FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The San Francisco Marathon™ Record Broken By
First Time Marathoner/ Astrophysicist
The San Francisco Marathon™, took place today with over 24,000 registered
runners. The race was a shocker. Two different runners in the Men's Full
Marathon broke the course record of 2:25:57 set by Andrew Cook in 2007.
The twist is that the distance runner who not only won, but shattered the
record, did so while completing his first ever marathon. Keith Bechtol, an
astrophysicist at Stanford, decided to run The San Francisco Marathon™ (TSFM)
six weeks prior to the event. In fact, he contacted TSFM's office
requesting First Wave/Elite Athlete Status. However, because he had no
official marathon P.R. times TSFM was forced to deny his request. To
everyone's surprise (including his own), Keith Bechtol came in first with
an unofficial time of 2:23:28. (TSFM doesn't release official results
until next week).
The 25 year old overcame the fierce competition, even with a Wave 2 start.
Why does a Wave 2 start matter? Wave 2 starts takes about 2 minutes to
catch up to the Elite Runners in Wave 1. Due to American Track && Field
rules, TSFM used "gun time" rather than the time that runners actually
cross the start line.
The lanky scientist grew up in Alexandria, VA where he had often heard the
tales of Elite Runner Michael Wardian of Arlington, VA. Bechtol had
competed as an NCAA Division I athlete in cross country and track at
William & Mary, but decided to take 3 years off from competing upon
graduation.
Wardian, age 36, finished 2nd today with an unofficial time of 2:25:21.
When asked how he felt about passing the runner he had looked up to for so
many years, Bechtol humbly replied that he "learned a lot today from
running alongside Michael Wardian...I have looked up to him for a long time."
Michael Wardian returned to this race as a favorite to win. Even though he
had a course record-breaking time, and nearly 2 minute "lead" on Bechtol,
he was unable to surpass the fellow Virginian at the end of the 26.2 mile
trek. Also of note, Michael mistakenly took a wrong turn along the hilly
course, costing him at least a minute of additional time.
Close on their heels, in third, place was Harm Sengers of the Netherlands
at an unofficial time of 2:29:23. Sengers' company had sent him to
Chicago, IL on a business trip. Having just completed a 42 kilomoter
uphill battle in The Grabuenden Marathon in Switzerland, Harm was up to the
challenge of the hills of The San Francisco Marathon™, recently coined the
race that "even marathoners fear" by the Wall Street Journal. The Dutchman
purchased a ticket to San Francisco for a 24 hour Marathon whirl wind,
hopping on a plane to Chicago within a few hours after the race. When
asked what he thought of San Francisco, he said that the course "was so
incredibly beautiful…I want to come back next year."
All three competitors agreed that the foggy hills of San Francisco aptly
garnered TSFM their reputation of "Worth the hurt."
For more information on The San Francisco Marathon Race Results, please
visit:
http://www.liveraceresults.com/liverc1/Default.aspx
Women's Top 3 Finishers in the Full Marathon, Unofficial Times:
Emily Hardin, Age 24, Madison, Alabama- 2:42:12
Brandy Bengoechea, Age 38, Nampa, Idaho- 2:53:26
Morgan Robinson, Age 24, San Francisco, California- 3:01:11
###
|
