Originally published June 28, 2009 at 12:00 AM | Page modified July 1, 2009 at 12:23 PM
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Elija Nyabuti wins Rock 'n' Roll Seattle half-marathon
Kenyan breaks the state record by finishing in 1:05.14, while Ethiopian Berhane Adere wins women's race
Seattle Times staff reporter
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DANIEL HOUGHTON / THE SEATTLE TIMES
Half-marathon racers cross the finish line in downtown Seattle after running the 13.1 miles from Tukwila.
Elija Nyabuti
Elija Nyabuti finished the men's 13.1-mile half-marathon before some runners even got across the starting line.
That shows the magnitude of the field of 25,000 runners at the inaugural Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Marathon, which started runners in 36 different groups.
The Kenyan finished the half-marathon in 1 hour, 5 minutes, 14 seconds.
Pat Rizzo finished second in 1:05:34, a personal best, and stayed with Nyabuti until the ninth mile. "He dropped me even though I ran two straight 4:55 miles," said Rizzo, who lives in Detroit. "That shows you his wheels were moving."
Berhane Adere, a former world champion from Ethiopia, pulled away in the final mile of the women's half-marathon and won in 1:11.19, 71 seconds off the state record.
Isley Gonzalez, who just graduated from Washington State, was the first American finisher in her first women's half-marathon. Just months after racing college opponents, she found herself in a race with the world-renowned Adere, who won the prestigious Dubai Marathon just last year, and Nuta Olaru, a former Olympian from Romania who finished second Saturday.
Gonzalez finished in third nearly 9 minutes behind Adere, who has won the Chicago Marathon twice and is using the prize money from racing to build a hotel in Ethiopia.
Adere arrived in Seattle on Thursday afternoon, and her 14-year-old son, Alem, watched the race aboard a flatbed truck that stayed ahead of the leaders in the marathon.
The marathon course diverged from the half-marathon course between the eighth and ninth miles, so Alem couldn't see his mother finish. Someone aboard told him his mother had won.
"Really?" he said.
Yep. There wasn't all that much doubt about it. Adere stayed with Olaru until the final mile and then pulled away, winning by 24 seconds.
Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com
Copyright © 2009 The Seattle Times Company
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