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Runners to watch in NYC Marathon
Posted: Friday November 03, 2000 2:43 PM
In the long run, there is life after Olympia. Just five weeks after the Closing Ceremonies -- and the men's marathon -- at the Sydney Games, the New York City Marathon, one of the world's premier running events, will grace Gotham's five boroughs. Here is a look at a half-dozen men and women to keep an eye on as they run their way from Staten Island to Manhattan on Sunday:
MEN
Abdelkader El Mouaziz, Morocco, 31
 El Mouaziz ran 2:07:33 in the London Marathon this year, finishing second to Portugal's Antonio Pinto and establishing himself as a favorite at the Olympics. He placed a disappointing seventh in Sydney and will be hard pressed to run fast so soon after competing in a major marathon. He has not fared well on hilly, demanding courses and will find the terrain in New York more difficult than the flatter streets of London.
Japhet Kosgei, Kenya, 32
Kosgei was a wheat and corn farmer who grew up far from city life and didn't run a race until age 28. Two years later he won his first marathon in Turin and has since added victories in Tokyo, Rotterdam and Venice. His personal record of 2:07:09 is the fastest of anyone in the field. Kosgei earned a spot on the Kenyan Olympic team but was replaced, in what was largely believed to be a political decision, after officials claimed he wasn't training properly.
Josia Thugwane, South Africa, 29
A few months before the '96 Olympics Thugwane survived two major scares, neither of which kept him from competing in the Games. First, he was shot in the face during a robbery. Then, he threw out his back trying to prevent a carjacking. He recovered to become South Africa's first black Olympic champion when he won the Atlanta marathon, making him a national hero. Thugwane stumbled last year in New York, when he stepped in a pothole and had to drop out of the race. He placed 20th in the Sydney marathon and is a long shot here.
John Kagwe, Kenya, 31
Kagwe won this race in 1997 and '98 but placed fifth last year. His '97 victory came in spite of an annoying shoelace that refused to stay tied. He stopped twice during the race to knot it before finally running the last three miles in fear that his unlaced shoe would fly off. He splits his training time between sites in Kenya and Norristown, Pa. When Kagwe was away from home this winter, 10 thieves broke a window in his house and, in front of his wife and two children, poured gasoline into the living room and threatened to light the house on fire if they did not surrender all valuables. The men stole nearly everything, but left Kagwe's two New York City Marathon trophies. In May, one month after a sixth-place showing in Boston, Kagwe emerged unharmed from an accident in which his car flipped over three times.
Shem Kororia, Kenya, 28
Since winning the bronze medal at 5,000 meters at the 1995 World Championships, Kororia has been on the verge of distance-running stardom. He won the 1997 World Half Marathon title in Kosice, Slovakia, but has yet to break through in a major marathon. He placed third in New York last year (2:09:32) after a ninth-place showing in 1998.
German Silva, Mexico, 32
Wrong-way German made the mistake of many New York tourists when he veered off course in 1994. Fortunately, a screaming police officer caught his attention to let him know the race was heading in another direction. Silva, who was leading at the time, 25 miles into the marathon, re-traced his errant steps and, once back on course, had to outkick countryman Benjamin Paredes to win his first New York City Marathon. Silva won again in '95. In '97 and '98, he bested his previous winning times but finished fifth and fourth, respectively. His fitness has been in question since he began training apart from the top Mexicans three years ago. He is one of 13 children born into a family of orange growers.
WOMEN
Tegla Loroupe, Kenya, 27
In an age when nearly all world-class American runners can walk down the streets of a major U.S. city unnoticed, Loroupe has become a popular and recognized figure in New York, albeit a small one at 4-foot-11, 82 pounds. She won this event in 1994 and '95 and has one third- and two seventh-place finishes in her other tries. In 1998 she broke Ingrid Kristiansen's 13-year-old world marathon best, lowering the mark to 2:20:47. She dropped that by another four seconds at the Berlin Marathon in September 1999 and has held the standard since. Loroupe has not fared as well in world and Olympic competitions, winning only a single bronze at 10,000 meters at the 1995 Worlds in Goteborg, Sweden. Though she trains in Europe, Loroupe remains a strong advocate for female athletes in her native Kenya.
Franca Fiacconi, Italy, 35
Coaches have a tough time keeping Fiacconi from overtraining and overracing. When the 35-year-old finally retires from elite competition, she says she may take some time off and then return to run 12 to 15 marathons a year just for fun, instead of racing three or four seriously. Fiacconi has raced New York the last four years, finishing in each of the top four spots. Her victory in '98 was one of 10 career marathon titles. That year she ran three marathons under 2:30 and nearly became the first woman ever to run four sub-2:30s in the same year when she won a fourth race in 2:30:21.
Adriana Fernandez, Mexico, 29
Fernandez pulled away to win this race last year, but less than two months after a 16th-place showing in Sydney, she'll have a hard time repeating. Fernandez has twice won 5,000-meter titles at the Pan-Am Games and will have the best speed of anyone in the field, should the race be decided in the last mile. Fernandez started running at age 15 after accompanying her father, Daniel, then an amateur boxer, on many of his training runs.
Margaret Okayo, Kenya, 24
A year ago Okayo lost to countrywoman Joyce Chepchumba by one second at the Chicago Marathon. This year she came back to win the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego in 2:27:05. Kenyan coaches believe Okayo could emerge as a world or Olympic winner before her career is done.
Hellen Kimaiyo, Kenya, 32
Kimaiyo was just 15 when she ran in the heats of the 3,000 meters at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Since then she has been a successful road runner, racing on six continents before finishing 10th in her marathon debut in London in 1997. She placed third at this year's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon, running astride Okayo for much of the race.
Yuko Arimori, Japan, 33
Her best is probably behind her, but you can't discount a runner who has won silver and bronze medals at the Olympics. At the '92 Barcelona Games, Arimori became the first Japanese woman to win an athletics medal since 1928 when she finished second in the marathon on an 85-degree day to Russian Valentina Yegorova.
Sports Illustrated staff writer Brian Cazeneuve covers Olympic sports for the magazine and is a frequent contributor to CNNSI.com.
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