Encinitas’ Fuhr, Hernandez win again at San Dieguito Half
North County Times – Escondido,CA,USA
Hernandez, of Chula Vista, repeated as the men’s champion, while Fuhr, an
Encinitas resident and a former Ironman world champion, returned after a
two-year …

RANCHO SANTA FE —-ÝA little rain wasn’t about to keep a pair of former champions from their appointment with the finish line for the San Dieguito Half Marathon.

Hector Hernandez and Heather Fuhr found themselves in familiar territory Sunday in the 39th annual running tour of Rancho Santa Fe. Hernandez, of Chula Vista, repeated as the men’s champion, while Fuhr, an Encinitas resident and a former Ironman world champion, returned after a two-year absence to win the women’s race for an event-record seventh time.

“I ran what I could, and I felt in control the whole race,” said Fuhr, 39. “It feels good to still be racing.”

Fuhr built a lead of 1 minute, 50 seconds by the halfway turnaround point and never looked back as she finished in 1 hour, 21 minutes, 2 seconds. The steady rain that began right at race time was not a factor, said Fuhr.

“It was actually perfect temperature, as far as running goes,” she said. “The rain made it a little slippery, but not to the point where it was a problem. The times may have been a little slower, though.”

Hernandez, 35, defended his men’s title by pulling away from a pair of challengers, including local running standout Brian Culley of Encinitas. Hernandez finished in 1:13:06, noticeably slower than his winning mark of 1:09:33 last year.

“With the rain coming down, I was running just to enjoy the run for the first half of the race,” Hernandez said. “I didn’t want to get too serious because I tend to go out too fast.”

Hernandez, Culley and Anthony Momanyi of Kenya were running three abreast at the halfway point. It was Momanyi who made the first push after the turnaround on Lago Lindo.

“He made a pretty big surge, and Brian didn’t respond,” said Hernandez, who also had a runner-up finish here in 2004. “I came up on his back as we were going up a tough hill, and I thought I’d better put on a surge of my own.”

That was just after Mile 9, and Hernandez pulled away from there.

“I figured that if he responded and stayed with me, I’d have to wait for the finish to make another move,” Hernandez said. “But at Mile 10, he was 50 meters back.”

Momanyi, 27, was racing for the first time in the U.S. after arriving in the San Diego area from Kenya three weeks ago to train for the Los Angeles Marathon on March 4. He placed second Sunday in 1:14:45.

“This was a hilly course, but I enjoyed it,” Momanyi said. “I’d like to come back next year and run it again.”

Culley, who finished 12 seconds behind Momanyi, was happy with his effort, considering his work and travel schedule has prevented him from training as much as in past years.

“I ran the Carlsbad Half Marathon last month and finished in 15th place, which I wasn’t real happy about,” said Culley, 35. “To get third place in this race against this kind of competition makes me feel a little better about where I’m at.”

Fuhr and Hernandez were both coming off solid performances in recent races. Fuhr had a runner-up finish last weekend at the Super Run 10K along Mission Bay.

“I hadn’t been doing much racing until last weekend, but I’m looking at a few events coming up,” Fuhr said. “I might try a few XTERRA races.”

Finishing in second place among the women, more than three minutes behind Fuhr, was Mary Moore of Irvine, who stopped the watches in 1:24:25. Katya Meyers of San Diego was third in 1:25:36.

Hernandez had an impressive double the day before the San Dieguito Half, winning a pair of races at the Carrot Festival in Holtville, including a 5K in 16:39 and a mile in 4:45.

“Those were low-key races,” Hernandez said. “The half-marathon distance is setting well with me right now as I get older.”

Sunday’s 5K winners were Dmytro Lehonkov of San Diego, who topped the men’s field in 15:51, and Ceci Stgeme of Newport Beach, who bested the women’s field in 17:51.

Contact staff writer Rick Hoff at (760) 740-3545 or rhoff@nctimes.com. Comment at sports.nctimes.com.

SAN DIEGUITO HALF MARATHON RESULTS

At Rancho Santa Fe

Overall Top Finishers

HALF MARATHON

Male

1. Hector Hernandez (Chula Vista) 1:13:06, 2. Anthony Momanyi (Kenya) 1:14:45, 3. Brian Culley (Encinitas) 1:14:57, 4. Eric Egenolf (Silver Spring, Md.) 1:15:32, 5. James Walsh (Carlsbad) 1:15:50, 6. David Easa (Vista) 1:16:01, 7. Prapat Bogush (San Diego) 1:17:19, 8. Patrick Baldwin (Del Mar) 1:17:48, 9. Craig Zelent (Carlsbad) 1:18:10, 10. Kevin Gillotti (Carlsbad) 1:18:12.

Female

1. Heather Fuhr (Encinitas) 1:21:02, 2. Mary Moore (Irvine) 1:24:25, 3. Katya Meyers (San Diego) 1:25:36, 4. Sherri Ellerby (Dana Point) 1:29:19, 5. Tracy Dimino (Ramona) 1:30:34, 6. Andi Ramer (San Diego) 1:32:03, 7. Anne Ruminski (San Diego) 1:32:13, 8. Jennifer Young (Carlsbad) 1:33:25, 9. Alaina Neary (San Diego) 1:33:49, 10. Sarah Hyman (San Diego) 1:34:16.

5K

Male

1. Dmytro Lehonkov (San Diego) 15:51, 2. Neal Harder (San Diego) 16:10, 3. Mike Tarantino (San Diego) 17:16, 4. Paul Achee (San Diego) 17:18, 5. Joseph Binder (San Diego) 17:23.

Female

1. Ceci Stgeme (Newport Beach) 17:51, 2. Misako Win (Carlsbad) 19:49, 3. Vanessa Lordi (Livermore) 19:55, 4. Stephanie Curnow (San Marcos) 20:04, 5. Jayne Klein (San Diego) 20:04.