Manchester City Marathon a Bronx Tale
By MIKE CULLITY
New Hampshire Union Leader
Monday, Nov. 2, 2009 Share on Facebook
MANCHESTER – On Saturday, four Ethiopian runners from the Bronx piled into a friend's rented Pontiac G6 and drove north for the Manchester City Marathon/Half Marathon.
Yesterday, all four went home with a victory.
In the men's marathon, 25-year-old Fikadu Lemma outlegged Dover's Scott Rowe by nearly five minutes, winning in a course-record 2 hours, 23 minutes and 46 seconds. And in the women's marathon, 25-year-old Dirbe Hunde beat Marie Strouse of Orono, Maine, by more than 11 minutes, finishing in 2:55:17.
Bado Worku Merdessa, 21, won the men's half marathon by 11 seconds over Joseph Koech of Chelmsford, Mass., while 24-year-old Aziza Aliyu took the women's half marathon, edging Jeannette Seckinger of Somerville, Mass., by three seconds.
Each marathon winner earned $1,500, while the half marathon winners took home $1,000.
Three runners cross the finish line of yesterday's Manchester City Half Marathon. (JOSH GIBNEY)
Lemma, who finished seventh in the Baltimore Marathon three weeks ago, began distancing himself from his competitors at the 16-mile mark.
"It was the tightest marathon race I've ever run," said Rowe, the 35-year-old winner of the inaugural Manchester City Marathon in 2007. "(Lemma) was running smart. He was tucking behind us and putting in some surges. ... I tried to put some surges on the hills, because that was my strong point. He was just in better shape than me." Rowe finished in 2:28:09, narrowly missing his personal marathon record of 2:27:51, which he set in winning the 2007 race. Titus Mutinda, a 44-year-old from Lowell, Mass., was third at 2:33:55.
Women's marathon champion Hunde broke from the pack early. Winner of the 2005 Dubai Marathon, she led comfortably by the five-mile mark and became the first woman to post a sub-three-hour time in Manchester.
"I never even saw her," said Christin Doneski of Hopkinton, last year's marathon winner, who finished third yesterday (3:07:10). Runner-up Strouse, a 24-year-old graduate student at the University of Maine running in only her second marathon, finished at 3:06:30.
The women's half marathon was the day's tightest battle. Aziza, who runs for the Westchester Track Club, sprinted to the finish to defeat Seckinger, a 27-year-old Boston Athletic Association runner who won the Hartford Marathon three weeks ago.
Aziza passed Seckinger at the 13-mile mark after lurking behind her for most of the race.
> Official Manchester City Marathon/Half-Marathon Web site
> Coolrunning.com: Official results
"She just sat on my shoulder the whole way," Seckinger said. "I tried to fight it, but I just didn't have the same speed as her." Aziza finished in 1:17:44 to Seckinger's 1:17:47. Sheri Piers, a 38-year-old runner from Falmouth, Maine, finished third at 1:19:26.
Men's half marathon winner Merdessa, who runs for New York's West Side Runners, spent much of the race matching strides with Koech, a 40-year-old Kenyan, before pulling away in the last mile. Merdessa finished at 1:09:45, while Koech ran 1:09:56.
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Actually the race was well organized and i thank Mary the race director together with race organizers and the security for making sure the race sailed through.
The weather too was quite okey and the spectators who lined up on the way charing us give us automatic strength,thanks to people of Manchester.
Looking forward to participate again next year 2010 by Gods will.
bye
- joseph koech, Acton MA
Hey Kevin, Portsmouth.... think we should change the Olympics too?
- Jayne, Goffstown
Nice finish line picture of the marathon but why aren't the three women identified with their numbers clearly shown?
Doesn't make sense.
- RG, Manchester
thank you manchester for the marathon.
perhaps they could go out to massabesic
circle and then across the 28 bypass to
wellington and derryfield park and over
to the drop down to elm instead of the
short streets. just an idea. and, M@, pls
just ignore Kevin. he is running a different race than you. i have always
run against myself, not boys vs girls or
any other class. a marathon is TOUGH.
- bradford, nashua
Courses run on open roads are asking for trouble. I had a car get w/in feet of me yesterday - thought I was gonna get hit. For the first 7 miles, thought the course was a 5-star by the end it was a 1-star.
Re-route onto closed roads or find a trail to run it on.
Kevin?? Not worth a response/reply
- Mike, Arlington, VA
Just want to say this was one of the most organized marathons I've run. Many thanks to all the police, volunteers, and directors for keeping us safe. There was an area around Mile 17 (I think) where we had to cross through traffic on a main street. I had no problems with cars letting me go, but I saw other runners who encountered a few issues with drivers. Other than that, a beautiful day with gorgeous scenery...a great day for a run!
- Marianne Morgan, Pawcatuck, CT
M@, Bow, NH - Can you tell us where you saw the traffic accident? We haven't heard about that and will look to beef up traffic control in that area. Pls email to: manchestermarathon@yahoo.com
Many thanks for participating- hope you had fun running.
- Marathon Director, Manchester, NH
I ran the half yesterday and I just wanted to thank the city and the Manchester Police in particular for doing such a great job with traffic control, and also to all the volunteers that made this race happen. It was a beautiful day for a race- if only there hadn't been so many hills, it would have been perfect!!
- Kristen Burden, Manchester
It was a great day, and a terrific race! Well done, Manchester!
- David, Manchester
I ran a leg of the relay and the weather was perfect. While running I was about 10ft away from a traffic accident due to poor traffic management. Maybe we can get the course onto more closed roads.
@Kevin: That comment is obviously a troll.
- M@, Bow, NH
Hey, UL, what's the possible reason that you have a big picture of 3 people finishing the race - ALL with clear, visible numbers, but no identification of those runners? Doesn't make sense. Great jubilation photo and no ID's? Dumb, dumb, dumb.
- RG, Manchester
I think it is sexist that men and women have different races. I think it is high time that the women and men compete in the SAME race, it is only fair - equality you know...
- Kevin, Portsmouth, NH
congrats to all the runners......... I want to say a special congrats to TJ Stevens.... he ran the full marathon in Afghanistan carring the American Flag and a rifle in 93 degrees weather.........again congrats TJ.........Danielle you must be so proud.........it was great seeing you and Theo
- Donna, Manchester NH