SAN ANTONIO – (November 14, 2010) – More than 27,000 entrants competed in ideal running conditions at the 2010 Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon & ½ Marathon benefiting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure on Sunday. While participants arrived from all 50 states and 18 countries, it was the Texas athletes who dominated the leader board vying for statewide bragging rights at the third “Texas Showdown”.
At the third race edition, Austin’s Scott MacPherson finished first overall in the half-marathon at 1 hour, 4 minutes, 27 seconds, nearly a minute faster than last year’s showdown winner. MacPherson, 23, was an All-American cross country runner at Arkansas and now trains with Team Rogue Elite, a training group based in Austin coached by Steve Sisson.
”The pace was pretty honest and I wanted to keep it that way, wanted to run as steady as possible during the race. The plan was to run consistently and I think I did that,” said MacPherson, who was making his half-marathon debut. “This was my first Rock ‘n’ Roll and it was cool, my sister ran in Phoenix and she was telling me about the bands and atmosphere so I was looking forward to that and it certainly didn’t let me down.”
MacPherson was joined on the podium by teammates Darren Brown and Erik Stanley finishing second and third. Brown clocked 1:05:45 with Stanley right behind at 1:05:57. The top three runners ran personal bests, leading five men under 67-minutes. Both Brown and Stanley were NCAA All-Americans at Texas and have run under four minutes for the mile.
Molly Pritz, who runs with the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project in Rochester Hills, Mich., won in 1:12:14, almost four minutes faster than runner-up Allison Macsas of Austin. The winning time was 6 minutes, 2 seconds faster than 2009. Both women ran PRs.
”I felt good, the first mile was a little slow, but after that I warmed up into it and went,” said Pritz, who was also making her Rock ‘n’ Roll race debut. “The fans were great, it was awesome to have everyone cheering and the course was fast and flat so you cannot ask for more than that.”
Edward Tabut of Kenya crossed the finish line in 2:17:04 to win the marathon. Countryman Paul Ngeny was only four seconds behind Tabut at the 20-mile split, but Tabut, 27, was able to power through the final 6.2 miles and take the title. Ngeny finished second in 2:21:57, while Keith Pierce, 30, of Cedar Park, Texas was third in 2:23:16.
Pierce, who won the Austin Marathon earlier this year, did win the Texas Showdown. The three-time Cowtown Marathon winner is a graduate of Rice University, where he ran track with a PR of 3:46 for 1500 meters.
Everlyne Lagat of Kenya handily won the women’s marathon in 2:42:45. She is the sister of Bernard Lagat, 2009 world champion at 1500m and 5000m, as well as a two-time Olympic 1500m medalist and multi-American record holder. San Antonio residents Elizabeth Malesich and Emily Loeffler crossed the finish line in second and third place in 2:53:10 and 2:54:19 respectively. By also winning the Texas Showdown, Malesich, a graduate of University of Texas San Antonio where she ran track, took home the biggest purse of the day ($3750).
The biggest cheers from the finish line crowd came for the veterans rehabbing at Brook Army Medical Center. Winning the handcycle marathon was Capt. Ryan Miller (2:02:12) from Brooklyn, N.Y. edging out Specialist Steven Evans (2:03:19) of Los Altos, Calif. Winning the wheelchair half-marathon was William Pritchard (1:16:31), who is a program manager in the Air Force.
More than 27,000 runners toed the start line of the event, which marked the first year of a new downtown start area on the corner of Alamo and Market Street. The 2010 event also included a 2-person half-marathon relay and benefited Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
The 2011 Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon & ½ Marathon is set for Sunday, November 13. For full results, photos, videos and more visit Competitor.com.