clarinews@clarinet.com (RICHARD LUNA, UPI Sports Writer) (01/13/90)
HOUSTON (UPI) -- Denmark's Allan Zachariasen and Kenyan Sam Ngatia, along with two-time winner and defending women's champion Veronique Marot of Great Britian, are the top contenders in Sunday's Houston-Tenneco Marathon. Zachariasen is the top returner male runner from last year's race, which was won by Kenyan Richard Kaitany in a course record 2 hours, 10:04 seconds. Kaitany is injured and unable to defend his title. Zachariasen placed fourth in 2:14.23 while Ngatia, who is coming off a victory in the Columbus, Ohio, Marathon, was sixth last year in 2:15.14. Ngatia, who ran at Texas-El Paso and still trains there, ran a personal best 2:11.43 in the 1895 Houston-Tenneco Marathon. The top American challenger will likely be Miguel Tibaduiza, of Reno, Nev. Marot is a two-time winner of the women's division. She was first in 1986, then last year won in 2:30.16. She went on to have an outstanding year, winning the London Marathon in 2:25.56, a British national record and the seventh fastest time ever by a woman. Her top challenger will be American Maria Trujillo, of Phoenix, who placed third last year in 2:32.47. The women's course record is 2:27.51, set by Ingrid Kristiansen in 1984. First-place finishers in each of the open divisions win $25,000 prize money. In addition, a $10,000 bonus will go to the first male to break 2:10 and the the first woman to better the 2:27 mark. There also will be bonus money for the first runners to reach the half-way point ($1,500), 15.5-mile mark ($1,750) and the 20-mile mark ($2,000). Ngatia figures to be the top male contender. He has competed in Houston five previous times and ran a career best 2:11.43 in 1985 when he placed second to Marty Froelick in one of the best races in the event. Ngatia is coming off a win in Columbus, in which he ran a 2:11.59. ``Columbus didn't take a lot out of me,'' Ngatia said Friday. ``I was able to go right back into training.'' Zachariasen, who said he has had good training sessions the last six weeks, had a light-hearted approach to the race. ``I don't like to run 26 miles,'' he said. ``It's really all going to depend on how I feel on race day.'' His toughest competitor? ``The little person in my head telling me to drop out,'' he said. ``If I tell him to go away, I'll be okay. ``This is really a very important race to me. There are also 25,000 little reasons to run,'' he said, referring to the prize money. Marot said she will not push the pace since she is bothered by shin splints. ``It could be a stress fracture, but the doctor gave me the okay to run,'' she said. ``My fitness at the moment is about 80 percent. I'm capable of running a 2:30, but I don't want to run Houston flat out. I running the Boston Marathon in April and I regard Houston as a training run for Boston. ``If someone decides to go under 2:30, I'm going to let them go. I would not go after them.''