Two former Eastern Michigan track stars were out in front of the filed with less than four miles to go in the Detroit Free Press Marathon today. One wanted to stop, and the other did.
Jordan Desilets, who won the NCAA Division I 3,000-meter steeplechase in 2004, won the Marathon in an unofficial time of 2:28:30. Desilets, 29 of Pinckney, was running his first marathon and won in the slowest time ever for a men’s winner in the event’s history.
First to cross the line in the women's marathon was Paula Keating, 44, of Miramichi, New Brunswick, Canada. Her unofficial time was 2 hours 52 minutes 14 seconds.
About 23 miles I wanted to stop; I was really tired,” Desilets said. “This is just awesome.”
Boaz Cheboiywo, the NCAA 10,000-meters outdoor champion in 2002, built up a significant lead after clocking in at 1:08:00 halfway through the marathon.
Desilets passed Cheboiywo for the lead after Mile 22. Cheboiywo, who had a bad fall running in the Chicago Marathon last Sunday, had stopped for the second time in the race at that point.
“I know he had a bad fall in the last marathon, so I don’t know if his legs are still bothering him,” Desilets said of Cheboiywo. “He just told me ‘Good luck. Keep it up.’ I was catching up to him and he just stepped off the course.
“I thought for sure he was going to win today. I was hoping for a top ten.”
How does this compare to the steeplechase he ran in college?
“Actually there are some similarities to it,” he said. “You gotta go out slow. It feels easy in the beginning and if you’re not smart about it you’re going to blow up at the end."
Jason Lakritz, 23, of New Windsor, N.Y., was second with an unofficial time of 2:36.26. Donald McLaughlin, 34, of Rochester Hills was third with an unofficial time of 2:38:09.
Eric Green, 42, of Pontiac was fourth with an unofficial time of 2:38:55.
Green helped pace Desilets under a six-minute per mile clip for the first 16 miles of the marathon before eventually telling him he was strong enough to go faster.
Green and Desilets hooked up as Facebook buddies before the race.
“He got online and said he was going to run his first one and he didn’t know how to run it,” Green said of Desilets. “I said, Well I’m going at a 6-minute pace, I’ll be glad to pace you through it.”
Green eventually told him to go ahead: “With the caliber of runner he is, as his first time, I figured he’d run mid 2:20s. I told him, ‘Hey, don’t let me slow you down.’”
Brad Emons, who was in the men's lead vehicle, said when Cheboiywo stopped in the lead at Mile 18, he asked if he could get in the car and was ready to quit. When a relay runner passed by a minute later, Cheboiywo got back out and said he would jog to the finish.
"He led all around Belle Isle until about 22½," Emons said. "He was cramping up. That's what he said.
"He was way out in front as far as we could tell."
Cheboiywo apparently dropped out of the race after giving up the lead to Desilets. As of 11:30 a.m. Cheboiywo had not crossed the finish line.
(source:freep.com)
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