A Report on the Women's Race
The top ten elite women finishers at this year's Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon went through the 10 kilometer mark together at 34:25, maintaining a 5:32 per mile pace. American Deena Drossin (wearing bib F1 at left) continued to run this pace to the finish line, putting an American in fifth place at 1:12:32. Drossin stated that she put in her best effort and ideally would have defended her half marathon title from 2001. But according to fourth place finisher Margaret Atodonyang of Kenya, the women's race broke open near the eight mile mark when Mexican Adriana Fernandez put on a strong surge and left all but one woman, Russian Tayana Khmeleva, behind her. Fernandez was too powerful to catch, Atodonyang commented; the Kenyan was not surprised, however, as she had raced earlier in the year against Fernandez.

Adriana Fernandez never faltered in the second half of the race; her pace dropped to 5:14 per mile over the final 3.1 miles and she finished more than one minute ahead of Khmeleva, winning in 1:10:21. Khmeleva ran 1:11:25 and Nuta Olaru settled for third with 1:11:49. Atodonyang crossed the finish line in fourth place at 1:12:03.

Drossin's time in 2001 was 1:10:08, but the high humidity in 2002 may have affected some runners - though no one complained.

Unlike the men's race, which was dominated by Kenyans, the women's competition had an international flavor with a Mexican, a Russian, two Romanians, three Kenyans, two Americans and South African Elena Meyer in the top ten. Sylvia Mosqueda (bib F18 above), third place finisher at this year's Credit Union Cherry Blossom Ten Miler, placed eighth in Virginia Beach with a time of 1:13:28 to add visibility to Americans in the women's field.

Deena Drossin ran her first marathon last autumn, capturing the Women's USA National Marathon Championship in New York City with a time of 2:26:58; her focus in training this summer has been for the upcoming LaSalle Banks Chicago Marathon in October. Men's Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon winner Paul Tergat will be facing off against American Khalid Khannouchi and others in the windy city. Women's winner Adriana Fernandez is traveling to Berlin for a marathon on September 29th. Fernandez won the New York City Marathon in 1999 (2:25:06) and recently returned to racing after a pregnancy.

The presence of long distance star Deena Drossin helped add some dazzle and enthusiasm to the musical extravaganza of the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. Bee Andrews, President of Tidewater Striders and a competitive local women's runner in southern Virginia, complimented event organizer Elite Racing for building support for running with the introduction of an event that makes front page sports news in the local paper, The Virginian Pilot. (In Friday's paper, reporter Vicki Friedman wrote a very good article on Deena Drossin and her running since last year's win. The story appeared right beneath an article on Matthews winning the quarterback job for the Washington Redskins. Running and pro football seldom come so close together.)

"We are proud and happy that they are here," Andrews noted of the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon after this year's run. She placed seventh in the women's 35-39 age division with a time of 1:34:29 and said she had fun running the course this year. Many of the 15,000 registrants would agree with her, despite the brief downpour of rain shortly before race time. The final mile of the course lies next to a beautiful sandy beach, where finishers can mingle after the finish line has been crossed. The Tidewater Striders assist the event with course certification, mile markers, and water stations, according to Andrews. The Tidewater Striders also provide experienced runners to pace groups through the run. The cooperative approach of Elite Racing and their ability to bring in high profile athletes make the event unique in southern Virginia. Club races typically have a couple hundred participants; Andrews joked that if she phoned Drossin to come race in southern Virginia, she would sound ridiculous and get a click at Drossin's end of the line. But with Elite Racing making the call, an invitation to visit southern Virginia is accepted by several world class athletes.

See results of the race.