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Mutisya three-peats at men’s masters

August 21, 2010
By JAY W. BENNETT, jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

PARKERSBURG — It appears Kenyan Gideon Mutisya is aging like a fine wine.

The 43-year-old masters runner secured his third consecutive first-place effort at The News and Sentinel Half Marathon on Saturday thanks to a winning time of 1 hour, 11 minutes and 35 seconds, which placed him 16th overall in the field.

“This is my sixth year (running here) and next year I have to come back again,” said a pleased Mutisya, who once again received $1,000 for his effort.

The $500 runner-up masters prize was awarded to Eric Ashton of Columbia, S.C., who was 18th overall after posting a final time of 1 hour, 15 minutes and 7 seconds.

Mutisya said he came to Parkersburg this week on Thursday, coming from Connecticut.

Even though Mutisya said he has been feeling ill, his time on Saturday was actually better than his 2009 showing of 1:11:57.

“Last week I’ve been sick, my tummy,” he said. “Last week I had that. I did five miles and I was throwing up and it was binding.

“I felt it (today) sometimes while I was running. I was feeling weak sometimes. I didn’t want to miss the race. I like this race.”

Although he didn’t feel up to his normal self, one couldn’t tell from the results that a sick Mutisya was having problems on the course.

“I was just slowing down a bit and then picking up, slowing down and picking up,” he said. “That’s what I was doing.

“It was because of my stomach and the pains, but I said I’m not going to give up. I’ll stick with it and continue.”

For the second straight year, John Piggott of Williamsburg, Va., just missed out on the money in the masters race as he took third again with a time of 1 hour, 19 minutes and 51 seconds — good for 23rd overall.

A bridesmaid no more, 2009 grand masters runner-up John Brockenbrough of Murrysville, Pa., posted the top time for runners age 50 or older. Brockenbrough, who earned $1,000 for his title, topped runner-up George Sellers of Jackson, Ohio, by a little more than 2 minutes after the Buckeye checked in at 1 hour, 21 minutes and 59 seconds.

Top-10 overall runner Jeffrey Eggleston, who finished seventh, picked up the $1,000 check for being the first United States runner to cross the finish line. Eggleston, who hails from Flagstaff, Ariz., was not quite 3 minutes better than runner-up Luke Walton.

Walton, from State College, Pa., earned $500 and clocked in at 1 hour, 8 minutes and 40 seconds while $300 went to third-place U.S. runner Josh Ordway (Belmont, Ohio) thanks to his effort of 1 hour, 9 minutes and 2 seconds.

 
 

 

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