Wind Causes Havoc At 3M; Wesley Keating, Herut Mandefro Post Victories

The goodie bag that runners in the 3M Half Marathon receive is unsurpassed for its useful, fun stuff. But the goodies that Mother Nature dished out on Sunday morning at 3M weren’t quite so welcome.

The tempest that blew in from the north on Saturday afternoon howled all night long and when the race was scheduled to begin at 6:45 a.m., the gusts were measured at well over 20 mph. That tempestuous wind which came down from the northwest proved especially problematical for the 3M race organization which received reports that some of its barricading (plastic traffic cones) had been blown all over North Austin.

APD blew the whistle and ordered all the blown barricading had to be replaced (and weighed down with sand) before the race would be allowed to start.

"In the interest of safety," said 3M race director Matt Fagan, "we had to comply with APD. We had no choice."

Fagan sent out crews to replace the blown cones which necessitated a 45-minute delay. Although race announcer Evil Evilsizer kept the sold out crowd of 5500 runners aware of the situation, the delay created all sorts of problems. The two toughest were most runners had shed their clothes, warmed up and got situated in the starting grid, anticipating the 6:45 start.

When the delay was announced, nobody quite knew how long it would be so most stayed put—and got cold. Some huddled together, while others retreated to their cars.

Andrew Middletown, the former UT runner who now lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, found a heated truck used by race officials and squeezed in with several other runners. They stayed warmed, but when the race finally got going there was only time for a brief warm up and many found their muscles had tightened and were beginning to cramp.

Others, like Keith Pierce of Cedar Park, just made do. "I was all geared up and ready to go," said Pierce who would finish seventh, "but I just rolled with the punches and made the best of it I could."

By the time 3M finally got underway about 7:30, the wind hadn’t dropped its intensity one bit. Which made for some tough running in the first couple of miles which was right into the teeth of the wind. There were some stretches that were aided by a tailwind and others where a crosswind was strong enough to blow some runners across the roads.

Wind be damned, Luke Watson came out smoking. The 29-year-old former Notre Dame star, fought the headwind by himself and blew through the first slightly uphill mile in about 4:40. After four miles (reached in 19:53) of solo running, Watson had a 20-second lead on a tightly bunched pack that included Wesley Keating, a former UT—Pan American star, Ethiopians Badu Merdessa and Abiyot Endalu with Middleton, who is from College Station and now trains under Greg McMillan in Flagstaff, hanging onto the back.

"I’ve raced against Luke a few times in cross-country while we were in college so I had some idea what to expect from him," said Keating afterward. "Early on, I just didn’t want him to get too big of a gap on us."

Between the fourth and fifth mile on Anderson Lane, Keating quickly began to close the margin on Watson and soon assumed the lead role with Merdessa, Endalu and Watson maintaining close contact. Watson was the first to let go and then Endalu. At 10 miles, just before the turn onto the two-mile Duval downhill, only Merdessa was within shouting distance of Keating.

But the Ethiopian could never make up the difference and Keating flew past DKR and then onto the final straightaway on Trinity to the finish in 1:03:22. Merdessa took second in 1:03:51 with Endalu third in 1:04:17. Middleton, who was using 3M as a tuneup for his second attempt at the marathon in Los Angeles in March, cruised into fourth in 1:04:48, ahead of Watson in 1:05:47. Shadrock Songak was sixth in 1:06:13.

First Austin-area runner was Keith Pierce in seventh in a PR of 1:06:33 which certainly certifies him as one of the favorites going into the Austin Marathon on February 14^th. Pierce has been—by far--the hottest runner in town since moving here last fall, winning the Cedar Perk 5-Miler, the Run for the Water 10-Miler and the Thundercloud Turkey Trot. He was the first American (fourth overall) at Dallas White Rock Marathon in December in a PR of 2:22:53.

"I was just hoping to run 1:08," said Pierce who is a teacher and cross-country coach at Vandegrift High School in Leander. "So I’m definitely pleased with how I ran today."

The masters men were led by 40-year-old Brad Seng who won a close duel in 1:09:46 with the ageless one—49-year-old Paul Zimmerman—who was just one second back. John Reich, 40, was third in 1:11:07, former Arizona State All American Mike Scannell, now 47, was fourth in 1:11:19 and 41-year-old Jeff Shelton of Buda was fifth in 1:12:10.

The women’s race wasn’t quite as competitive as the men’s race. The defending champion—Belaniesh Gebre of Ethiopia (1:11:17 last year)—was training in Flagstaff which was buried by a record 4 ½ feet of snow a few days ago and couldn’t make it out to Austin. That pretty much left the door open for Herut Mandefro, also of Ethiopia.

Aziza Aliyu of Ethiopia led right from the gun at the Gateway Shopping Center and tucked in among a group of men. But Aliyu was nursing a hamstring problem and the cold winter only aggravated it. She led for the first nine miles, but along North Loop (just before the 10^th mile), Mandefro assumed command for the first time.

Mandefro maintained a short lead coming down Duval and posted a time of 1:14:24 for a 10-second victory over her countrywoman. Claudia Camargo was third in 1:15:32.

First Austin-area woman was 27-year-old Nora Colligan who was 10^th in a 90-second PR of 1:21:32. "I’m very happy with the way I ran," said Colligan who is pointing for Boston. "I was just hoping to run around 1:22 so this was great."

The battle for women’s masters supremacy had a compelling race between 42-year-old Catherine Barrera and 45-year-old Cindy Salazar. Score one for Barrera who ran brilliantly to win in 1:26:03. Salazar, disappointed she didn’t break 1:27, was second in 1:27 on the nose. Jennifer Fisher, 42, was third in 1:27:55. Glenda Adams, 42, used steady pacing to take fourth in 1:29:13 and 2-year-old Kim McConnell held on for fifth in 1:29:15.

This was the fifth race in the six-race Austin Distance Challenge. The final race is February 14^th with the Austin Marathon and Half.