MARATHON U.S. OLYMPIC TRIAL : Three Qualify With Tactical Race

For the country that gave the world the running boom, it has been a humbling era. The last time an American male won an Olympic medal in the marathon was Frank Shorter’s silver in 1976. The intervening years have seen the rise of the Africans and the Japanese, while the Americans were lagging in marathons but getting rich in road races.

But what the American men proved Saturday at the U.S. Olympic marathon trial was that they are superb racers , even if they don’t produce world-class times. Running and racing may sound the same, but it’s more than a matter of semantics. Runners are fast, racers are tactical.

The three men who made the U.S. Olympic team are all racers of the highest order. Steve Spence, this country’s brightest hope in the marathon after having finished a surprising third at the World Championships, ran a controlled, intelligent race, winning in a time of 2 hours 12 minutes 43 seconds. Ed Eyestone, a 1988 Olympian, was second in 2:12:51 and Bob Kempainen, a medical student who took a year’s leave to train for this, was third in 2:12:54.

With time bonuses, Spence won $58,000, Eyestone $48,000 and Spence $38,000.

Discipline was its own reward Saturday. The Olympians ran three abreast for the last mile in downtown Columbus, after waiting patiently while others surged and picked apart a huge pack that had gone out in search of a fast time. It was a mistake, especially under energy-sapping conditions. Among the leaders who had all met Olympic qualifying standards (2:14), time was not Saturday’s goal--place was everything.

As predicted, the times were slow. Temperatures at race time were 10 degrees above normal, with 72% humidity. An hour into the race it was 70 degrees and the runners were dousing themselves with water at every opportunity. Only 55 of the 103 runners who started the race finished.

The race began on a wind-whipped avenue amid high-rises and old brick state office buildings. But the complexion at the start was utterly changed by the finish, with early leaders fading or dropping out.

Keith Brantly and Bill Reifsnyder did the work through the race’s crucial early stages, running together in the lead from the 13th to 22nd mile. Ken Martin, who had the fastest time coming into the race, was with the leaders but dropped out at 17 miles.

At 19 miles, Brantly and Reifsnyder held a 20-second lead on the second pack, which contained Eyestone, Kempainen and Spence. The trio never panicked. Kempainen, 25, was running in only his second marathon and paced the mini-pack. Eyestone, who has been battling a head cold, blew his nose and periodically pounded his chest with his fist. Spence was stoic behind wraparound sunglasses. The three confidently stalked the leaders.

In time the 20-second gap began to evaporate. It vanished at mile 22 when the pack of three regained contact. Brantly abruptly slowed and tucked in behind the last runner. Reifsnyder grabbed his right hamstring and faded.

In an instant, the lead had changed. With only four miles left in the 26-mile 385-yard race, there was a new lead pack and no one seemed capable of catching it.

“It was a great sense of relief when we caught them,” Spence said.

Brantly eventually finished fourth and Reifsnyder fifth.

Eyestone shot a few glances over his shoulder, not wanting a runner to sneak up on him and take away his place on the Olympic team.

“Fortunately, we were able to put some space on them in a short period of time, “ he said.

It took only a mile to lose sight of the trailing runners. At 25 miles Spence made his breakaway move up a hill and left Eyestone and Kempainen.

Kempainen was in no mood to make a race of it, having spent two months last winter training in a pool while recovering from a stress fracture in his kneecap.

Eyestone, 30, likewise conserved his energy, perhaps thinking of Aug. 9, the date of the Olympic marathon in Barcelona, Spain. As much as he has tried to put it out of his mind, the image of his 29th-place finish at the Seoul Olympics has burned in his memory.

“The Olympics are a dream,” he said. “But when you go there and you have a less than illustrious performance--basically you stink up the place. . . . “

The three newest Olympians said they hope to shape a new image for the United States at Barcelona. Based on recent performances, they may not be running faster but they will be racing better.