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Here are results (and some of my observations) from the San Francisco marathon (run Sun, 6/23): Men: Danny Martinez, South Pasadena, CA 2:15:31 Bill Donakowski, El Sobrante, CA 2:16:26 Brad Hawthorne, Piedmont, CA 2:20:42 Steve McCormack, San Diego, CA 2:21:30 Sammy Rotich, Kenya 2:22:43 John Barbour, Atlanta, GA 2:23:48 Fredson Arap Mayiek, Los Angeles, CA 2:25:18 Gavin Sloan, Boulder, CO 2:25:42 David Steffens, Issaquah, WA 2:26:08 Lim Sun Taek, Korea 2:28:18 Women: Lesley Lehane, Chestnut Hill, MA 2:35:33 Ria van Landeghem, Belgium 2:37:11 Jane Welzel, Fort Collins, CO 2:37:57 Michele Bush-Cuke, Berrien Springs, MI 2:38:30 Janis Klecker, Minnetonka, MI 2:39:00 Christine Gibbons, Elmwood Park, NJ 2:45:49 Carrie Booth, Hermosa Beach, CA 2:46:58 Suzanne Morris, Leucadia, CA 2:48:50 Donna Troyna, Menlo Park, CA 2:50:32 Heather Tolford, Tillamook, OR 2:53:02 Prize money (same for the men and the women as far as I know): 1st: Mercedes 190 (35,000) 2nd: 7,000 3rd: 3,500 4th: 2,000 5th: 1,000 It was good marathon weather, overcast and cool (about 52 F), not too much wind (except for the start, which came across the Golden Gate bridge from Marin). The course began in Marin, came across the G.G. bridge (2 mi marker at the end of the bridge), followed the Bay to Breaker's course for a while, down Market St., up the Hayes street hill (the 10 mi marker), and through Golden Gate park. The course then went out along Sunset, around Lake Merced (20 mi marker) and back along the Great Highway (fronting the ocean), to finish up in G.G. park. Last year's winner, Niemczak, along with Rotich and Mayiek, took the race out quickly, hitting 10 mi in 51:26. The pace slowed at around 12 mi (I think they hit a 5:20 or 5:30 mi) and Martinez picked it back up and took the lead. Niemczak dropped out at around 13 mi and it soon became Martinez with a good lead over Donakowski. Martinez hit 17 mi in 1:27 something, followed by Donakowski, about 30 sec back. Further behind him were Mayiek and Hawthorne, but they weren't really in contention at this point. Martinez threw in a couple of sub-5:00 miles along Sunset (between 13 and 19 mi) which really spread out the leaders. Martinez was basically an unknown going into this race (I figured he would run well, see below) and the race announcers, especially Frank Shorter, were picking Donakowski as the winner, expecting Martinez to fold at any time. By 20 mi, Donakowski had pulled even with Martinez, they stayed that way until 21 when Martinez surged and started pulling away again. By 22 mi he had 5 seconds again, and by 24 mi it was clear he had the victory. The time is the 2nd fastest on this course, after Niemczak's 2:13:48 from last year. Danny is an old buddy of mine (we raced together in college) and I knew he was capable of a really good race. He was in great shape, doing 80 mi weeks with a 2 hour run and a day off, and was just really strong. This was only his 2nd marathon (he ran 2:25 in '87 in the old S.F. marathon, a different course; that was not a good race for him). He was shooting for 2:17 or 2:18 here, just trying to qualify for the Trials. He figured that would put him in the top 10 or top 5. We had a group of 5 guys driving along the course rooting for him and had a great time
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