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KIAWAH ISLAND- A 40-year-old German engineer who moved to Summerville
just two months ago grinned big and seemed shocked as he crossed the finish
line as the winner of the 26th annual Kiawah Island Marathon Saturday.
"I feel great. This is a nice one ... It was easy," said Joerg Schmidt of
his best marathon time and finish out of 14 marathons.
Schmidt, who works for Bosch, finished in 2 hours, 38 minutes and 35
seconds. Looking relatively fresh and energetic afterward, he searched for
his wife Dorothee and 14-month-old son, Sebastian, to share the moment. The
Schmidts moved from Grand Rapids, Mich., this fall, and said the obvious:
"We like the weather better here."
For the first time since 1999, the top female finisher in the Kiawah
marathon broke three hours.
Lea Baer, 34, of Green Bay, Wis., was hoping to qualify for the women's
Olympic marathon trials on April 3, 2004, in St. Louis, but her winning time
of 2:57:43 fell well short of the 2:48:00 cut-off.
"I'm still happy with my race," said Baer, a mother of two young children,
of her first-ever marathon win. "I felt good the whole way ... It was pretty
windy out there and I had some help from some guys who blocked the wind for
me."
According to the National Weather Service, the wind picked up at its Folly
Beach station during the morning from around 12 mph at the 8 a.m. start to
25 mph at 11 am. The temperatures stayed in the mid-40s. Ideal marathon
temperatures are in the mid-50s.
Last year's marathon winner and course record setter, Patrick Phillips,
returned this year to win the half marathon in 1:10:49.
The 31-year-old Wachovia portfolio manager and Wake Forest MBA student won
last year's marathon in 2:27:19 and admitted then that his training would
take a back seat once his son was born. Shortly after winning the half on
Saturday, he placed his finisher's medal around the neck of his
six-month-old baby, Kendall, and kissed him as wife Kate snapped pictures.
"My training isn't strong, in fact, it's non-existent," said Phillips, who
is now running 45-50 miles a week during lunch breaks.
Phillips edged two top local runners and business partners, Mike Aiken and
Irv Batten, who had times of 1:12:19 and 1:13:21, respectively. Aiken and
Batten own the On The Run running store in Mount Pleasant.
The top female finisher in the half, 26-year-old Amanda Tate of Durham,
N.C., was just hoping to break 1:25 and was pleasantly surprised with her
time of 1:20:48.
Tate, a former Tennessee-Chattanooga cross-country runner, may have been
inspired to run faster because she kept battling for first place with Laurie
Knowles, 26, of Atlanta, who finished 10 seconds later.
Though the marathon is the title event at Kiawah, the half marathon
continues to be the most popular of three races on the resort known more for
its golf. And on Saturday, a record 1,698 finished the half, while 951 (as
of 3 p.m. Saturday) finished the marathon and 274 completed the 5K.
The 5K was won by Kevin Nickodem, 47, of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Kerry Foltz,
17, of Seneca.
NOTES
-- Of local interest, Steve Annan, 57, of Mount Pleasant, set a pending
state record for men in the 55-59 age group with a time of 1:22:03. The
record was held by Gerry Carner of Clemson who ran 1:23:35 was at the
Governor's Cup Half Marathon in October 1998.
Bob Schlau, the Charleston area's most accomplished runner, was also gunning
for the same record, but the 56-year-old fell short with a 1:24:42.
Annan's state age group record was his third this fall. He set a 10K record
of 36:27 at the Run for Sight in Mullins on Sept. 27 and set a pending 5K
record of 16:50 Turkey Day Run, though the race director of the latter has
not filed the results with state running officials yet.
-- As in most running events, weird things can happen.
Race Director Dylan Jones confirmed reports from other runners that a deer
jumped over some bushes and knocked a marathon runner to the ground around
the half marathon mark on Saturday. Jones, who did not know the name of the
runner, said the man got back up and finished running.
KIAWAH ISLAND MARATHON
MARATHON
OVERALL: Male -- Joerg Schmidt, Summerville, 2:38:35; William Ricker,
Columbia, 2:41:54; Rick Admiraal, Zeeland, Mich., 2:47:30; Chris Macknie,
Ottawa, Canada, 2:49:17; Benjamin Swieringa, Holland, Mich., 2:49:30. Female
-- Lea Baer, Green Bay, Wis., 2:57:43; Jennifer Modliszews, Raleigh, NC,
3:00:29; Kristin Eddy, Reston, Va., 3:01:51; Jennifer Strange, Durham, NC,
3:02:50; Eileen Torres, Decatur, Ga., 3:05:16.
MASTERS: Male -- Steve Ahrens, Charlotte, 2:53:52; John Phillips,
Cary, NC, 2:53:53; Sam Inman, Greenville, 2:56:10. Female -- Lynn Pitson,
Salisbury, NC, 3:18:11; Toni Cruz, Charlotte, NC, 3:25:37; Hope Stout,
Gastonia, NC, 3:41:53.
