Rodriguez wins inaugural Fort Lauderdale A1A Marathon!
40-year-old Houstonian Sean Wade finishes 2nd one day (Saturday, February 18th) in the Masters Men 8K USATF Cross Country Championship in the Bronx.
A day later, one of Wade's biggest challengers in Houston before moving back to the Miami, Florida area late in 2005, Gabriel Rodriguez, wins the inaugural A1A Marathon in Fort Lauderdale today.
According to his blog, Rodriguez, 27, passed Miami's Aldo Virano, 38, midway between mile markers 22 and 23 en route to his first career marathon victory in a time of 2:39:05. Virano finished second with a time of 2:43:07. (Two months prior on December 4th, 2005 at the Marathon of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Florida, Virano finished 8th in 2:43:19.)
A week before at the Town Center Classic 5K in Boca Raton, Rodriguez, who is training to run the Boston Marathon in April 2006, finished fourth in 15:18 as the first three runners divided just over $1,000. While Gabriel picked up $50 for winning his age group, he also barely missed out on the money last October at the USA Space City 10-Miler when two out-of-town runners, Jacob Rotich and Kevin Castille, and Wade finished in the top three leaving Rodriguez fourth and out of the money.
Here is the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's coverage from Monday, February 20, 2006:
It was only fitting that Rodriguez and Corbett won the men's and overall titles since they have local ties. Rodriguez was an outstanding cross country and track runner at Florida International University before graduating in 2000.
Rodriguez, 27, of Kendall, won his marathon debut (it wasn't his marathon debut -- JW) in what he thought was going to be a training run. He stopped to stretch twice during the race and still won in 2 hours, 39 minutes and 5 seconds and qualified for the Boston Marathon. He overtook early leader Aldo Virano of North Miami at Mile 23.
Rodriguez's wife, Perla, 27, also a marathon runner -- "She's better than me," Gaby said -- and their daughter Madelin, 3, were waiting with hugs and "Go Daddy" at the finish line. "I am so excited for him, he has put so much time and effort into this," Perla said. "He is amazing."
"I always wanted to win a marathon and to do it here in my hometown is great," said Rodriguez, who wore a Cuba singlet given to him by his uncle, Luisito Ricardo, who fled Cuba recently.
"I was trying to cruise and conserve because my longest run in training was 24 miles before this," Rodriguez said. "My coach told me any time I felt any fatigue or tightness to stop and stretch. I ran the last six miles under 6-minute pace so it was pretty solid."
A day later, one of Wade's biggest challengers in Houston before moving back to the Miami, Florida area late in 2005, Gabriel Rodriguez, wins the inaugural A1A Marathon in Fort Lauderdale today.
According to his blog, Rodriguez, 27, passed Miami's Aldo Virano, 38, midway between mile markers 22 and 23 en route to his first career marathon victory in a time of 2:39:05. Virano finished second with a time of 2:43:07. (Two months prior on December 4th, 2005 at the Marathon of the Palm Beaches in West Palm Beach, Florida, Virano finished 8th in 2:43:19.)
A week before at the Town Center Classic 5K in Boca Raton, Rodriguez, who is training to run the Boston Marathon in April 2006, finished fourth in 15:18 as the first three runners divided just over $1,000. While Gabriel picked up $50 for winning his age group, he also barely missed out on the money last October at the USA Space City 10-Miler when two out-of-town runners, Jacob Rotich and Kevin Castille, and Wade finished in the top three leaving Rodriguez fourth and out of the money.
Here is the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's coverage from Monday, February 20, 2006:
It was only fitting that Rodriguez and Corbett won the men's and overall titles since they have local ties. Rodriguez was an outstanding cross country and track runner at Florida International University before graduating in 2000.
Rodriguez, 27, of Kendall, won his marathon debut (it wasn't his marathon debut -- JW) in what he thought was going to be a training run. He stopped to stretch twice during the race and still won in 2 hours, 39 minutes and 5 seconds and qualified for the Boston Marathon. He overtook early leader Aldo Virano of North Miami at Mile 23.
Rodriguez's wife, Perla, 27, also a marathon runner -- "She's better than me," Gaby said -- and their daughter Madelin, 3, were waiting with hugs and "Go Daddy" at the finish line. "I am so excited for him, he has put so much time and effort into this," Perla said. "He is amazing."
"I always wanted to win a marathon and to do it here in my hometown is great," said Rodriguez, who wore a Cuba singlet given to him by his uncle, Luisito Ricardo, who fled Cuba recently.
"I was trying to cruise and conserve because my longest run in training was 24 miles before this," Rodriguez said. "My coach told me any time I felt any fatigue or tightness to stop and stretch. I ran the last six miles under 6-minute pace so it was pretty solid."
(Special thanks to Edwin Quarles for tipping me off on the results of both Wade and Rodriguez this weekend.)
posted by WalkSports.com | 12:19 AM
2 Comments:
Awesome- way to go Gabe!!!!
Thanks for the recognition, Jon, and great job at Austin. Have fun at the RRCA Convention and say hi to everyone for me. Keep up the great work.
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