Fearnley, Hunkeler wheel winners

NEW YORK -- While the men’s and women’s elite races at the ING New York City Marathon Sunday featured some surprises, the wheelchair races offered more of the same. Men’s winner Kurt Fearnley of Australia won for the fourth consecutive year and women’s champion Edith Hunkeler of Switzerland claimed her fifth consecutive title in New York.

Fearnley helped provide some heightened drama at the men’s finish. He held off American Krige Schabort by .15 seconds, winning in 1:35:58. Marcel Hug of Switzerland was third in 1:40:43

“I never expected that race to come down the way it did,” he said. “I attacked a bit too early, and I blew up. I saw Krige’s wheel and just focused on it, just kept screaming at myself not to let it by me.”

Fearnley and Schabort started their dual by 10 kilometers, when they were separated by .47 seconds and they opened an eight second lead over Josh Cassidy of Canada. They were less than a second apart throughout the race and even allowed some camaraderie to interrupt the competition when they bumped knuckles around mile 24.

“We actually had a bit of a conversation there as well,” Fearnely said. “We touched hands and I said, ‘thanks, mate, this has been great.’ Kriges was one of the blokes I was looking up to when I was a kid. He’s been racing since 1988, and I started racing in 1993. We worked really well together. We had taken corners, not been too aggressive with each other. At that point it was just recognition.”

Hunkeler stayed among the lead pack of several wheelchair racers before taking the lead for good by the 40K mark and winning in 1:58:15, 7.24 seconds over second place Shelly Woods of Great Britain. Wakako Tsuchida of Japan was third in 1:58:23.

“To win here is the toughest marathon,” Hunkeler said. “It’s always my highlight of the year.”

American Amanda McGrory, the winner of the 2009 London Marathon, dropped out of the race near the two mile mark due to a flat tire.

2012 trials venues looming - The sites of the 2012 Olympic trials for the U.S. men’s and women’s marathons may be decided by the start of 2010, USA Track and Field chief executive Doug Logan said Sunday while attending the New York City Marathon. Logan added that New York and Boston will be asked to bid to host the events along with “a couple other cities.”

Organizers of the New York City Marathon and the Boston Marathon met with Logan Saturday to express their interest in again hosting the trials.

For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, New York organizers held the men’s trials the day before the New York City Marathon and Boston organizers hosted the women’s trials the day before the Boston Marathon. Both groups lost about one million dollars each to host the events.

“We have some ideas about how to perhaps craft a relationship a little differently to help raise the revenue to stage the trials,” said Mary Wittenberg, the President and Chief Executive of the New York Road Runners, organizer of the New York City Marathon. “Neither Boston nor New York are in position to spend a million dollars again.”

Wittenberg would like to see the trials as part of the New York City Marathon race. “I see a day like [Sunday’s New York City Marathon] and I think [the American men] are way too good to be racing just each other in the U.S.,” she said. “I would love to see the trials in the middle of the marathon.”

The U.S. men’s championships were part of the New York City Marathon on Sunday.

Logan feels it’s imperative that both the men’s and women’s races have their own identity. “It’s important in our trials that we have our identity ascribed to,” he said. “One of the problems you run into when you fold it into another event is you get a little lost in the shuffle. We would want some assurances that people would understand that the competition is the national championships for the sport and the Olympic Trials for the USATF team.”

Logan praised the efforts the NYRR and the Boston Athletic Association made to put on the trials. “They did a lot of things right,” he said. “There are some issues with sponsorship but I think all of those issues can be worked out.”

Legends rally around Hirsch - George Hirsch has never won a Boston Marathon or New York City Marathon. But Sunday he finished with the same time as two runners who have, Bill Rodgers and Amby Burfoot.

The finish was contrived, but you can excuse the 75-year old Hirsch for the sentimental journey. He wanted to run his last marathon with Rodgers and Burfoot, two legends who helped spawn the global marathon movement.

Rodgers won Boston and New York four times each and Burfoot won the 1968 Boston Marathon and is editor of Runner’s World Magazine. Hirsch is the Publisher Emeritus of Runner’s World Magazine and is now Chairman of the Board of the New York Road Runners. The three ran together to celebrate the 40th running of the New York City Marathon.

Hirsch finished the race Sunday in 4:06:14 with Rodgers and Burfoot trotting alongside him.

“I’ve run more than 30 marathons,” he said. “This one was the hardest by far. I started cramping at 18 or 19 miles. Thank God Bill and Amby were there to take me home. I did a lot of walking the last six miles. I’m glad to be a retired marathoner.”

Celebrity sightings - Speed skating Olympic gold medalist Dan Jansen showed he can move pretty well on dry land, especially when he’s chasing a tiger. Jansen, 44, finished in 3:41:43, recording the best time of the celebrity runners.

“I had trouble as early as eight miles with blisters and pain in my toes (due to swelling),” he said.  “When I got over the bridge, I just stopped completely and loosened my shoes.”

Jansen credited crowd support with helping him finish. “That may be the thing that got me through,” he said. “There were a lot of “Go Dans” out there. I got passed by a guy in a tiger suit around mile 25 and I couldn’t let him beat me.”

Actor Edward Norton, star of the movie “Fight Club” and others, showed ample fortitude Sunday in the race. Norton, 40, finished in 3:48:01.

“I felt very well prepared,” he said. “It was a great day. You know you are going to hit tough spots in a weird way. Mine came early in the race, but then I got my second wind around mile 18 and felt great the rest of the way.”

Other celebrity finishers include actor Anthony Edwards (4:08:20), Matthew Reeve, son of the late actor Christopher Reeve (4:23:36); and former ice hockey great Pat LaFontaine (4:27:08).