AGE GROUPS (1st male/female): 13-17 -- Daniel McCurry 3:16:15. Ashley
Blackwell 5:09:20. 18-24 -- Brooks Keys 2:54:09. Emily Bowman 3:36:02. 25-29
-- Marlin Mullins 2:52:50. Sarah Reed 3:20:27. 30-34 -- Jeffrey Hambleton
2:50:50. Sonia Hambleton 3:16:26. 35-39 -- Bruce Buckless 2:51:20. Karen
Chilcote 3:22:33. 40-44 --Jerry Letendre 2:56:16. Lee Patterson 3:42:19.
45-49 -- Kelly Miller 3:03:23. Lynn Welden 3:47:43. 50-54 --Ralph Veytia
3:08:13. Joanne Jackson 3:53:38. 55-59 -- George Rolling 3:17:14. Sheelagh
Anderson 3:50:15. 60-64 -- Gerry Carner 3:19:38. Patricia Rhode 5:22:18.
65-69 --Charlie Raper 3:46:49. Elfriede Tolley-Beeson 4:22:02. 70-74 -- Lee
Cooper 4:07:00. No female. 75-99 -- No male. Margaret Hagerty (no time
reported as of 3 p.m.)
HALF MARATHON
OVERALL: Male -- Patrick Phillips, Winston-Salem, NC, 1:10:49; Mike
Aiken, Charleston, 1:12:19; Irv Batten, Summerville, 1:13:21; Michael
McCauley, Greenville, 1:14:44; William Shires, Charlotte, 1:14:44. Female --
Amanda Tate, Durham, NC, 1:20:51; Laurie Knowles, Atlanta, 1:21:01; Anne
Wyman Cipolla, Columbia, 1:24:34; Gayle White, New York, 1:25:04; Megan
Weis, Columbia, 1:24:44.
MASTERS: Male -- Jerry Clark, Charlotte, 1:15:17; John Walton,
Charlotte, 1:20:38; George Meyer, Wellford, 1:21:22. Female -- Pamela Dunn,
Charlotte, 1:29:53; Aprille Shaffer, Charlotte, 1:31:54; Mary Margaret Nunal,
Wilmington, NC, 1:32:53.
AGE GROUPS (1st male/female): 13-17 -- Tyler Piercy 1:28:51. Jessie
Sahms 2:06:17. 18-24 -- Shawn Evans 1:17:38. Emma Batchelor 1:26:27. 25-29
-- Jason Annan 1:16:38. Mandy Jones 1:27:34. 30-34 --Nigel Morgan 1:16:19.
Gabriele Hauck 1:29:59. 35-39 -- Scott Boatwright 1:21:40. Ellen Smet
1:33:10. 40-44 -- George Dunleavy 1:25:01. Mary Ellen McManus 1:35:11. 45-49
-- James Scheer 1:21:47. Laurie Will 1:35:04. 50-54 -- Bill Dunn 1:24:02.
Catherine Burton 1:39:46. 55-59 -- Steve Annan 1:22:03. Kathy Seavers
1:44:06. 60-64 -- James Salvo 1:36:52. Kay Chandler 2:03:12. 65-69 --Charles
Denney 1:42:52. Anne Fields 2:40:36. 70-74 -- Donald Krull 2:27:25. Harriet
Locke 2:15:44.
5K
OVERALL: Male -- Kevin Nickodem, Chapel Hill, NC, 17:51; Charlie
Schaefer, Durham, 18:33; Adam Pomerantz, Chapel Hill, 18:41; Lennie Moore,
Mount Pleasant, 18:51; Joey Pointer, Chapel Hill, 18:56. Female -- Kerry
Foltz, Seneca, 21:51; Jessica O'Connell, Charlotte, 21:56; Maryclaire Regan,
Augusta, Ga., 22:49; Nancy Curry, Mount Pleasant, 23:07; Carolina Weber,
Little Mountain, 23:19.
MASTERS: Male -- Charles Rose, Mooresville, NC, 19:42; Kerry Shields,
Salisbury, NC, 20:18; Jack Evans, Summerset, Ky., 20:34. Female -- Sue
Porter, Columbia, 24:27; Eileen Myers, Charleston, 24:48; Elizabeth Horne,
Charlotte, 24:50.
AGE GROUPS (1st male/female): 9-under -- Austin Ramos 30:34. Danielle
Settineri 29:14. 10-12 -- Matt Buening 19:49. Hannah Anderson 24:39. 13-17
-- Mike Mangan 19:26. Stefka Sadler 24:56. 18-24 -- Benjamin Skelley 22:01.
Candace Smith 25:08. 25-29 -- Nathan Knowles 19:16. Christina Farmer 26:29.
30-34 -- Kevin Kennedy 20:52. Keri Bowers 25:28. 35-39 -- James Pelsang
19:11. Kelly Haney 24:18. 40-44 -- Gregg Bragg 21:04. Linda Fairey
25:55. 45-49 -- Marc Regnier 21:50. Robin Benson 28:02. 50-54 -- Richard
Blalock 22:41. Sharon Allen 25:58. 55-59 -- Bill Tucker 22:59. Dorothy
Anderson 26:22. 60-64 -- Dick Ashley 22:45. Paula Eversole 31:18. 65-69 --
Clyde Mizzell 23:24. Jackie Clayton 37:38. 70-74 -- No male. Arlene Selman
48:04. 75-99 -- Robert Taylor 36:01. Margaret Wright 54:38.
Complete results at rmssports.com
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