FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Champions Barus, Miyauchi Crowned at
Dodge Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon
11th race edition debuts new course to rave reviews from runners; ZZ Top,
Stone Temple Pilots and Bret Michaels rock the entrants at the American
Music Festival
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - (September 4, 2011) - Last weekend Hurricane Irene
blew through Virginia Beach, but this morning it was Kenyan Benson Barus
who blew away the competition at the Dodge Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach
Half Marathon. At the 11th edition, the 31-year-old Barus covered the
13.1-mile course in 1 hour, 2 minutes and 22 seconds, while Japan's Yoko
Miyauchi, 28, won the women's race in 1:11:49.
The pace of the men's race was set early by 28-year-old Solomon Busendich
from Kenya, who opened up a wide lead running 9:02 for the first 2 miles,
before Barus closed the gap just past mile 4. The Kenyan duo remained in
the lead, jockeying for position, each having won a marathon in 2011 -
Barus in Prague and Busendich in Milan. The pair reached 5 miles in 23:29,
approximately 50 seconds ahead of the second group of professional runners
led by U.S. Olympian Ryan Hall.
"We talked yesterday, and Solomon was telling me the guy from the U.S. who
ran 2 hours, 4 minutes was very tough and we need to start fast," said
Barus, who is roommates with Busendich and spoke referring to Hall's time
in Boston and their race strategy.
The Kenyan duo hit the first 10K split in 29:27, with the second pack of
Hall, Kenya's Samuel Ndereba, along with Canadians Reid Coolsaet and Eric
Gillis, closing the gap with a split of 29:55. Barus and Busendich
maintained control of the pace as it became a two-man race over the final
miles. The pair shadowed each other through Camp Pendleton reaching mile 10
in 47:43. Barus gradually took control and by the time he reached the
Oceanfront Boardwalk, victory was comfortably in hand.
"I just wanted to run my pace. He was using a lot of energy to run from
here to there. He ran many more kilometers than me. I say let him go and
bring him back slowly. I was not competing with anyone - just myself," said
Barus, who won the Prague Marathon in 2:07:07 and is training to run the
Beijing Marathon in October. "Overall the race was good. Today was nice
with all the people on every corner cheering for all of us. I'm very happy
to win."
Busendich finished 13 seconds back in 1:02:35. The race for third place
came down to a sprint on the homestretch between Ndereba and Hall, with
Ndereba crossing the finish line one second ahead of U.S. half-marathon
record holder Hall in 1:03:01.
"It was good, you never know what to expect in these half-marathons leading
up to a marathon. A month before Boston I ran 65 minutes in New York. So
for me to run 63 minutes today, I feel I'm right where I need to be leading
into Chicago," said Hall, who will race in October's Bank of America
Chicago Marathon. "A couple of the turns reminded me of the Trials course
in Houston, so you can see where the guys were. The whole time I was
licking my chops looking at the guys out in front because I thought we were
going to get back in the mix with them, but we couldn't quite get back to
them."
In the women's race, Jane Kibii of Kenya, along with Japan's Yurika
Nakamura and Fumiko Hashimoto separated themselves from the rest of the
field early. The trio reached the first 10K split in 33:46 and looked to be
sure contenders for the win, before Nakamura dropped off the pace. Lurking
behind the leaders, however, was another Japanese runner, Miyauchi, who was
17 seconds back at the 9 mile mark. A mile later she was less than 10
seconds down and by the 10½ mile mark had taken over the lead - one she did
not relinquish all the way to the finish line in 1:11:49.
"Just before the bridge I could sense that she was dropping off and put in
a little bit of a move," Miyauchi said through an interpreter. "I couldn't
hear her breathing so I knew she was away."
Kibii held on for second in 1:12:04, while Nakamura took third in 1:12:10.
In all, Japan placed eight runners amongst the top 10 in the women's race.
Aside from the runner-up Kibii, the only other non-Japanese runner to crack
the top-10 was 41-year-old Romanian Nuta Olaru, the 2004 Virginia Beach
champion who ran 1:14:05 to finish in eighth place as the top Master. Alana
Hadley, 14, of Charlotte, NC, finished 11th overall as the top American.
She bettered her half-marathon time from earlier in 2011, finishing in
1:17:15, a pending U.S. single age half-marathon record.
Andrew Budiansky, 21, of Williamsburg and Renee High, 29, of Virginia
Beach, were the top local male and female finishers in 1:12:18 and 1:19:25
respectively. Tony Nogueira, 43, from Glen Ridge, NJ, won the wheelchair
invitational race in 48:24.
"It was great weather, I really liked the new course," said High, a
Virginia Beach resident who was the top local finisher in 2010 and has
already qualified for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston. "I
took off two months over the summer to rest and recover before I begin my
marathon training so this is my first race to test my fitness. Considering
I haven't done a lot of speed work, I'm really pleased with where I'm at."
The Dodge Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach Half Marathon welcomed more than
15,000 entrants this year. At a press conference in Virginia Beach prior to
the race, City of Virginia Beach Mayor Will Sessoms announced a 5-year deal
extension for the Labor Day Weekend road race.
Annually held in partnership with the American Music Festival, the 2011
line-up featured headline acts ZZ Top, Stone Temple Pilots and Bret
Michaels. An economic impact study conducted by San Diego State University
in 2010, found the event generated an impact of more than $41 million for
the local economy, welcoming 26,000 out-of-town visitors and filling over
21,000 hotel room nights in the City of Virginia Beach.
11th Dodge Rock 'n' Roll Virginia Beach ½ Marathon
Virginia Beach, VA, Sunday, September 4, 2011
MEN
1) Benson Barus (KEN), 1:02:22, $2000
2) Solomon Busendich (KEN), 1:02:35, $1500
3) Samuel Ndereba (KEN), 1:03:01, $1000
4) Ryan Hall (USA / CA), 1:03:02, $750
5) Reid Coolsaet (CAN), 1:03:16, $500
WOMEN
1) Yoko Miyauchi (JPN), 1:11:49, $2000
2) Jane Kibii (KEN), 1:12:04, $1500
3) Yurika Nakamura (JPN), 1:12:10, $1000
4) Fumiko Hashimoto (JPN), 1:12:20, $750
5) Risa Shigemoto (JPN), 1:12:34, $500
MASTERS (Age 40 and over)
MEN
1) Vyscheslav Shabunin, 41, Russia, 1:04:50, $500
WOMEN
1) Nuta Olaru, 41, Romania, 1:14:05, $500
Top Local - Hampton Roads Residents
MEN
1) Andrew Budiansky, 21, Williamsburg, VA, 1:12:18, $500
WOMEN
1) Renee High, 29, Virginia Beach, VA, 1:19:25, $500
For complete results, photos and more go to:
http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/virginia-beach
###
|
