Long Beach Marathon : Sayre Lasts This Time and He Comes In First

Ric Sayre, who ran most of a marathon two weeks ago, managed to finish one Sunday. He pulled away from a small pack of runners that had been hounding him and won the Long Beach Marathon in 2 hours 13 minutes 22 seconds.

The 32-year-old Sayre set a course record and won $1,000 in a race through the streets of Long Beach that drew 2,995 runners.

Sayre battled with Brad Hawthorne and Ron Cornell for most of the race before pulling away after 16 miles. Hawthorne finished second in 2:15:04 and won $500. Cornell dropped out at 18 miles.

“I saw him (Hawthorne) drop back a little,” Sayre said. “But he was behind me the whole way. The last few miles were a struggle.”

They labored on a fairly flat course and under cool, partly cloudy skies. As is traditional, citizens of Long Beach lined the streets and hung out of apartment windows to watch the race.

The race started out to be among the first pack of three runners. “Sayre started pulling away from me at the 16-17 mile mark,” Hawthorne said. “I could’ve stayed with him because we were cooking at 5:11 (mile pace) but I said ‘Naah, I’ll let him die’ . . . but he never did.

“He ran well. I knew he ran a marathon two weeks ago. I waited and waited for him to slow down. I wanted to be patient, but he just kept going.”

Sayre had dropped out of the Houston Marathon at the 20-mile point two weeks ago. “Some days you have it, some days you don’t,” he said. “Today I felt good. The conditions were excellent. I’m more of a strength runner, so I knew I had to go out with them. I really don’t have that kind of speed.”

Sayre won the 1985 San Francisco Marathon and said he averages six marathons a year.

Carey Simons of Arcadia was third in 2:23:11.

The women’s race was nothing like the tactical men’s race. Mary Tracey was never challenged as she won in 2:48:01

Tracey has increased her personal record in each of her three marathons. The 26-year-old from Santa Monica said she has had “more flexible time” since enrolling in an MBA program at UCLA.

Debbie Heaton of Redlands was second in 2:56:59 and Rhonda Davidson of La Palma was third in 2:57:14.

Rory Cooper won the wheelchair race in 2:11:16.