Same story, odd ending

LITTLE ROCK — A pair of familiar faces crossed the finish line first Sunday at the 11th running of the Little Rock Marathon.

No one was shocked to see two-time men’s winner Mark Chepses and four time women’s winner Leah Thorvilson as the first to cross the finish line in their respective divisions.

The surprise came later when it was discovered that Thorvilson hadn’t won anything.

Thorvilson, a Little Rock native who entered as the women’s favorite, saw her hold on the title end at about the 7-mile mark when nagging injuries forced her to change course and run what ended up being about the equivalent of a half-marathon.

That left former Harding University runner Hellen Rotich as the women’s marathon winner. Rotich, 33, finished in a personal-best 2 hours, 47 minutes, 12 seconds to win her second Little Rock Marathon. Rotich, a native of Kenya who lives in Manor, Texas, won her other Little Rock Marathon title in 2008.

“You always hope and pray that maybe you’ll have that miracle day when things really won’t hurt, but it didn’t happen,” Thorvilson said. “You don’t want to end your streak because you’re injured. I’m not going to win the Little Rock Marathon forever, but I would like the year that I lose to be because I was able to put up my best fight and somebody there was more talented that day.”

Chepses took advantage of what some considered unfavorable weather conditions to win his third consecutive Little Rock Marathon men’s title with a time of 2:19:45.

That was more than five minutes faster than the 2:24:07 he ran for his first Little Rock title in 2011, almost 10 minutes faster than the 2:29:47 he ran last year, and about three minutes off his personal best.

Chepses, a native of Kenya, said he went faster in the first few miles just to warm up with temperatures hovering around 30 degrees at the start of the race at 8 a.m.

“It was really tough,” said Chepses, 36, who lives in West Des Moines, Iowa, and trains in Mexico. “It was really cold.”

Chepses finished almost two minutes ahead of runner-up Jesse Davis, 31, of Indianapolis and said he plans to go for his fourth Little Rock Marathon title next year.

Rotich, 33, also took advantage of the cold temperatures and windy conditions.

“In cold weather, I know it’s hard,” Rotich said. “It’s easy to run when it’s really hot. I went out there knowing it was cold, and it’s cold forever. ... You just do what you have to do.”

Thorvilson, 34, said she has been dealing with injuries to her left hip and hamstring since last May. Rather than risk further injury by trying to finish the 26.2-mile course, she decided at about the 7-mile mark to change course before even trying to make it through the hilly portion of the marathon that cuts through the Hillcrest area and dominates the middle portion of the race.

That led to some confusion as Thorvilson was first recognized as the half marathon winner, as she ran through a banner that was stretched across the finish line by race organizers to signify winners.

But since she was entered in the marathon - she wore a yellow bib designating her as a marathon participant - she wasn’t eligible for the half marathon title or an official time even though she crossed the finish line in about one hour, 20 minutes.

Jennifer Harpel, 34, of Conway, was the actual half marathon women’s winner, crossing the finish line in 1:26:54. She said she thought she might have won the half marathon title but initially was told that she had finished second.

It wasn’t until Harpel went to retrieve her medal that race organizers told her she had won.

“She’s definitely capable of beating the crap out of me,” Harpel said of Thorvilson. “I was thrilled with second, like, ‘That’s cool, I won a little bit of money.’ They called my name and I was like, ‘They were going to give me an award?’ I had no idea.”

Thorvilson, who said she had never failed to finish a marathon she started before Sunday, said she wouldn’t have entered if it hadn’t been her hometown race, because of her injuries. She said she has no plans to run in the immediate future.

“I’ve wiped the calendar off,” Thorvilson said. “I was going to get through this and heal up. That’s definitely still the goal.”

Rotich, the runner-up last year about 10 minutes behind Thorvilson, said she entered Sunday’s race knowing that Thorvilson had been battling injuries, but she didn’t know her main rival had to bow out Sunday until she rounded the final turn and saw that she was in the lead.

“I know she’s good, but I know she was fighting injuries,” Rotich said. “I didn’t know, just going out and running my race. ... You never know. You don’t discount yourself.”

Information for this article was contributed by Frankie Frisco of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Top 5 MEN 1. Mark Chepses, West Des Moines, Iowa, 2:19.45 2. Jesse Davis, Indianapolis, 2:21.11 3. Daniel Kirwa, Searcy, 2:23.08 4. Jake Buhler, Edmond, Okla.; 2:25.18 5. Wojciech Kopec, Searcy, 2:26.54

WOMEN 1. Hellen Rotich, Manor, Texas, 2:47:12 2. Tracy Tungac, Bryant 3:00:14 3. Sarah Overpeck, Indianapolis, 3:01:16 4. Tia Stone, Searcy, 3:07:11 5. Jennifer Benitez, Chicago, 3:08:40 Complete results on Pages 2-3W.

Quotable

“You don’t want to end your streak because you’re injured. I’m not going to win the Little Rock Marathon forever, but I would like the year that I lose to be because I was able to put up my best fight and somebody there was more talented that day.”

• Leah Thorvilson