Navigation
New Englanders Take National Marathon Titles; Ethiopians Win Half
By Jim Hage
March 21, 2009
Washington, DC
For the Washington Running Report
Patrick Moulton (#13) dethroned the only winner the National Marathon has ever known, and Jeannette Seckinger kicked her way to the women's title, capping a New England sweep of the 4th National Marathon on March 21. Moulton, who along with his twin brother Casey is an Olympic trials marathon qualifier, won in an event record 2 hours 21 minutes 18 seconds. Seckinger ran a personal-best 2:48:39 to win the women's title by five seconds.
"Early in the race, [the lead pack] was surging and I didn't want to go with them," Moulton said. "I wasn't feeling the best, but I never gave up, so I was pleased with that."
Three-time defending champion Michael Wardian (backwards cap in photo), from Arlington, surrendered the lead to Moulton at Mile 23, and a few miles later surrendered his title as well. After falling behind Kenyans David Cheremei (#6) and Solomon Too, Wardian rallied in the closing miles to finish second in 2:22:15, his best National Marathon time.
"I'm not disappointed at all," Wardian said. "My hamstring gave me a little trouble at the end, but it is what it is. . . . I passed a couple of guys in the last few miles, and I was hoping Pat would run out of gas, too, but he didn't."
Moulton, from Providence, RI, came to the race well aware of Wardian's hometown advantage. "I have a lot of respect for him," Moulton said. "Even after I passed him, he hung tough. Once I had the lead, I didn't look back. Well, maybe once or twice."
Seckinger, who lives just outside of Boston and is Moulton's Boston Athletic Association teammate, made her move within sight of the finish line and after her coach exhorted her from the crowd, "Remember your workouts!"
"I knew I could close," Seckinger said, "but I don't have a lot of leg speed. I passed [eventual runner-up Elena Orlova] and she didn't fight back."
(In photo at right, Michelle McCreary (25) finishes fifth in the marathon with 2:54:23.)
Orlova (39) hails from Russia but has lived and trained in Gaithersburg for the past several years. She too lacked confidence in her kick, and tried to pull away with a mile to go. She opened a small gap--"It was a gamble," Orlova said through an interpreter--but gave Seckinger hope when she looked back.
Muluye Gurma, who finished second as part of the Ethiopian contingent at the St. Patrick's Day 8K on March 15, ran 2:49:25 to take third in the marathon.
In photo below, Hirut Mandefro (#35) cruises between 13th best marathoner Jason Mayer and the runner-up in the half, teen sensation Carolyn Komen.
Gurma's training partner, Hirut Mandefro, ran an event record 1:15:36 (bettering Samia Akbar's 2008 time of 1:16:31) to add a win in the half marathon to her St. Patrick's Day title. Her male counterpart at St. Patrick's Day, Demesse Tefera, took the men's half-marathon title in an event record 1:05:15.
Washingtonian Chris Raabe (30) took second place for the second consecutive year, running 1:06:07 and improving his time by 14 seconds.
The world's fastest mayor, D C's own Adrian Fenty, (in photo below) lopped nearly 15 minutes off the PR he set at last year's race, running 3:25:46 and closing in on a Boston qualifier.
A record 2,041 marathoners and 4,142 half marathoners completed the races.
