The third time was supposed to be a charm for U.S. marathoner Carl Rundell at Sunday's Marine Corps Marathon that passes through Washington, DC and Arlington, VA.

Instead, the end result was similar to his two previous attempts at the nation's fourth largest and world's seventh largest marathon. Photo above: Ruben Garcia (left) and Carl Rundell at mile 4.

The former Hansons-Brooks runner and Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier experienced his own personal Groundhog Day of sorts, as Mexican Ruben Garcia again left the 38-year-old Rundell of Birmingham, MI at the 20 mile mark and strode to victory in 2:21:21.

In winning his second marathon this year - Garcia won the ING Miami Marathon in January (2:18:15) - Garcia, a corporal in the Mexican Navy, became only the second male to win back-to-back Marine titles, tying a similar feat by veteran U.S. marathoner Jim Hage in 1988-89.

Speechless
Laura Thompson (photo) of Boise, ID triumphed over the women's field in a most improbable fashion.

Her thoughts as she prepared for her fifth marathon were a marathon away from winning. She just wanted to finish another one of America's largest marathons and strike it from her list.

A staff attorney for a federal judge, the 31-year-old Thompson turned to running in 1997 to keep fit. She ran her first marathon in Portland, OR in 2000 and finished in 4:33:41. She followed that with New York City in 2002 (3:18:18, 141st place), Boston in 2003 (3:03:17, 51st place) and then Chicago in 2004, where she finally broke three hours - 2:58:24 - and her best finish in 36th place.

"This race was the last on my list of big ones to do," Thompson said after crossing the line first in 3:00:23 in disbelief. Her time was the second slowest winning time in race history to Jane Killon's 3:01:34 in 1978. "I just ran. I didn't have a plan. This is a complete surprise. I'm speechless."

Rundell should have been speechless, too, but he took his fate in good stride. He vowed to come back in 2008, skipping next year to compete in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in New York City next November.

"I'm not going to quit until I win this race," he stated moments after crossing the finish line and accepting a hug from his mother Hannelore.

Two years ago, Rundell was in the lead with three miles left but he succumbed to the heat and four runners overtook him. Last year, he matched Garcia stride for stride until they crested the ramp onto the 14th Street Bridge at mile 20, when Garcia slowly broke away and left Rundell some nine seconds back in the race's closest finish.

Garcia again hit the tape first - this time by a 3:02 margin, the sixth time a Mexican has been victorious in 31 runnings of the Marine's pride and joy distance event.

Turmoil in the Men's Race
Yet for more than 22 miles, it appeared that this year would be the first time a Kenyan won the only major marathon lacking a Kenyan champion in its history. With no prize money on the line, Jared Nyamboki, an affable 30-year-old elite runner from Kisii, Kenya, was focused not only on winning the race but breaking the 19-year-old event record of 2:14:01.

Nyamboki, who dominated at the Army Ten Miler and the Des Moines Marathon in the past three weeks, was out alone on record pace for 11 miles before slowing into the wind. With Garcia and Rundell again running nearly stride-for-stride, they trailed Nyamboki by more than 2:30 at the halfway mark.

Nyamboki still had a sizable lead of 1:20 at 20 miles, but a windy mile and a half later, Garcia swept right past the aching Kenyan. A mile later, Nyamboki dropped out, later explaining that a new gel he ingested on the course had greatly upset his stomach.

Under sunny, but windy conditions and 40 to 60 degree temperatures, a race record 20,979 runners finished the marathon.

Top Finishers in the 2006 Marine Corps Marathon

MEN
1) Ruben Garcia, Mexico City, Mexico, 2:21:21
2) Carl Rundell, Birmingham, MI, 2:24:23
3) Jose Miranda, Mexico City, 2:26:25 


WOMEN
1) Laura Thompson, Boise, ID, 3:00:23
2) Brenda Schrank, Winchester, VA, 3:02:35
3) Suzanne Himes, Virginia Beach, VA, 3:02:57 

Photo: Stuart Walker of Washington, DC relaxed after the race. For more information, see Marine Corps Marathon