FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SHARKEY ROUTES THE FIELD AT
EAU PALM BEACH MARATHON & RUN FEST
WEST PALM BEACH -- Bryan Sharkey took off from the start line of the EAU
Palm Beach Marathon & Run Fest like a rocket, and no one ever had a shot at
him.
The 28-year-old former Miami Gulliver and Princeton star, now an executive
with Carnival Cruise lines, won his second Palm Beach Marathon (2:43:28) -
improving on his 2013 winning time by 19 seconds along the way.
Sharkey then repeated the same routine he followed after his 2013 title -he
bent down, kissed the ground, and began to wobble. He jumped into a wheel
chair and went to the medical tent to replenish his body with fluids.
"He took four liters of fluids two years ago," said his mother, Marcy,
"but this time it was only one."
Twenty-mile-an-hour winds were the only adversary to Sharkey and all the
runners in Sunday's 12th annual event in Downtown West Palm Beach that
included a Marathon, Half-Marathon and 5K race.
Amanda Jacobs, 25, of Kinston Springs, TN won the women's Marathon
(3:20:56) with Laura Lunardi, 40, of West Chester, PA placing second
(3:27:19).
Orlando's Rickie Alcime, 32, recorded a personal best in the Half Marathon
(1:20:04), and outkicked longtime Jupiter racer John Reback, 45, to the
finish line (1:20:26).
Ft. Lauderdale's Florencia Morales celebrated an early birthday present
with a wire-to-wire Half Marathon win in her first time running in the Palm
Beach event.
There were subtle changes to the Marathon course, but runners still were
treated to miles of waterfront views and the race's unique features that
included Relay teams and the popular Wacky Water Stations.
With the Florida sun creeping through the clouds to the east, runners left
the Waterfront Commons start line at 6:30 am, and headed north on Flagler
Drive past the freshly-built 600-ton, 35-ft holiday sand-tree and the 40-ft
palm trees that lined the Intracoastal Waterway.
Much of the 26.2-mile race wound through picturesque waterfront
streetscapes and historic neighborhoods of West Palm Beach before turning
south to Lake Worth. The race looped back north before ending in front of
the Meyer Amphitheatre.
Sharkey was the Palm Beach Marathon's third multiple winner, joining
two-time Olympian Ronnie Holassie (2008, 2009 & 2010 ) and Charles Kiplogat
(2004 & 2006) in the record books.
With his parents, both sets of grandparents and former girlfriend holding
up "Go Bryan" signs along the course, Sharkey hung in when he first
started feeling light-headed at the eight-mile mark. He had gone out hard,
covering the first 5K in 17:07.
"I went out at six-minute pace for the first half, " said Sharkey, who was
able to sneak in 15-mile days of road training for this race after mostly
cruise ship treadmill training led up to his mid-November win in the Fort
Lauderdale 13.1 Half Marathon. "My goal was just to break 2:40, but also
get a solid run in and establish a lead so I could just try to maintain it.
It was very painful, especially those last six miles."
Sharkey, who ran a 2:28 personal-best at the Chicago Marathon in October,
conceded that two months between marathons was not enough. But after
tearing a hamstring in the New York Marathon in 2014 and not being able to
defend his Palm Beach title, he wanted to return to the site of his first
marathon win.
"I definitely was not recovered from Chicago," he said. "It was tough, it
was really tough. The wind really took a lot of me, I had to work extra
hard the whole time. It really affected me. But this marathon means a lot
to me. It was my first ever victory two years ago - it got me into New
York, then eventually into Boston and Chicago. So it means a lot to me."
Defending EAU Palm Beach Marathon champion Adam Lazarus beat his 2014
winning time by seven minutes-but lost to Sharkey by nine minutes. "I lost
contact with him pretty early," the 25-year-old computer scientist from
Silver Spring, Maryland admitted.
Lazarus had returned to Palm Beach this week to seek back-to-back titles,
but quickly discovered that the top local marathoner had entered.
"I saw in the paper yesterday how good his times were so I knew it was
going to be tough to keep up with him," he said. "So I wasn't so worried
about it."
Next up for Sharkey? He'll run in the Miami Marathon's Half-Marathon race
in January, and has set his sights on the London Marathon in April.
"That will be my last marathon for a long time," said Sharkey. "I look
forward to beating my time from Chicago I want to find out how do I stack
up against the top people in the world."
Jacobs had to put her first marathon victory celebration on ice for a
time-she followed Sharkey into the medical tent and also required a liter
of fluids to recover.
"It was hotter than what I anticipated," said the newly-engaged Ohio State
grad who works as a dietician. "I didn't realize it would be as hot. I
struggled in the last half. I kept getting cramps."
Lunardi's second-place finish might have been the most compelling story of
all as she participated Saturday in a local Spartan race where participants
"sprinted" up the hills and through an obstacle course on the hills of
Vista View Park in Davie.
The mother of five children under nine-years-of-age said she entered her
fourth career marathon after "seeing what else was in the area to do." She
and her husband were also celebrating their 10th anniversary in South
Florida.
Alcime, who works in security for Lockheed Martin, quit running after his
freshman year in high school, but returned to the sport in 2008. He trains
with the Hunter Creek Running Club and joined 20 members Sunday in taking
the two-hour drive south to participate.
"West Palm Beach is a nice city and I saw photos and it looked like a
beautiful place to run," said Alcime. "We all had a blast."
Running his first half-marathon in 17 months, Alcime credited Rebak with
his personal record.
"He pushed me the last three miles," he said. "We both helped each other.
It was a fight to the finish. I'm happy he pushed me."
"I've been second a ton of times, but never won it here," mused Reback,
who was also second last year. "I was close until the last 200 meters. He
outkicked me. I couldn't stay with him. I'm 45 and using what I have left
to the best of my ability."
Morales, an Argentine who turns 37 on Monday, is returning to running after
a year-and-a-half battle with hypoglycemia, a condition characterized by
abnormally low blood sugar. She admitted her biggest hurdle to overcome
Sunday was not another runner or her condition, but the wind.
"I was so scared yesterday because I knew it was going to be windy," said
Morales, who has worked as a Fort Lauderdale beach lifeguard for more than
a decade. "It wasn't too bad on the way up north and I was running with a
couple of guys. Sometimes when we didn't have houses or buildings, I could
feel the wind, but my legs were still fresh.
"But the worst part was the last three miles. I was tired, it was windy and
I was by myself. Miserable!"
Frenchman Stefan Massad, 43, won the hand-crank division on Sunday.
Massad, traveled from St. Peterburg, where he is visiting his
European-based Carlson Bike handcycle company US headquarters.
"Florida is nice and a bunch of Achilles athletes convinced me to compete,"
he said. "The conditions were good, except 20 mph winds is too much."
Sunday's 5K winner was Miami resident Naveen Reddy (20:43.27) with
Jupiter's Atilla Kardas (21:22:96) in second place. Sabah Bobby of West
Palm Beach (22:13.62) was the first woman to cross the finish line; she was
three minutes faster than Stefanie Dadddono Of Palm Beach Gardens
(25:28.69).
The EAU Palm Beach Marathon & Run Fest is the second event of the five-race
Florida Storm Series, which challenges runners to participate in three to
five racing events in Florida during the 2015/2016 season: next up is the
Miami Marathon and Half Marathon on January 24, 2016 followed by the
Michelob ULTRA Miami Beach 13.1 on March 6 and the First Watch Sarasota
Half Marathon & Relay on March 13.
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