ONEONTA _ Ethiopian Alemtsehay Misganaw can thank her husband,
Jason Jett, for helping her reclaim the Pit Run 10K women's title Sunday.
Jett said he informed Misganaw on Saturday in her Manhattan
residence that the race was Sunday, not Oct. 9 as she said she thought.
"She thought it was next week," Jett said. "I
said 'The race is (Sunday).' She didn't tell me until yesterday (that she wanted
to run the race). She remembered it from the past. She knew it was around the
second week of October, but because October began yesterday, she probably got
it (the date) wrong."
That quick save was bad news for 2010 women's champion Amanda
LoPiccolo, who finished 11 seconds behind Misganaw with a time of 37 minutes,
17 seconds.
The overall champion was Misganaw's traveling partner, Fikadu
Lemma, who covered the 6.2-mile course through the streets of Oneonta in 31:25,
30 seconds faster than runner-up Josh Edmonds _ the Daily Star's Male Track
Athlete of the Year in 2006, when he competed for Cooperstown.
Both winners earned $500 for their victories in the 18th edition
of the race.
LoPiccolo said she ran the race her way and at her pace,
realizing she was unlikely to catch Misganaw.
"She's a better runner than I am," Unatego graduate
LoPiccolo said. "She has better credentials. She has better personal bests
as far as that goes, so I know that on any given day she's going to be better.
But you never know on race day what happens. She might not be feeling her best,
something could be aching. You never know so you can't count yourself out.
You've just got to keep reminding yourself of that. So you know I thought,
'Maybe there was time where I could try to close it (the gap),' but she always
responded with a little something too."
Misganaw said this race was a chance for her to remove thoughts
of what Jett said was a subpar 2:45 performance in the Sept. 25 Marathon de
Montreal, Quebec's largest running event. Jett said this was a recovery run for
Misganaw, who ran the slowest time of her five Pit Run titles, the first four
coming consecutively from 2006-09.
"I'm tired from last week's marathon," said Misganaw,
who noted the course's hills and drops as being the most difficult part of the
race. "Marathons are hard. I know my pace, (if) somebody catches (me), I
run faster. If not, I relax more. I know my speed. I control (my pace). I know
myself and nobody catches me. I like this race _ the people, the city, everything."
Jett said Misganaw, who said she likes 10Ks better than
marathons, skipped last year's Pit Run because she had another race that same
day. He added that Misganaw decided to run this race even though the Pit Run's
first-place money is $500.
"We try to target major races and we said (Misganaw would
run) no race where first-place prize money is under $1,000," Jett said.
"This year she just wanted to race after Montreal because she did 2:45 and
she was disappointed. She wanted to get it out of her system, so she wanted to
come."
LoPiccolo ran the first mile with her husband, Matt. She said
she was ready for the race's notorious Bugbee Hill.
"I felt strong," LoPiccolo said. "Obviously the
hill is killer. There's nothing you can do about it. I think it's the only 10K
I've ever run where my second half is faster than my first half. You know that
going in so you just kind of mentally prepare yourself for it. I felt strong
and nothing hurt. Obviously, the hill is always hard, but (I) just kept telling
myself to get to the top (of Bugbee Hill) and then I tried to run that fourth
mile strong going down the hill.
Misganaw led throughout.
"I could see (Misganaw) the whole time," LoPiccolo
said. "It just pretty much stayed that way from mile two to the end. We
maintained about the same distance. I kept trying to throw in a little surge
here and there and just close a little bit. On the turns she would look behind
her and see where I was. We pretty much stayed the same (distance apart) the
whole time. It's great having the crowd support, everyone cheering me on and
telling me to go get her and I appreciate it, but you can only do what you can do."
Jett drove three of the 10K event's elite runners, leaving New
York City at 6 a.m. Sunday with Misganaw, Lemma and women's third-place
finisher Alem Ashebir, who finished 20th overall in 39:42.
Jett said the three runners are friends and members of New York
City's tight road-racing community.
Lemma ran a 5:04 per mile pace and said he felt he had a chance
to win after the four-mile mark.
"I got stronger and the course got flatter," Lemma
said.
Outside of soreness in his hips that set in while he climbed
Bugbee Hill, Lemma said he felt strong.
"I get slow (going uphill) then I push my pace and I came
through," said Ethopian-born Lemma, 27, who lives in the Bronx. "My
friends told me this race is very fine, very good and then I come run this
race. The hills tax your hips."
Lemma said he regained his edge when he came down Bugbee Hill
and his pain subsided.
Jett said Lemma has had previous experience running the New York
City Marathon in 2010 and the Great Manchester (10K) Race in 2009. Lemma also set
a personal 10K record with a 28:30 performance in Ethopia in 2007, Jett said.
Lemma, who moved to the United States two years ago to train,
said he enjoyed his first Pit Run.
"I like the race organizers and the people behind it,"
Lemma said. "I like the area and the course is good."
Richfield Springs graduate Kane Seamon placed third in 33:43.
SUNY Delhi cross country coach Justin Wood, a Walton graduate,
returned to the Pit Run after missing last season's race with a left-foot
injury. He finished fourth in 34:56.
Race organizer Steve Parisian said he appreciated the crowd
support.
"We definitely have the support and the people up in the
crow's nest (who spot the finishing runners)," Parisian said. "We see
their numbers. We do announce their names and the people really get into it.
They are great. The crows play along with us and they keep clapping as the
names are announced, and that helps the audience. They know they are cheering
for someone as they cross."
According to the Pit Run's website, Edmonds and LoPiccolo hold
age-group course records. Edmonds set the under-15 record of 38:26 in 2002, and
LoPiccolo set the 15-19 course record of 40:09 in 2000.
The Pit Run is held in honor of Oneonta native Ricky "Pit"
Parisian, a New York state trooper who died in 1994 while trying to prevent an
armed robbery.
The Parisian family suffered another loss last month, when
Ricky's father, Alvin, died Sept. 9 at the age of 86.
Steve Parisian, Ricky's older brother, said it was more
difficult going through the day's events without his dad, a staunch supporter
of the race.
"When that time came it really hit us all," Steve
Parisian said of Alvin's absence. "It was a lot harder than I thought it
was going to be. With all the emotion, we were running on little sleep. It was
really difficult."
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