After ending up in the hospital when he collapsed past the 20-mile mark of the March 20 Shamrock Sportsfest Marathon, Kenyan Ibrahim Limo was conservative in his race tactics at the Pomoco Group Running Crab Half Marathon April 17 in Hampton, VA.

Limo's uncle is three-time Boston Marathon winner Ibrahim Hussein, so he should have been able to conquer the marathon distance. The problem was arriving from Kenya just a couple days before the Shamrock race, and not being able to eat well or adjust to the time change (he was diagnosed with very low blood sugar at the hospital).

Limo, based out of Cary, NC, has now settled down. He was fourth in the Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K a week after Shamrock in 29:36, and was the race favorite at the Hampton Coliseum race. A pack of five broke away quickly from the rest, with Limo, fellow Kenyan Sammy Nyamongo of Atlanta, GA, Kevin Taylor of Raleigh, NC, and local stars Michael Mann of Hampton, and John Piggott of Williamsburg. Around the six-mile mark, Mann felt good and surged a bit, saying "Maybe I could steal this race. I pushed a little harder, and that's when we dropped John [Piggott]." Limo, who had settled in the back of the lead pack, without any turns at the front, and the other two quickly responded. The foursome then continued together down Chesapeake Avenue, the windiest section of the course. Nyamongo surged and briefly dropped Mann, but Mann forced himself back in the pack, realizing that running solo into the wind would be suicidal.

The next move came at the eight-mile sign (near the end of the Chesapeake Avenue stretch), with Limo darting from the back with the definitive move. Nyamongo went with Limo. Taylor tried to keep pace, managed to break Mann, but soon lost contact with the top two Kenyans. A mile later, Nyamongo (who was tired from driving eight hours the day before from Atlanta to Hampton), dropped back, and the final order was set.

Limo (who has a PR of 1:05 at altitude) went from around 5:20 pace for the first eight miles to around 4:50 pace the final five, and cruised to a 1:07:27 win, 1 1/2 minutes ahead of Nyamongo (1:08:58), who held off Taylor (1:09:11). Mann had his best half marathon since his PR 1:09:16 at the 1999 Philadelphia Half Marathon, placing fourth (1:10:25). The top four earned $600-400-200-150, respectively, with Mann getting a $200 bonus as the first Virginia resident. Piggott ($125 for fifth, plus $100 as second Virginia resident) was two minutes back in 1:12:31.

In contrast to the men's race, the women's division was decided from the first few yards. Despite some pre-race hamstring tenderness, Anna Pichrtova (of Waynesboro and the Czech Republic) was the first woman from the start, and had to run solo for most of the race (she was 8th overall in the race), finishing in an impressive 1:15:40. Pichrtova has qualified for the Olympic Marathon for the Czech Republic (with a 2:35:12 at 2004 Los Angeles Marathon in early March), and will return home in May to train for the Olympics. Almost seven minute back was Amanda Tate of Durham, NC (1:22:32) with masters runner Janice Reilly, 42, of Cary, NC third (1:23:17).

There was a total of 721 entrants between the two races, with 438 finishing the half marathon and 201 finishing the 5K.