Records Fall At Motorola Marathon; Four Course Records Set and $88,500 in Prize Money Awarded

Business Wire,  Feb 19, 2001  

Tags: Motorola Inc.

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Business Editors

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2001

Russians Mohamed Nazipov and Elena Paramonova shattered the men's and women's course records Sunday at the 10th annual Motorola Marathon in Austin, Texas. This year's marathon hosted more than 5,200 marathon runners, an increase of 28 percent from a year ago, and 863 marathon relay teams.

The 39 year-old Nazipov shaved nearly three minutes off the existing course record set a year ago (2:14:10), crossing the tape at 2:11:14. Paramonova, a 31 year-old Russian who now resides in Maryland, cut more than a minute from the 2000 women's course record of 2:34:01, finishing in 2:32:55. Andrzej Krzyscin of Poland, who was the second male runner to cross the finish line, also broke the Motorola Marathon course record with a time of 2:11:41. The male Wheelchair division winner was 41 year-old Ramiro Bermudiz of Texas, who was first to cross the finish line with a time of 1:52:03. Additionally, Eddie Hellebuyck, 40, of New Mexico, broke the Masters division (age 40 - 49) course record with a time of 2:16:47.

"The first year I ran the marathon in London, I started fast," said Nazipov, who first took the lead at the third mile. "I decided to keep that pace so it was quite easy today, and the weather was wonderful." A group of eight elite runners broke away from the pack at mile three. Nazipov was challenged by a group of three other runners until leaving that group behind about a third of the way into the race.

The fourth-place finisher here a year ago, Paramonova echoed Nazipov's observations about the clear, dry race conditions. "The race was beautiful," said Paramonova, who took the lead in the twentieth mile. "I wanted to win but I didn't count on it. I would call this a surprise but it's something I wanted quietly." Just two weeks ago, Paramonova won a half marathon in Hampton, Virginia.

Participants in the 2001 Motorola Marathon included 65 elite runners from 16 countries (Brazil, Belarus, Canada, Ethiopia, Hungary, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, United States and Zambia) - including four recent Olympians - Americans Eddy Hellebuyck and Linda Somers Smith, Canadian Tina Connelly and Zambian Charles Mulinga.

Race Winners

The Motorola Marathon prize money purse totals $88,500 with $10,000 going to both the overall male and overall female winners. In addition to the Open division, the Motorola Marathon awarded prize money to men and women in the Masters, Seniors, Veterans and Wheelchair divisions. In total, awards will be presented to individuals in more than 33 age, weight and special recognition divisions.

   Category            Name            Time    Age     Origin
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Overall Male      Mohamed Nazipov     2:11:14   39  Moscow, Russia
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Overall Female    Elena Paramonova    2:32:55   31  Russia
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Wheelchair Male   Ramiro Bermudiz     1:52:03   41  Houston, Texas
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Wheelchair Female Katherine Hunter    2:58:12   39  Orlando, Florida
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Masters Male      Eddy Hellebuyck     2:16:47   40  Albuquerque, NM
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Masters Female    Alevtina Naoumova   2:37:45   40  Plantation, Florida
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Seniors Male      Joseph Nzau         2:55:58   51  Farmington, NM
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Seniors Female    Charlotte Hartwig   3:37:45   54  Salem, Oregon
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Veterans Male     Harold Wilson       3:21:20   67  Tyler, Texas
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Veterans Female   Mary Kennard        4:09:31   61  Richardson, Texas
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Relay Males       James Lawrence      2:22:49   31  Orange, Texas
                  and John Reich                31  Pearland, Texas
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Relay Mixed       Terry Garrett and   2:33:50   37  Houston, Texas
                  Monique Ecker                 31  Dallas, Texas
----------------- ----------------- ---------- ---- ------------------
Relay Females     Mary Rodrigs and    2:53:18   41  Woodlands, Texas
                  Erin Rodrigs                  19  Austin, Texas
----------------------------------------------------------------------
(Results as of 02/18/2001, 9:00pm eastern)

"This has been the most exciting Motorola Marathon yet, with four course records set and two elite athletes qualifying for the IAAF World Championships," said Motorola Marathon race director John Conley. "We had a record number of runners, a record contribution to our charitable beneficiary, the weather was ideal and we even had two finish-line marriage proposals - this race will be hard to top."