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The
number of starters was not immediately available after the race,
but 144 women qualified and 107 finished the race.
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Colleen
De Reuck, Deena Kastor, Sylvia Mosqueda, and Kim Fitchen Young ran
near the front early on.
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#138
Mary Cote, #113 Kathy Aragon, and #69 Heather Bury.
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#4
Blake Russell moved to the front after two laps, and put a big gap
on the field before exiting the track.
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Due
to a slow(ish) first 800, Blake Russell's one-mile split was approximately
5:38...
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...but
she hit the two-mile mark in 10:43, giving her a second mile of
5:05.
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Russell
made her strategy clear immediately, she was going to...
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...go
after a time, regardless of what the rest of the field decided to
do.
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Russell
approaches the two-mile mark with a sizeable lead.
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The
course consisted of 3.65 loops around Forest Park in St. Louis.
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Russell
had the fourth-fastest qualifying time among the entrants.
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Her
only previous marathon was the 2003 Twin Cities Marathon...
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...in
which she ran 2:30:41 and won the race. While her strategy here...
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...was
one that doesn't tend to work in this type of race, no one could
take...
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...her
bold move lightly. Russell is coached by Bob Sevene, who coach Joan
Benoit Samuelson...
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...to
victory in the 1984 Olympic Marathon, a race she won with a front-running
strategy.
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25
minutes into the race, the runners behind Russell ran in pairs...
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...with
Deena Kastor (left) and Sylvia Mosqueda leading the chase.
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Kastor
and Mosqueda never really seemed to work together, they spent a
lot of time running on different...
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...sides
of the road and seemed to disagree about the quickest route on the
course.
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