Kemei and Szabo Win Inaugural Millennathon 2000 Road Race Oakland, CA - Taking advantage of mild conditions and a flat, fast half marathon course, Kenya's Philip Kemei, 22, and Karolina Szabo, 38, of Hungary topped an enthusiastic field of about 1,300 runners at the inaugural Millennathon 2000 road race today. Kemei, won his U.S. road racing debut in 1 hour two minutes and 52 seconds. Szabo topped the women in 1:14:15. The road race, designed to celebrate the coming of the new millennium and the maturing of long distance running as a sport for everyone, included an accompanying 8K run/walk and races for kids. Szabo, a two-time Olympian, plus a large contingent of top U.S. women, used Millennathon as a major tune-up race for bids to represent their respective countries at this year's Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. American females are focusing their sights on the U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials that will take place in Columbia, South Carolina in just six weeks. Colorado's Libbie Hickman, who finished six seconds behind Szabo to capture second place, led this large group of U.S. Olympic aspirants. Oregon's Liz Wilson (1:14:23) and Rosa Gutierrez (1:14:37) of San Jose, CA finished third and fourth respectively. Szabo, however, was the surprise of the field after spending several years out of the spotlight. She overtook early leaders Christine Junkermann and Chris McNamara by four miles and never looked back. "I felt very good today, and thought the pace at that point was a little too slow for me," Szabo said, "so I decided to increase the pace a bit. I've gone through a couple of years of injuries, so this win was especially significant. It means I'm on the right road again towards making my third Olympic team." Hickman, 34, a leading contender to make the U.S. Olympic marathon team, was also pleased. "I'm ecstatic," said Hickman, who ran the fastest marathon time (2:28:34) among U.S. women last year. "I'm happy because I really haven't started any speed work yet. This was a perfect opportunity six weeks before the trials. That's why I think so many top American women were here." Californian Maria Trujillo de Rios (1:16:20) edged Kim Jones and Jane Welzel among master (40 years old and over) women. All three are also tuning for the marathon trials. In the men's race, '96 Olympian Charles Mulinga of Zambia led for about 10 kilometers. Kemei joined him for the next 5 kilometers before forging a 22 second gap over runner-up Mulinga by the finish line. Kenyan Patrick Kiptum was third, followed by first American Eddy Hellebuyck. Millennathon 2000, which attracted about 1,300 participants, awarded a $26,200 half marathon prize purse. In addition, the race served as the half marathon championship for the Pacific Association of USA Track and Field. (Top results follow.) ***** Millennathon 2000 Half Marathon (Pacific Association USA Track and Field Championship) January 16, 2000 Oakland, California Top Women 1 Karolina Szabo 1:14:15 Hungary $5,000 2 Libbie Hickman 1:14:21 USA/CO $3,000 3 Liz Wilson 1:14:23 USA/OR $1,000 4 Rosa Gutierrez 1:14:37 USA/CA $900 * 5 Kari McKay 1:15:12 USA/WA $500 6 Chris McNamara 1:15:21 USA/CO 7 Christine Junkermann 1:15:24 USA/CT 8 Jennifer Tonkin 1:15:59 USA/WA 9 Rosemarie Lagunas 1:16:10 USA/CA $100 * 10 Laura Lamena-Coll 1:16:15 USA/OR 11 Danuta Marczyk-Teschner 1:16:17 Poland 12 Maria Trujillo De Rios 40+ 1:16:20 USA/CA $900 * 13 Alisa Harvey 1:16:30 USA/VA 14 Kelly Keeler 1:16:38 USA/MN 15 Kim Jones 40+ 1:16:52 USA/CO $500 ...21 Jane Welzel 40+ 1:20:13 USA/CA $250 Top Men 1 Philip Kemei 1:02:52 Kenya $5,000 2 Charles Mulinga 1:03:30 Zambia $3,000 3 Patrick Kiptum 1:05:43 Kenya $1,000 4 Eddy Hellebuyck 1:06:28 USA/NM $750 5 Peter Tanui 1:06:35 Kenya $500 6 Christopher Ashield 1:08:38 USA/CA $150 * 7 Hector Delgado 1:09:18 Mexico $100 * 8 Brad Hawthorne 40+ 1:09:23 USA/CA $900 * 9 Ben Turman 1:09:31 USA/CA 10 Ivan Huff 40+ 1:09:31 USA/CA $550 * 11 Todd Rose 1:10:10 USA/CA 12 Jose Palalia 1:10:12 USA/CA 13 Bill Raitter 1:10:23 USA/CA 14 Jason Spong 1:10:39 USA/CA 15 Kevin Selby 1:11:16 USA/CA ...20 Richard Flores 40+ 1:12:15 USA/CA $250 * * - Includes Pacific Association/USATF Championship prize money (subject to verification of Pacific Association eligibility)
