FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aish, Barlow Win Inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Denver Marathon
Macias, Pirtea win half-marathon, Semisonic rocks Civic Center Park
DENVER, CO – October, 17, 2010 – With cool temperatures and sunny skies,
the first Rock 'n' Roll Denver Marathon & ½ Marathon crowned two past Rock
'n' Roll champions in the men's and women's marathons. Mike Aish won the
men's marathon on Sunday morning, completing the 26.2-mile course in 2
hours, 30 minutes, 37 seconds.
The 34-year-old Arvada, Colo. resident previously won the 2008 P.F. Chang's
Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon. A New Zealand Olympian who recently gained
U.S. citizenship, Aish separated from the field just after mile 11 and
finished well ahead of runner-up Miguel Angel Cazares of Denver. Although
his time was not exceptional, 17 minutes off his Arizona victory, Aish's
attitude was perfect for running the second half of the race all by
himself.
"I stopped at a few of the water stations and slapped fives with the
cheerleaders, just was trying to have a good time and the fans really made
it all worthwhile," said Aish, a 12-time Division II champion over 5,000
and 10,000 meters and cross country at Western State in Colorado. "This has
been a big transition year for me and I've only really been training hard
for a few weeks. I want to have a good shot at the U.S. Olympic Marathon
trials in 2012 and today was a good step in the right direction. Hopefully
there is a lot more to come."
Australian Karen Barlow won the women's race in 2:54:56, beating out
two-time Colfax Marathon Champion Heather Utrata of Englewood, Colo. by a
little over a minute. Barlow, who has been training in Boulder for the last
month, dropped out of the Chicago Marathon last weekend and overcame
emotional adversity to arrive at the Denver start line.
"Chicago was my goal race for the year. Unfortunately it was hot and humid
and I had been training in the dry and cold, so I pulled out after
suffering through 14 miles," said Barlow, who won February's Rock 'n' Roll
Mardi Gras Marathon. "On Wednesday I rang Matt Turnbull and said I'm just
up the road and I want to end the year on a positive note after putting in
all this training. Goal one was just to finish, goal two was to have fun
and goal three was to win if I had a chance. This just feels phenomenal and
I had so much fun today. I 'chicked' a helluva lot of guys out there on the
course."
First across the finish line outside Civic Center Park, was men's
half-marathon winner Mario Macias of Alamosa, Colo. The 29-year-old won the
13.1-mile race in 1, hour, 5 minutes and 22 seconds.
The pace of the half-marathon was set early by 29-year-old Macias, along
with University of Oregon All-American Shadrack Biwott and Australia's
Andrew Letherby, who won the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Half Marathon in June.
Biwott and Macias jockeyed for position from miles five through nine,
hitting the mile-10 split in 49 minutes. Biwott, who dropped out of the
Chicago Marathon last weekend, couldn't maintain the pace and Macias pushed
ahead for the lead.
"The goal for me was to go after the State record, which is 64:52. The
weather today was great just a bit cold at first," said Macias. "With 9
miles to go I figured I could push it. I've been training at altitude and
coming down from 7,500 feet was a big difference, I could feel it. I think
going out with consecutive sub-5:00 miles cost me a little time at the
end."
Boulder resident Adriana Pirtea, of Romania, won the women's half-marathon
in 1:16:03.
The Bachelorette's Ryan Sutter joined 30 runners from Team First Descents,
which included a Vail firefighter relay team, to complete the half-marathon
in 1:33:14. Sutter is in the midst of a 10.10.10 challenge, to benefit
First Descents, a non-profit organization that provides free outdoor
adventure therapy for young adults with cancer.
"It really flew by, there is something around every corner. There are
people the whole way cheering you on, it was a great race," said Sutter,
who will conclude his challenge at the ING New York City Marathon next
month. "Being in Denver was pretty cool actually. It's a great way to see
the city; you are cruising through all the cool parts of downtown. The
course is really great, a little something of everything with no major
hills up or down. I just tried to get in a rhythm and enjoy the whole
thing."
The first ever Rock 'n' Roll Denver Marathon & ½ Marathon welcomed more
than 15,000 entrants from all 50 states and 18 counties. The event featured
a post race concert headlined by Semisonic, known for their 1995 hit
'Closing Time'. The weekend's schedule of events also included over 250 ING
Rock 'n' Roll relay teams and more than 650 runners in the Kids Rock
presented by McDonalds, a non-competitive, non-timed one-mile fun run for
kids grades K-5. The second annual Rock 'n' Roll Denver Marathon is set for
Sunday, October 16, 2011.
Photos
Race Start (credit: marathon-photos.com)
http://running.competitor.com/files/2010/10/2010-Denver-Start.jpg
Men's Marathon Finish (credit: photorun.net)
http://running.competitor.com/files/2010/10/Aish_MichaelFV-DenverRR10.JPG
Women's Marathon Finish (credit: photorun.net)
http://running.competitor.com/files/2010/10/Barlow_KarenFV-DenverRR10.JPG
2010 Rock 'n' Roll Denver & ½ Results
Place, Name, Age, Country, Time, Money
Half-Marathon Men
Mario Macias, 29, Alamosa, CO, 1:05:23, $1,500
Shadrak Biwott, 25, Kenya, 1:06:27, $1,000
Andrew Letherby, 37, Australia, 1:07:48, $750
Half-Marathon Women
Adriana Pirtea, 30, Romania, 1:16:03, $1,500
Amanda Scott, 22, Boulder, CO, 1:23:58, $1,000
Nuta Olaru, 40, Romania, 1:24:45, $750
Marathon Men
Mike Aish, 34, Arvada, CO, 2:30:37, $1,500
Miguel Angel Cazares, 23, Denver, CO, 2:42:17, $1,000
Matthew Gallager, 31, Denver, CO, 2:42:25, $750
Marathon Women
Karen Barlow, 31, Australia, 2:54:56, $1,500
Heather Utrata, 28, Englewood, CO, 2:56:06, $1,000
Nicole Chyr, 32, Englewood, CO, 2:57:59, $750
For more information and complete results, please visit Competitor.com.
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