back on track.

"I spent $1,500 to get here from Germany," he said, "and they expect you to memorize the course. I ended up doing 28 miles."

Julie Bishop, 37, of Sturgeon Lake, Minn., was the first of two women hand-cyclers, in 1:57:51. Jennifer Hoffman, 37, of Harrison Township, finished in 2:31:34. She knocked 13 minutes off her first Detroit time two years ago.

"The roads were a lot smoother this year and the crowds were great. I feel fantastic," said Bishop, wearing the devil's number, 666, a week before Halloween. "I'm just glad it was my 14th marathon, not my 13th," she joked.

Kael Stratton, 35, of Lansing, won the men's 5K in 17:32, with Heather Kamps, 21, of Muskegon, first for the women in 19:40. Nearly 1,300 entered the 5K.

Patrick Lencioni, 39, of Ann Arbor, won the men's half-marathon, in 1:14:11, with Canadian Angela Plamondon, 38, leading the women in 1:25:45. About 2,900 entered the half.

Lencioni ran with Stanko, an Ann Arbor training buddy, for the first few miles. It was the first race he'd won this season. "When I got to 11 miles, I thought, 'Holy cow, I might win a race this year.'"

Dan Mulhern, husband of Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, was another winner, finishing his first marathon at age 46 in 4:00:49. Other winners included race director Pat Ball Dlugokinski, the City of Detroit and the Free Press, which had a bunch of top editors and management entered in one event or another, including publisher Carole Leigh Hutton and deputy managing editor Dave Robinson. For complete race results, visit michiganrunner.net/results/searchable.html. MR