2001 Los Angeles Marathon

Report by: Eric Barron

The gods must have felt bad about last year's deluge as they mercifully spared most of the 20,000-plus runners at the 2001 Los Angeles Marathon the rain of last year, the rain of the last two weeks, and the rain that fell about six hours after the start of this year's race. Of course, some things did not change from last year, and the hills and east wind were back to ensure that the L.A. Marathon never be confused with a fast course.

As for performances, the general trend had the women of TCLA making smart decisions, running well-paced races, and garnering strong finishes. Rikako Takei, training for Boston, chose to back off her normal marathon speed, but still ended up as the 29th woman overall, and fourth in her age division. Also placing high in the standings, and setting a personal best, Nicole Scheunemann ran a perfectly paced race and finished as the 50th woman overall (and seventh in her age division). Without a personal best, but taking advantage of a new age group and her daughter's pacing, Peggy Sauve-Enriquez placed eleventh in her division. Masami Fukuhara made her wise choices leading up to the marathon. She passed on marathons earlier in the year because she felt she had not sufficiently recovered from a knee injury. Then, several days before this race, Masami ran the last five miles of the course for confidence, and it worked because she, too, set a personal best.

Elizabeth Sutton was not quite so happy with her time, but she still had a smile for those around at the finish. Just behind her, and much more excited, Tayo Balogun and Laura Davis saw their months of training pay off with sub-four-hour finishes. And shortly behind these two, Kim Brettler was another woman to run an evenly paced race. Susan Rendell also had a great race, not necessarily measured by time, but by the rewarding feeling one gets when rising to the great challenge that any marathon presents.

Of course, not all the women got the results they wanted. Mina Kim had a tough race, but it is rare that the first time one runs this distance it turns out well (and if it is any consolation for Mina, Nick looked no better than she did at the finish). About 10 minutes later, Michelle Figueiredo crossed the line, with Elizabeth Farnan-Flynn just behind her. Finally, Jessica Risko is now a marathon veteran, and though she was heard cursing Lawrence and Terence during the closing miles, all was forgiven soon after. (Ellen Kukuchka would have made it fourteen TCLA women to finish, but knee problems got the better of her, and she wisely called it a day around 18 miles.)

Now, let us turn to the proud, foolish males of the species. The last words Nick Rattray heard from his coach before the race were, "Whatever you do, don't go out any faster than 6:15." But, hey, maybe runner knows best, and he held a 6:10 pace through the first 10K. Around 12 miles, however, muscle cramps set in and he battled them for much of the remainder of the race. Still, breaking three hours is nothing to be disappointed about, particularly as this was Nick's first marathon. Next to cross the line for TCLA was Tyrone Black. For those of you wondering where Tyrone has been, one look at him could tell you he has spent a little, no, make that a lot of time in the gym.

It was not as though the men did not try to be smart. Several of the men ran together, hoping to pull each other along. Blair Tarr and Clarence Smith looked good through the half, but perhaps the several marathons in the past six months caught up with them, and they faltered in the second half (one good thing to come of this is Clarence's promise made to the world seven miles into the race that he would not run another marathon for at least five months). Likewise, Paul Anderson's legs could not have been too fresh for this race, though he will probably be at it again sooner than any of the rest of us could be. Schulyer Havens also set out with his Legger pace group, but his energy fizzled, as did Mike Whitemiller's.

Fortunately, some of the men had decent races. John Mouser ran a fairly paced race, and Dave Dougherty was looking almost chipper at the finish. Mike Kukuchka was also happy with his time given his recent comeback from an IT band injury. Just behind Mike, Dan Manns finished his Legger pace leader duties for the year. Finally, Tim Petersen knew better than to try to race with his many recent marathons, so he jogged the course with a friend who could use his help. (Bob Mercier would have made it thirteen TCLA men to finish, but calf cramps got the better of him, and he wisely called it a day around 19 miles.)

Recognition should also go to those TCLA'ers who rousted themselves from bed on a gray Sunday to cheer on the runners (and maybe even run a few miles with them), including Amy Aukstikalnis, Brian Bartholomew, Stephanie Cahn, John Daly, Ogie Espinosa, Josh Flynn, Catherine Hackney, Julie Kriger (who, before the cheering began, ran a 24:59 5K), John Moraytis, Brian Panosian, Derek Schmidt, Lawrence Spear, Jim Spear, Sam Spencer, Wenise Wong, and Terence Young.