No Protest Filed in L.A. Marathon

The noon Monday deadline passed without a protest from Russian marathon runner Nadezhda Ilyina, who was disqualified Sunday after apparently winning the women’s division of the 12th Los Angeles Marathon.

Lornah Kiplagat of Kenya was declared the winner, in 2 hours 33 minutes 50 seconds, after race officials said Ilyina had cut about 30 yards off the course by detouring through the parking lot of a convenience store at Santa Monica Boulevard and Virgil Avenue, near Mile 23 of the 26-mile, 385-yard race.

Kiplagat had finished two seconds behind Ilyina, who said that she was ill and looking for a bathroom at the time she left the course.

She was running third then and shortly thereafter passed Kiplagat, who was then second, and Irina Bogacheva of Kyrgyzstan, who was then leading and eventually finished second.

Boris Honikman, an official of USA Track and Field who was acting as referee for the race, disqualified Ilyina. He said Monday that he had not heard from Ilyina concerning a protest.

The disqualification cost Ilyina about $41,000, which is a combination of the $15,000 first prize and a car worth about $26,000.

Ilyina’s husband/coach, Ger Wijenberg, had said that any advantage taken was mitigated by time spent looking for the store’s facility, but that Ilyina had said she did not re-enter the race’s course where she left it.

“I am concerned about her name,” he said. “This happens in races in Europe all the time, cutting corners, but she knew that it was not supposed to happen here. If she cut corners, she should be disqualified, but she was not trying to take advantage.”