Navigation
Herstory
Honda L.A. Marathon: American Amy Hastings Places Second (2:27:03) in Her Debut
By Toni Reavis (c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved.Used with permission.
Ethiopia’s Markos Geneti (2:06:35) and Buzunesh Deba (2:26:34) took home top honors at Sunday’s rainy, wind swept 26th Honda L.A. Marathon on March 20 in Los Angeles, CA. With temperatures in the mid-50s and rain falling, at times in torrential downpours that turned the streets to rivers of water, Geneti navigated the “Stadium to Sea” course in remarkable fashion, winning by nearly three minutes, smashing the event record by 1:49, and tying countryman (and world marathon record-holder) Haile Gebreselassie for number two on the all-time fastest marathon debut list. Only Kenyan Evans Rutto’s 2:05:50 (Chicago, 2003) has been faster. Behind Geneti came three Kenyan runners: Nicholas Kamakya (2:09:23), 2008 L.A. champion Laban Moiben (2:13:12), and two-time defending champion Wesley Korir (2:13:23). Deba’s victory came over debuting American Amy Hastings of the Mammoth Track Club, who finished just 29-seconds behind the Bronx-based Ethiopian.
Photo by www.photorun.net: Amy Hastings at the USA Half Marathon Championships; in Los Angeles, she ran the third fastest women's marathon debut in U.S. history.For their victories, Geneti and Deba both won $25,000 cash and a new Honda Insight EX sedan (MSRP: $23,100). Geneti also earned the $100,000 Challenge bonus, a prize that goes to the first runner of either gender to cross the finish line in Santa Monica.
As part of L.A.’s signature Gender Challenge, the professional women were given a 17:03 head start based on the personal best times of the fields. There were a scant 12 women in the elite field, but quickly three leaders emerged. American debutant Amy Hastings, the former NCAA 5000 meter champion out of Arizona State, led the group of three women. Tucking in behind Hastings were Buzunesh Deba, who had won both the Twin Cities and Cal International Marathons last fall, and pre-race favorite Mare Dibaba, twice a 2:25 marathoner in 2010.
While the women started out conservatively, hitting 10K in 35:42 (2:30 marathon pace), the men pressed hard out of Dodger Stadium and into downtown Los Angeles. Led by 2005 L.A. runner-up Ben Maiyo and fellow Kenyan Nicholas Kamakya, the men took an early advantage in The Challenge pacing. Needing to average 39 seconds per mile faster than the women to make up the 17:03 differential, they chopped double-digit seconds off every mile. The only question was whether they were attacking too fast, too early.
The three lead women remained in Hastings, Deba, Dibaba configuration as the rain came in a steady downpour. In mile nine with a pack of six men together, two-time men’s champion Wesley Korir missed his water bottle at the elite aid station, and went back to retrieve it. He lost precious distance, and it may have been an omen for his day. By 59 minutes, Geneti dispatched his final rival, Kamakya, and began putting distance on his competitors with every stride. Geneti's mile splits 11 to 15 were quick: 4:33, 4:34, 4:47, 4:36 & 4:28! Unfazed, Geneti passed halfway in 1:02:46, maintaining his electrifying pace. Just before the 20-mile mark, he surged past the three women, hitting that mark in 1:35:18, on pace for a 2:04:48 marathon.
Though he averaged just 5:02 per mile over the final 10K, Geneti was in total command as he broke the tape on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica, announcing himself as a new star in the sport.
Deba broke free of the determined Amy Hastings in mile 22, and held firm to win by 29 seconds. Dibaba finished a disappointed third in 2:30:25. It was an auspicious debut for Amy Hastings, the third fastest in U.S. history behind Kara Goucher’s 2:25:53 in New York (2008) and Deena Kastor’s 2:26:58 (New York, 2001).
26th Honda LA Marathon
Top Men
1) Markos Geneti (Ethiopia), 2:06:35*, $125,000#
2) Nicholas Kamakya (Kenya), 2:09:26, $12,500
3) Laban Moiben (Kenya), 2:13:12, $10,000
4) Wesley Korir (Kenya), 2:13:23, $5000
5) Jason Gutierrez (Colombia), 2:13:24, $2500
*event record (previous record, 2:08:24, Wesley Korir, 2009) and fastest marathon time in California
#includes $100,000 Marathon Challenge bonus
Top Women
1) Buzunesh Deba (Ethiopia), 2:26:34, $25,000
2) Amy Hastings (USA/AZ), 2:27:03, $12,500
3) Mare Dibaba (Ethiopia), 2:30:25, $10,000
4) Diane Nukuri (BDI), 2:33:47, $5000
5) Iulia Arkhipova (KGZ), 2:33:35, $2500
For full results see www.LAmarathon.com