News03 Oct 2011


Keflezighi and Kastor cruise to Half Marathon wins in San Jose

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Deena Kastor continues her comeback with a win at the San Jose Half Marathon (© Victah Sailer)

On a perfect autumn morning in the Bay Area, Olympic medallists Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor cruised to victory at the 2011 Dodge Rock ‘n’ Roll San Jose Half Marathon on Sunday (2).


Keflezighi delighted a cheering crowd of well-wishers along the 13.1-mile route by winning handily in 1:02:17 – over two minutes ahead of runner-up Giliat Ghebray (1:03:38).

 

Keflezighi led a lead pack of five runners through an opening mile of 4:35. At mile three the 2004 Olympic Marathon silver medallist picked up the pace, running a series of sub-4:40 miles to open up a sizable lead on the rest of the field, one he held all the way to the finish line.

 

“We ran a pretty quick first mile of 4:35 and then after that 4:50 and after that I picked it up,” said Keflezighi, who won for the third straight time in San Jose. “I was making good pace. It is kind of tough to run on your own sometimes, but I am happy to be here and get a good tune-up. It couldn’t have been any better. A lot people were cheering ‘Go Meb’ and it was just awesome. My Mom is here and my brother lives here, a lot of the people are aware of what I have done and it’s nice to have the course coming back with the crowd. Running back the energy was awesome.”

 

It paid off in a solid tune-up for the 36-year-old Keflezighi, who also won the 2009 ING New York City Marathon - the first American do so in 27 years. His time tied Mo Trafeh as the second fastest American Half Marathon of the year.

 

“I run to win, which means challenge myself and don’t hold back. It was good today,” added Keflezighi, who is preparing for the ING New York City Marathon in November. “I feel like I gave my best effort to be able to keep going, stay healthy and finish strong. People have different goals and different aspirations to go and with 10,000 out here running it’s awesome, and it’s awesome to see people fit and strong and it was a beautiful California weather day.”

 

As much as the spectators enjoyed Keflezighi’s victory, they also were treated to a comeback performance from Deena Kastor, the only American woman to ever break 2:20 in the Marathon, who won the women’s race in 1:12:23.

 

“It was just awesome,” said Kastor, who is coming back from maternity leave after giving birth to her daughter, Piper, in February. “San Jose really came out and showed their true colors today - the communities that we ran through, the neighborhoods everyone came out in their front yards cheering on all of us runners. It was really great to have everyone out here supporting the race this morning.”

 

She continued: “I thought I could run around 1:11 or 1:12 today and I felt good out there. It didn’t take too much out of me so it will be good to get back into training this week and use this as a stepping stone for the Olympic Trials in January.”


Dan Cruz (organisers) for the IAAF


Leading Results -

Men:

1. Meb Keflezighi, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 1:02:17

2. Giliat Ghebray, Union City, CA, 1:03:38

3. Sergio Reyes, Palmdale, CA, 1:04:20

 

Women: 

1. Deena Kastor, Mammoth Lakes, CA, 1:12:23

2. Clara Peterson, San Anselmo, CA, 1:15:23

3. Brooke Wells, San Francisco, 1:16:15


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