Monday, March 22, 1999
Sence, Keeler repeat victories in Heart Mini-Marathon
BY MARK SCHMETZER
Enquirer contributor
John Sence knows he'll have the support of the Cincinnati running community when he participates in the Olympic Marathon Trials next spring in Pittsburgh.
If he had any doubts, they were eliminated Sunday as he made his way west on Columbia Parkway along the return leg of the 22nd annual Cincinnati Heart Mini-Marathon. He was greeted by shouts of “Yea, John. Go, John. All right, John,” from the runners who were still on their way east.
“It's really nice,” said Sence, 29, who won for the second consecutive year.
“When you get out to the turnaround at Delta, it's kind of lonely, and the wind is smacking you in the face. The cheering lifts you up enough to keep battling. It gives you incentive. Running isn't a sport where there's a lot of glamor and it's nice to know you have some support.”
Sence completed the course in 46:28, 1:02 better than his best previous Mini-Marathon time. He beat his training partner, T.J. Lentz, to win the men's ChoiceCare Humana Cup.
Both have qualified for the Olympic Trials, as has Kelly Keeler, 37, who won her fourth consecutive women's Heart Mini-Marathon.
Keeler finished in 54:22 to take a full minute off of her previous best time.
“You can't take anything for granted,” she said. “You never
know who's going to show up.”
Three-thousand runners competed in the race, run on the familiar Columbia Parkway course, including the 100-yard detour up and down Torrence Parkway, in sunny, 40-degree temperatures offset by a consistent wind.
“It was a little breezy on the course,” Keeler said. “Once you turned off of Torrence, it was really strong. I tried to stay with a group of guys and draft a little bit, but they got some separation.
“I expected to run in the 54-minute range, so I was right there,” she said. “I did the last three all in about 55:22.”
Sence appreciated the race's return to Columbia Parkway, after a year's detour because of construction and because of its similarity to the Olympic Trials course in Pittsburgh. He will run the National Marathon over the same course in Pittsburgh on May 2, a couple of weeks after competing in a 10-kilometer race in New Orleans.
“If I win in Pittsburgh, that will give me confidence for the trials,” Sence said. “The Pittsburgh course is similar to Columbia Parkway. They're both kind of rolling and hilly. Columbia Parkway is hillier than you think. You don't realize it when you're just driving on it.”
The Pittsburgh race will prevent his participation in Cincinnati's inaugural Flying Pig marathon on May 9.
“It's nice running at home,” he said. “Something like (the Mini-Marathon) makes it worth it.”
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