Date: Fri 29-Aug-1997
Date: Fri 29-Aug-1997
Publication: Bee
Author: KIMH
Quick Words:
Bee-Race-1997
Full Text:
1997 Newtown Bee Race
B Y K IM J. H ARMON
There was no rain. No Kenyans. No Tanzanians or Russian coaches on vacation in
the United States. It seemed as if nothing would keep Sergio Ribeiro from
repeating as the Newtown Bee 10k Road Race champion.
And nothing did.
Oh, it was nip and tuck there for a little bit, between the third- and
four-mile mark, as Nelson Rocha moved out in front and made a bid to unseat
Ribeiro from his status as defending champion.
But that lasted for just a heartbeat or two, maybe a dozen strides, because
Ribeiro - who admitted that he had lost his focus for a bit - found another
inner well of fuel and left Rocha to breathe his exhaust for the final stretch
run down Brushy Hill Road.
Ribeiro crossed the finish in 31:51.14, a little less than six seconds before
Rocha, and - amazingly - nine seconds off the pace he ran a year ago under the
onslaught of torrential rains.
"Today was so humid," said Ribeiro, "I have a headache. You know, the rains
help a little bit, keep you comfortable. But this has been better than days
before."
Ribeiro - who won the Comcast Twilight 5k Run on August 16, the Rocking
Rooster 5k on June 7, and the O'Brien Memorial on January 1 - led the race
almost wire to wire. But Rocha, who is a familiar shadow to Ribeiro in area
road races, made his bid on Brushy Hill.
A bid that lasted just a few seconds.
"Most of the races during the year," said Ribeiro, "we run together. He is so
close to me. Today he was good. Between the third and fourth mile, I lose my
mind a little bit. He was coming close, pushing a little bit. After that I
think I woke up, got on my pace again, and went to the end."
Rocha - who won the DeMille Firecracker 5k on July 4 - couldn't keep pace with
Ribeiro after that. The extra burst that Ribeiro put on to distance himself
from Rocha widened the gulf to almost 100 yards at one point, but Rocha was
still able to finish only six seconds after Ribeiro.
It was the closest finish in some time.
"You never know," said Ribeiro. "Coming closer, you never know if he was going
to beat me. But I'm so happy I was able to beat him."
Like always, the initial climb up Point O'Rocks Road separated the real
challengers from the rest of the pack. Ribeiro and Rocha took off ahead of the
swarm and were dogged for quite some time by a third runner who stayed just
off the pace, but was running hard to keep up.
Along Boggs Hill, though, Ribeiro and Rocha turned it into a two-man race,
with Ribeiro out in front and Rocha drafting along behind. Mandel Leal, who
ended up taking third, was over three minutes behind the duo.
It stayed that was along Boggs Hill and over to Platts Mill and the big climb
to the top of Platts Mill did nothing to change that. But while starting down
Brushy Hill, the race became tight.
The five-second differential was the second-closest finish in Bee 10k history.
In 1985, Bob Hensley and Mike Ambrose were separated by just one second. Two
years ago, Farid Haillen of Russia defeated Peter Simon of Tanzania by
slightly more than six seconds.
Last year, Ribeiro defeated Rachid Tbahi by 11 seconds.
This year, the Danbury runner said he has his focus set on the marathon and
the all the training he has been doing in preparation has tired him out. But
when Rocha slid into first for a bit, tired or no, Ribeiro found a way to win.
A Rookie Wins
When Darlene Gillotti was thinking about running the Newtown Bee 10k for the
first time, people she works with - who have run the race - said the course
was a little hilly.
A little hilly?
The 6.22-mile track has brutal climbs up Point O'Rocks and Platts Mill Road
and to describe it as a little hilly would, in the estimation of race
veterans, seem a little soft-pedaled.
"This was a tough one," said Gillotti, 35, the first female finisher, who came
in 54th overall at 44:24.83. She finished over a minute ahead of her nearest
competitor, Elizabeth Thompson, who crossed the finish line at 45:35.44.
Gillotti, who listened to a walkman while running the course ("Sometimes it
distracts me, so I don't think about how tired I am," she said), liked the
course enough to think about coming back.
"I just saw it in the paper and said, I'm going to run this one," she said.
"It was between this and the Mad Dash, which I ran last year. Someone told me
it was hilly, a good workout. I liked it."
The winning time this year, though, was slightly less than seven minutes off
the winning pace set a year ago by Sue Faber of Oxford, whose first-place
finish came 11 years after her first Newtown Bee 10k victory.
In other divisions, Tom Marks of New Milford was High School Male division
champ, coming in 8th overall at 37:58.78. Pat Dennen of Newtown High School
was second in the division, 11th overall, at 38:24.14.
Emily Marks came in first in the High School Female division, finishing 90th
overall at 48:18.76. She finished less than a second ahead of Libby Covelli,
who crossed the line at 48:19.52.
There were 170 finishers in the 13th running of the Newtown Bee 10k, the 170th
being Dana Robinson, racing in the high school division, who crossed the
finish line in 1:14:46.08.