RunTex.com's Motive Bison Stampede Race Report

Motive Mastered by Rzepecki and Malakwen

Sunday, November 20, 2005

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That the Motive Bison Stampede Half Marathon course is a monster is a given. But when the overall winners of the race—Nicodemus Malakwen of Kenya and Jackie Rzepecki of Michigan—declare it the hardest race they’ve ever run, you know Motive is one tough mother.

But that’s the challenge of Motive: getting up and over the endless series of ups and downs that punctuate the course from mile 4 ½ practically all the way to the finish at Motive HQ in northwest Austin.

Making the race on Sunday morning more palatable for the nearly 2,000 runners was the first hint of winter. Last year, it was overcast but extremely humid and warm. On Sunday, it was clear, dry and refreshingly cool (42 degrees at the start). The wind was problematical--blowing from the north at 10-15 mph which stood the runners up at various points on the 13.1-mile course.

The wind didn’t seem to slow Nicodemus Malakwen or his training partner Benson Osoro. The Kenyans bolted off the starting line and immediately gapped Kyle O’Brien of the Brooks-Hanson’s team of Rochester Hills, Michigan. “I didn’t know what the Kenyans’ strategy was going to be,” said O’Brien after finishing third, “but as soon as the gun went off, they were gone.”

Indeed. The Kenyans left O’Brien and local stud Gilbert Tuhabonye struggling in no-man’s land by themselves. Clearly, the Kenyans were gunning for T-Bone’s 2002 course record of 1:08:40 and the $500 bonus that went along with it. “I was never in it,” said T-Bone who wasn’t exactly celebrating his 31st birthday after finishing fourth in 1:11:21. “They were just too strong.”

That much was evident as the duo from Nairobi cruised through the easy first three miles in 14:04, seemingly oblivious of the series of four hills on Rain Creek starting around the 4 ½-mile mark. TruWest added a little spice to the race by offering $100 bonus to the man and woman who could climb Rain Creek the fastest.

For some reason, neither of the Kenyans were wearing a timing chip so their mile splits on Rain Creek weren’t recorded which made Phil Kochik the King of the hill. Kolchik took the $100 with a 5:46.6 uphill mile although Malakwen and Osoro probably had a faster time. The Queen of the day (and $100) went to Liz Shelton who chugged up Rain Creek in 6:16 which would have placed her seventh among the men.

Even the Kenyans struggled up Rain Creek, but still went through 10-K in 29:47. At the top of the hills, Malakwen ditched his training partner and opened up a gap that extended to nearly three minutes.

Race over. “Those hills were much more difficult than I thought they would be,” said Malakwen after finishing first in 1:04:48 which obliterated Tuhabonye’s couse record. “We train on hills all the time outside of Nairobi, but these were harder. I didn’t know Texas was so hilly.”

Neither did Jackie Rzepecki. The 27-year-old lives in Michigan but was raised in upstate New York where she trained on hills all the time. “This is—by far—the toughest course I have ever run,” she said after winning in 1:19:48, well off Lori Zimmerman’s ’02 course mark of 1:18:18. “I was very hesitant because of the hills so I went out conservatively.”

So conservatively that she was running well behind Desiree Ficker and Christine Kimbrough for the first 11 miles. Kimbrough, who won the first two races in the Distance Series, didn’t know until last night whether she could even run as her husband was on a business trip to China. But he came home just in time to watch their four children so Kimbrough could continue her exceptional fall racing season.

Rzepecki cruised a 6:34 mile up Rain Creek (11 seconds slower than Kimbrough), but once over the hills began to move. She ran a 5:42 mile between 10 and 11 and caught Kimbrough just past the 11th mile marker. Although Rzepecki faltered a little bit in the final mile (run into a head wind), she held Kimbrough off to win by 50 seconds.

Kimbrough finished in 1:20:38 with 40-year-old Charla Hisler in third in 1:21:25 and tri goddess Ficker was fourth in 1:23:38. Liz Shelton was fifth in 1:24:29 and Sara Pizzochero, on a her final tuneup run before the White Rock Marathon in Dallas, was sixth in 1:25:22.

Hisler was an easy winner in among the masters with Cindy Salazar in second in 1:28:44 and Caroline Chamness third in 1:31:28. The mature women were led by Karen Bowler in 1:40:22 and Marcia Herzik in 1:41:39.

Among the men, 40-year-old John Paladino was the fastest master (11th overall) with a superb 1:19 effort. He was followed by 43-year-old Scott McIntyre in 1:20:50 and Scott Birk in 1:20:55.

Leading the geriatrics were Corpus Christi’s remarkable Clint Mericle, 52, in 1:23:48 with 51-year-old Bill Patience next in 1:26:48. The top really old guy was your faithful correspondent (Bob Wischnia) in 1:31:59 who edged out training partner Paul Seals in 1:32:34.

Big winners of the day was the Leukemia and Lymphona Society. Motive donates all entry fees and sponsorship from this race to the LLS and before the race announced that in the six years of Motive’s title sponsorship, it has raised more than $500,000 from the race for blood cancer research.

Next up in the Distance Challenge series is the classic—the Decker 20-K Challenge on December 4th. After the tortuous twins of Pervasive and Motive, the rolling hills of Decker will seem like a mere speed bump.