Russian Twins Tie for First at BY RICK PLATT WILLIAMSBURG, VA--It was a European sweep at the 25th annual Anheuser-Busch Colonial Half-Marathon on Sunday, February 22. Russian twins Dmitry and Aleksander Kapitonov, 35, based out of Gaithersburg, MD, had an easy time in the men's race, running together the entire way and crossing the finish line in 1:08:07. Anna Pichrtova, 30, of the Czech Republic, but based out of Wayneboro, won her third consecutive title in the women's division with an impressive 1:16:08, equaling the second-fastest time in race history. Pichrtova has both the race and course records with her 1:15:02 from the 2002 Colonial Half. The 1:16:08 was the same time that Inge Schuurmans of Boulder, CO ran in the 1994 Colonial Half. That time is the record for the previous Colonial Parkway/Route 199 course. Due to traffic concerns on Route 199 (the Williamsburg bypass), the course was changed to the considerably hillier and slower Carter's Grove Country Road/Kingsmill course in 1998. The half-marathon, as well as the accompanying 3-mile run, finishes inside William and Mary Hall. There were 1,171 finishers in the half-marathon and 235 finishers in the 3-mile. Michael Wardian, who had run the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon two weeks earlier in 2:22:40 (33rd place), then had a 23-mile long run the day before Colonial, was third overall in 1:09:22. For the women, Jane Maxwell, 23, of Charlottesville came from behind to catch Casey Smith, 24, of Arlington for second place (1:18:46 to 1:18:52). Maxwell was the Atlantic Coast Conference 10,000-meter champion from 2003, and recently completed her collegiate eligibility with the fall 2003 cross-country season for the University of Virginia. Alison Holinka, 25, of Chapel Hill, NC, the last runner to beat Pichrtova at Colonial (Holinka won the 2001 race in 1:17:34), had breathing problems throughout due to bronchitis, and had to drop out at 10 miles. Pichrtova planned to run the Los Angeles Marathon in two weeks, with the goal of breaking 2:37 and qualifying for the Czech team to the Athens Olympics. Dmitry Kapitonov will also be running the Los Angeles Marathon, while older brother (by 10 minutes) Aleksander will go to Boston in April. Prize money went three deep for the men and women--$500, 300, 200. Race age-group records were broken by Chuck Moeser, 52, of Sterling for men 50-54 (1:15:39, bettering his previous mark of 1:16:09 from last year), and by Sharon Giese, 61, of Richmond for women 60-64 (1:45:09, smashing by almost 12 minutes the previous mark of 1:57:02 by Tami Graf in 1997). Anna Pichrtova tied the race record for women 30-34 with her 1:16:08 (with Inge Schuurmans running that same time in 1994). Moeser, ninth overall in 1:15:39, was the Masters winner for the third time (1994, 2003, and 2004), while Cecilia Lutz, 43, of Reston was the Masters female winner with her 10th-place overall 1:29:36. MALE Half-Marathon Overall 1. Dmitry Kapitonov 1:08:07 3 Mile Open 1. Michael Porter 15:26 Masters 1. Steven Menzies 16:53 FEMALE Half-Marathon Overall 1. Anna Pichrtova 1:16:08 3 Mile Open 1. Emily Ward 17:56 Masters 1. Linda Ingleson 21:19
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