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Monday, May 06, 2002

By Shelly Anderson and Lori Shontz, Post-Gazette Sports Writers

Interviews at the finish line tend to be fairly mundane, but that wasn't the case for 5K winner Andrew Herr.

Just seconds after winning, Channel 11 asked him about the race in a live shot.

"They started the race 10 minutes early," said Herr, of Latrobe, whose winning time was 15 minutes, 31 seconds. "The guy that should have won was in the bathroom. That's crap."

He apparently was referring to Michael Scaffardi, also of Latrobe, who came from deep in the pack to finish second in 16:16.

The race was scheduled to begin at 8:15 a.m. It started seven to eight minutes early.

"There was apparently a miscue," race director Larry Grollman said. "We certainly don't want for anything like that to happen, and we'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

The 5K runners were the first to reach the finish inside Heinz Field. Herr didn't find the new course a breeze.

"Why bother even racing?" he said. "No one's out there on the course telling you where to go."

Finishing third was Isaya Okwiya of New York in 16:32.

The top three women were Kate Brown of Sewickley in 21:30, Karen Mizikar of Mount Pleasant in 22:03 and Bethany Romanek of Wheeling, W.Va., in 22:08.

Water problems

The elite male runners had trouble throughout the race getting to their water bottles.

Winner Reuben Chesang said he was unable to see signs alerting the runners that a water stop was coming, and several times throughout the race a motorcycle with a television cameraman was so close to the runners that they were unable to see the tables.

The elite runners often take water at the regular aid stops, but they are also permitted to put their own water bottles, filled with their personal concoctions, at certain parts of the course. Peter Julian, who finished sixth, said he was unable to take fluid until after the 10K mark, which was too late.

"You need to drink every 15 to 20 minutes, especially when it's sunny out like this," he said. "You've got to start storing that glycogen right away."

U.S. bonus

Julian finished in 2:19:08, good for sixth place overall. He was the first American male, which earned him a bonus of $2,500. But he was disappointed that he didn't run faster.

"My goal was to come here to compete and try to run with the leaders, and I feel like I did that," said Julian, who stayed with the lead pack until around mile 18. "But I know I can go faster. I'm going to go home and start training harder."

Magdalena Lewy, who finished second overall in the women's race, was the first American female finisher.

Relay winners

The Pittsburgh Pharoah Hounds successfully defended their overall relay-team title, but this time they had to work harder for their victory.

Several of the Pharoah Hounds' top runners are also medical students, and they "defected," as Hounds anchor-runner Paul Friedrich put it, to a team from UPMC. "And they wore our shirts," Friedrich said. "That's just not right."

The Hounds were most concerned about Dan Lesser, and with good reason -- by the time Friedrich began the final leg, he was about a minute behind. He made up the difference on the long downhill after Bloomfield. "I don't know the name of their anchor runner, but I knew he was a half-miler in college," Friedrich said. 'I knew I'd better beat him early if we were going to win the race."

The Pharoah Hounds -- Hans Rottmans, Eric Wilkins, Ryan Erdely and Friedrich -- finished in 2:23:43.

Faces to watch

Teresa Saxton and Mary Schardt were featured last week as marathon "Faces to Watch."

Saxton, of Mt. Lebanon, finished 247th in 3:57:42, while Brookline's Schardt came in 333rd place at 4:03:50.

Short steps

With near-perfect weather conditions, the medical team was actually bored during the race. Only 198 people were treated, and only five of those runners were transported to the hospital, none for serious problems. ... .A total of 5.884 runners participated yesterday, the second-highest total since UPMC took over the event's title sponsorship. There were 2,976 marathon runners, 487 four-person relay teams, 984 5K runners and 10 wheelchair racers. ... Two elite women withdrew before the race. Alison Holinka, 23, of Williamsburg, Va., had been set to make her marathon debut but had to drop out because of a leg injury. Maddy Tormoen, 40, of Pueblo, Colo., also withdrew. She has a syndrome that requires her to wear a heart defibrillator. ... For those who were wandering around the Great Hall looking for the scheduled 12:15 p.m. awards ceremony, you didn't miss it. Officials had trouble rounding up the winners of the various races and divisions, so Grollman gave up and canceled it. ... While most runners appeared to enjoy their moment on the Jumbotron as they entered Heinz Field, many were less thrilled with another addition to the course, a detour through the parking lot of the UPMC Sports Medicine Complex on the South Side. ... Pirates owner Kevin McClatchy finished his first marathon in 3:59:18, nearly 10 minutes behind Mayor Tom Murphy, who managed to finish although he hasn't had much time to train.