Mark Mendrek-Laske, Emily Han Top Woodlands Marathon; Austin’s Cecila Holmes Takes Second
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Mark Mendrek-Laske, a former middle distance ace at Georgia Tech, took top honors Sunday at the Legacy Capital Woodlands Marathon, while Houston’s Emily Han topped the women’s field.
Mendrek-Laske, who recently ran a swift 1:07:22 at the Aramco Houston Half Marathon knocked out 5:38 miles along the flat course and had a comfortable lead through 10K (34:43) and 10 miles (55:53). The temperatures stayed in the mid to high 50s at that point, and Mendrek-Laske held off Christopher Wallace’s brief surge to the front at the half-way mark. Aside from that, Mendrek-Laske had a comfortable lead as he cruised the remainder of the course, the rising temperatures, which were approaching 70 degrees by the finish his only threat. He broke the tape along the Woodlands Waterway in 2:27:26. Granbury’s Caleb Bendewald’s, who won the Route 66 Marathon in Tulsa, Oklahoma last November, set a personal best of 2:32:31 for second place. Maryland-based runner John Ladesic took third in 2:35:09.
Han, going for a sub-three hour time, averaged 6:40 miles, passing through the 10K mark in 40:57 in the women’s marathon race. At that point, her closest pursuer was Austin’s Celia Holmes, who was a minute behind. Han hit the half-way mark in 1:27:52 and successfully met her sub-3 hour goal crossing the finish in 2:59:15. Holmes held on for second in 3:01:04, holding off a fast-closing Natalia Villarreal of Mexico City, third in 3:01:13.
Both Mendrek-Laske and Han pocketed $1,750 in prize money for their victories.
Mauricio Mendez Cruz and Becky Firth won the accompanying half marathon in 1:08:11 and 1:14:14 respectively.
Strong Contingent of Austin Runners
A strong showing of Austin runners competed in the full marathon — 24 in all — with Sam Beiter, Tomas Callejas, Hsinhua Chen leading the way under three hours. As mentioned above, Celia Holmes ran an outstanding race, taking second overall in the women’s field.
A total of 35 Austin runners showed up for the half marathon, with Evan Pollock topping that list with a fine 1:13:35. Raphael Brion was not far behind, clocking 1:16:58. Kelli Walsh was second woman overall in the half, nailing a 1:17:08. Katy Cranfill posted a 1:21:21. The pair ranked third and fourth overall of Austin runners.
Upcoming races: Saturday, March 15, at 8:00 a.m., St. Paddy’s Day Pickle Run 5K at the Comal County Fairgrounds in New Braunfels. Sunday, March 16 at 8:00 a.m., Time to Paddy 5K/10K and Half Marathon at the Southeast Metro Park in Del Valle.
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