He Picks Up the Tab--and a Victory : Running: Phillimon Hanneck, a 22-year-old from Zimbabwe, wins the Arturo Barrios Invitational in a record 28 minutes 5 seconds.

While at least one elite runner demanded a $25 a day per diem in addition to round-trip air fare and room and board before agreeing to compete in Sunday’s Arturo Barrios Invitational, another, Phillimon Hanneck, pondered whether he should pay his way.

The 22-year-old from Zimbabwe isn’t exactly a big name--on the road circuit, not as far as number of letters go--and he knew that to get from El Paso to the start line of the 10-kilometer race he would have to pick up the tab.

Hanneck decided to gamble and spent “a couple hundred dollars” getting here.

He leaves with the winner’s check, $4,000, and a $500 bonus for setting the event record, 28 minutes 5 seconds.

That is the fastest time run in California on a certified 10K loop course. The previous event record for men came in 1990 when John Halvorsen clocked a 28:23. And it was only the second time Hanneck has competed at this distance. A year ago in Italy he ran a 28:02.

“I knew about that,” said Tim Murphy, race director, “but I discounted it because they just don’t have any credibility over there in course distances. They have great runners, but no course certification.”

Judging from Sunday’s race, Hanneck’s first 10-kilometer time was real. Not only did Hanneck shatter Halvorsen’s mark, he beat the second-place finisher by more than 30 seconds. Mexico’s German Silva, considered by many the pre-race favorite, finished at 28:36, and Marc Davis, a 1987 San Diego High graduate, was the first American to cross. He came in third, two seconds behind Silva.

In the women’s race, Gwyn Coogan of Massachusetts was similarly successful winning in event-record time of 32:30. Second-place Wilma Van Onna of the Netherlands, last year’s winner, finished 17 seconds behind, and Carmen De Oliveira of Brazil was third at 33:08.

The former women’s record was set by Rosa Mota in 1989. She turned in a mark of 32:42 in the inaugural Arturo Barrios Invitational when the race was held in Santa Ana.

The men’s winner is better known for shorter distances. Hanneck ran the mile last May in Milan in 3:53.06 and competed in the Summer Olympics in the 1,500 meters, making it to the semifinals.

He said he was somewhat in awe of the spectacle in Barcelona and did not perform well.

“It was very hard,” he said. “People were up all night long making noise. I couldn’t sleep. I wasn’t really tired, but I was kind of confused.”

Apparently he remained that way for quite a while.

“I just didn’t want to do anything after the Olympics,” Hanneck said. “But then after two months of resting, I wanted to see where I was, and I decided I wanted to come out here to do that.”

Problem was, he only decided a couple weeks ago, by which time the race’s travel budget had been completely siphoned. Murphy said he would have been glad to pick up Hanneck’s travel costs had he known beforehand that Hanneck wanted to compete.

“I knew he was good,” Murphy said. “But I had no idea what kind of shape he was in.”

It appeared to be a good race in which to gauge fitness. The entire men’s field of 23 stayed bunched up for the first two miles of the 6.2-mile event. They finished the first mile in 4:37, then did the second in 4:36.

The pack did not start breaking up until after the second mile, and that’s because Hanneck decided to maintain the torrid pace. He even quickened it a bit, finishing the third in 4:30, the fourth in 4:26 and the fifth in 4:29.

“I couldn’t believe it,” he said afterward, shaking his head. “I don’t know--maybe it’s because El Paso is real hot right now and here it is kind of cool.”

Hanneck’s rise in the sport has been meteoric. He competed on his high school track team in Zimbabwe, but with no success.

“I used to come home crying,” he said. “I was really bad.”

After Sunday’s race Hanneck had just one complaint.

“Those last two miles, it way hard for me,” he said. “Because no one was there to help (push) me. If there was, I could have gone even faster.”

Like Hanneck, Coogan, the women’s winner, ran away from the field, but unlike Hanneck, she still felt pressured by it.

“I think I ran fast because it was a flat course, because of the crowd and out of fear,” she said.

Of what was she afraid?

“Of who was behind me,” she answered. “I was worried because there was a great pack of women and I had no idea if they were working together and if they could come back and get me.”

Arturo Barrios Notes

There was a total prize purse of $21,000. German Silva and Wilma Van Onna won $2,400 for their second-place finishes. Marc Davis and Carmen De Oliveira won $1,200 for third place. Faustino Reynoso of Mexico, whose agent asked for per diem, was fifth in the men’s race and won $500. The men’s winner, Phillimon Hanneck, is coached by former Tanzanian great Sulyiamen Nyambui. Hanneck was asked how much difference Nyambui has made in his running. “Like 55%, I guess,” he said. Hanneck said he is being advised to concentrate on the 5,000 meters and that he is likely to follow that advice. If Hanneck follows through, race director Tim Murphy, who also directs the Carlsbad 5,000, said he definitely will pay Hanneck’s way to the April race--if Hanneck wants to enter.