International flavor at Denver Marathon

By Angie Mudd, Special to the Rocky

Published October 19, 2008 at 10:43 a.m.

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The 2008 Denver Marathon took off from Civic Center at 7 a.m. Sunday. The race also wound through Washington, Cheesman and City parks and skirted the Pepsi Center and Coors Field before finishing at the starting line.

Photo by Photos By Javier Manzano / The Rocky

Almost 8,000 runners participated in the marathon, half-marathon and marathon relay at Sunday's 2008 Denver Marathon, which began and ended at Civic Center in downtown Denver.

Basweti, center

Olaru, crossing the finish line

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It was neither the Olympics nor a record-setting day for Romanian Nuta Olaru and Kenyan Jynocel Basweti.

Yet their respective victories in the third Denver Marathon on Sunday were nothing short of two personal triumphs.

While Basweti won his second men's marathon in just three weeks, completing the 26.2-mile course in 2 hours, 22 minutes, 13 seconds, Olaru's training session throughout the city turned into a victory just short of the Colorado record. The 38-year-old Romanian and Longmont resident won the women's marathon in 2:42:18.

Olaru, 38, got emotional after the race even though her credentials made her a clear favorite. Olaru is a world-class distance runner who has competed in the World Championships and the 2004 Olympics in Athens, where she finished 13th in the marathon.

But she failed to earn a spot with Romania in the Beijing Olympics as Romanian Olympic officials selected the three athletes with the top three marathon times this year. Instead, Olaru had to stay home and watch her Romanian teammate and sometimes training partner who lives in Erie - Constantina Tomescu-Dita - win the gold medal.

"I ran in the Boston Marathon and ran very bad, and so my time wasn't good enough," said Olaru, who finished seventh in the April event with a time of 2:33:56. "It was maybe a mistake because I ran in Boston, and Boston is very tough and I didn't feel good, and my time wasn't fast enough.

"I was happy for Constantina, but yes, that was hard for me to watch."

While Olaru wasn't surprised to win Sunday, she said she was startled when Judy Kiplimo took the lead so early. Halfway through the race, Olaru was more than two minutes behind.

"Halfway, I was 2:30 behind her, and at the 20-mile mark I made my push and passed her," said Olaru, who fell short of the Colorado marathon record of 2:41:05 set in Boulder by Japan's Masako Chiba in 2004. "I was surprised at two and three miles that she was running so fast. But in my mind, I said, 'Don't worry, I will push when I'm halfway.' "

Kiplimo finished second in 2:45:11 and Lakewood resident Patty Rogers was third in 2:54:27.

Basweti, 21, won his second Quad Cities Marathon in Illinois on Sept. 28 and decided just three weeks ago to come to Colorado for the first time and try the Denver Marathon.

"I said, 'I need to come here and see how this is,' " Basweti said.

Basweti, who trains in New Mexico, ran with training partners Richard Kimeli and Jonathan Ndambuki for the first 10 miles before he broke away from the pack. Kimeli finished second in 2:23.54 and Ndambuki - last year's Denver Marathon champion - finished third in 2:24:53.

"I was leading at about mile 7 and I was feeling good because I just knew," Basweti said. "But by mile 10, they dropped, so I was leading."

With all of the 7,964 participants from the marathon, half-marathon and four-person relay event running together, Lakewood resident Joel Hamilton really had no idea where he stood in the half-marathon.

And when he made his move with three miles remaining, he passed Josephat Keino and the pacing crew let Hamilton know he was officially the leader.

Hamilton completed the course in 1:10.40, and Keino held on for second in 1:11.29.

"I was surprised when I saw him (Keino) that he was in the half, because I was told I was the front half-(marathon) guy," said Hamilton, 23, who just graduated from the Colorado School of Mines and is a 2003 graduate of Liberty High School in Colorado Springs. "At City Park, there's a horseshoe, and I saw he was a half-(marathon) runner, and so I made sure I caught him."

Littleton resident Loring Watkins, 25, knew exactly where she stood in her half-marathon race, but said she didn't expect to claim the victory.

"Yes, I was surprised to win," said Watkins, who ran 1:24:00. "I knew I wanted to do a half-marathon this fall, and after looking at the schedule, it was a good time for me."

RESULTS

MARATHON

Men

1, Jynocel Basweti, Santa Fe, 2:22:13; 2, Richard Kimeli, Santa Fe, 2:23:54; 3, Jonathan Ndambuki, Santa Fe, 2:24:53; 4, Peter Biwott, Aurora, 2:33:58; 5, James McGown, Sidney (Neb.), 2:34.52; 6, Justin Zahlelr, St. Louis (Mo.), 2:43:20; 7, Daniel Verdi, Rochester (N.Y.), 2:44:35; 8, Oscar Ponce, Wheat Ridge, 2:45:49; 9, Ryan Herzog, Denver, 2:46:07; 10, Tristan Mitchell, Centennial, 2:46:10.

WOMEN

1, Nuta Olaru, Longmont, 2:42:18; 2, Judy Kiplimo, Santa Fe, 2:45:11; 3, Patty Rogers, Lakewood, 2:54:27; 4, Amanda Nilsen, Denver, 3:00:18; 5, Jen Johnson, Colorado, 3:06:14; 6, Sara Kadlec, Boulder, 3:08:40; 7, Anneliese Schneider, Wheat Ridge, 3:08:53; 8, Marisa Keefe, Littleton, 3:13:15; 9, Sara Whitis, Gillette (Wyo.), 3:14:44; 10, Jenna Kay, San Francisco (Calif.), 3:16:10.

HALF MARATHON

MEN

1, Joel Hamilton, Lakewood, 1:10:40; 2, Josephat Keino, Denver, 1:11:29 3, Ewen North, Boulder, 1:12.56; 4, Nicholas Mockeridge, Northglenn, 1:13:00; 5, Kevin Akers, Boulder, 1:14:01; 6, Daniel Kenney, Denver, 1:14:33; 7, Jeremy Schwartz, Boulder, 1:16:18; 8, Dan Ruge, Denver, 1:17:22; 9, Mike Callor, Centennial, 1:17:23; 10, Todd Straka, Boulder, 1:17:53.

WOMEN

1, Loring Watkins, Littleton, 1:24:00; 2, Rachel Foss Viele, Vail, 1:25:42; 3, Karen Melliar-Smith, Denver, 1:25:44; 4, Ashlee Nelson, Colorado, 1:25:44; 5, Allison Krausen, Edwards, 1:26:11; 6, Sarah Pizzo, Lakewood, 1:26:35; 7, Darby Warr, Denver, 1:26:48; 8, Nicole Chyr, Englewood, 1:28:09; 9, Shannon Meredith, Colorado, 1:28:23; 10, Jessica Durrant, Boulder, 1:28:29.

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