Hunt Sets S.D. Marathon Mark : Wins Over Sitonik in a Walk; Aiello Captures Women’s Race

SAN DIEGO — With his home just a sprint away, Thom Hunt sped past Sam Sitonik as the two fraced on Pacific Beach Drive between the 19- and 20-mile mark of Saturday’s Holiday Bowl Heart of San Diego Marathon.

“On Pacific Beach Drive,” Hunt said, “I quickly turned a side-by-side into a 30-second advantage and I won the race. At that point, I felt I could keep him out of the race for good.”

Hunt had a feeling that two of his favorite training runs would be pivotal in the race, which featured 2,500 marathoners on a journey from Balboa Park through downtown San Diego, past the harbor, through Point Loma and Pacific Beach, past Mission Bay and on to the finish at Sea World.

“I figured that Pacific Beach Drive would be when push came to shove and East Mission Bay would be where the race was won or lost,” said the former Patrick Henry High track star, who ran a 2:12:26 to win easily.

Hunt, who was among the favorites, won his first marathon in four attempts and set a San Diego record on a new course that was fast and relatively flat. The previous mark of 2:14:02 was set by Rich Brownsberger of El Cajon in the 1986 Mission Bay Marathon.

The top woman finisher was Janine Aiello of San Francisco. She led from the 10-mile mark and ran a 2:34:34 to win her first marathon and improve her personal best by nearly five minutes.

“I feel fantastic,” said Aiello, who finished second in the San Francisco Marathon in July. “I started conservatively, but once I passed Liz (Baker) I didn’t see her for good.”

Steve Scott (29:32) and Sue Berenda (33:19) were the winners in the 10-kilometer portion of the race.

Both marathon winners received $4,000 and a 1987 convertible. The second-place finishers--defending men’s champion Agapius Masong (2:13:26) of Tanzania and Mindy Ireland (2:37:43) of Alpine--won $3,000. Masong came on to pass Sitonik in the late stages of the race but he never seriously challenged for the lead throughout the second half. Third-place finishers, Sitonik and Baker of Rancho Santa Fe, won $1,500 each.

In the final third of the men’s marathon, Hunt and Sitonik, a world-class runner from Kenya competing in his first marathon, were running side by side as they approached Ocean Front Walk, which parallels the ocean.

“Sam kept fading back,” Hunt said, “but he was staying in the picture.”

After the runners left the boardwalk, the race belonged to Hunt.

“I was going to take off at 19 miles,” Sitonik said, “but he took off at 18 and kind of took me by surprise. Then I couldn’t go with him.”

At 20 miles, Hunt had a time of 1:39:55 and was on pace for the fastest American marathon of the year. But running virtually by himself, Hunt faded in the final three miles. Hunt also missed bettering his top time of 2:12:14, which he ran at the New Jersey Waterfront Marathon earlier this year.

“Everything went exactly the way I wanted,” said Hunt, who has trained rigorously since dropping out of the Chicago Marathon in October after 16 miles.

One of Hunt’s training partners is Ron Tabb, the former husband of Olympic runner Mary Decker Slaney. Tabb, a 2:09:32 marathoner who recently moved to San Diego, is still working himself back into competitive condition. On Saturday, he played an important role in Hunt’s victory.

Acting as a rabbit for the first 10 miles, Tabb set a fast time and a steady pace for Hunt and the other early leaders. Tabb was set to go 15 miles, but he cramped at 10 miles.

“He did his job,” Hunt said. “The reason we had Ron in the race was to make sure we got off to an even tempo. Having a nice rhythm definitely helped. What he did was assist in keeping it under control.”

Being under control--mentally and physically--has been Hunt’s goal since the Chicago race. He has been attending workshops, including one on “Competitive Winning” in Kona, Hawaii, last week.

“I’m learning a lot about myself,” said Hunt, who plans to run the marathon at the U.S. Olympic Trials. “Everyone throws out a big number of what percentage of the race is mental and then they don’t do anything about it. I think it is 100% mental and 100% physical. Going to workshops is part of my mental preparation. I do my physical preparation on the road.”

On roads like Pacific Beach Drive and East Mission Bay Drive.