clarinews@clarinet.com (RICHARD LUNA, UPI Sports Writer) (01/15/90)
HOUSTON (UPI) -- Americans Paul Pilkington and Maria Trujillo won first-place honors in Sunday's 18th-annual Houston-Tenneco Marathon. Pilkington, of Roy, Utah, won the men's division in 2:11:13, surpassing his personal best in the 26-mile event by four minutes. Pilkington, 30, who is a junior high school English teacher, earned a total of $29,000 for the win, including the $25,000 first prize and $4,000 in bonus money. Denmark's Allan Zachariasen, fourth last year and the top returning finisher, was second in 2:13:08 followed by West Germany's Martin Gruening in 2:13:30. Kenyan Sam Ngatia, now living in El Paso, Texas, led the race through the midway point and finished fourth in 2:15:10. Trujillo, who was third last year behind England's Veronique Marot, took command of the race early, then held off a challenge from West Germany's Kerstin Pressler to win in 2:32.55. Trujillo, who lives outside Phoenix, earned $35,500 in prize money, including the $25,000 first prize and $10,500 in bonus money. Pressler placed second in 2:34.49 while Denmark's Tove Schultz-Lorentzen was third in 2:37.45. Marot, a two-time Houston winner, started the race, but did not finish. More than 5,000 runners were in the field, including a group of runners from the Soviet Union. Also in the field was Althea Wetherbee, 70, of Huntington Station, N.Y., and the mother of shuttle Columbia pilot Jim Wetherbee. It was the first marathon win for Pilkington, who competed in the steeple chase at Weber State in Ogden, Utah. He was an Olympic trials qualifier in 1988 and an alternate on the U.S. team for the 1987 Pan American Games. He was the first American to the win the Houston event since Paul Cummings in 1986. ``This means a lot,'' said Pilkington, whose previous best in the marathon was 2:15:23. ``I teach school full time and I've wanted to get my master's. Now I can do that. This gives me the opportunity to get a little fitter and move up a notch.'' Ngatia took the early lead, earning a $1,500 bonus by getting to the halfway point first, and $1,750 by crossing the 15.5-mile marker ahead of the field. Ngatia still led going into the 19th mile, but Pilkington surged ahead. By the 21st mile, he was ahead of Ngatia by nearly a minute and sailed to the finish. ``I wanted to run an even pace,'' he said. ``I didn't want to be surging. (Early) I just let him (Ngatia) go. He had been forcing the pace, then he backed off. At that point, I just went out. I was committed to running that fast. There was no sense in slowing down.'' Pilkington missed last year's Houston run because he slipped on some ice three weeks before and eventually had to undergo knee surgery. ``I really felt like I was ready to run today,'' he said. ``The last two miles, I was thinking (course record) 2:10, but with the little wind and the hills, I couldn't get it.'' Trujillo, 30, was in command early, picking up the money prizes for getting to the halfway and 15.5-mile markers first. But at 17 miles, Pressler was pushing the leader and was only two strides back at the 19-mile mark. Trujillo was first at 20 miles, earning a $2,000 bonus, just seconds ahead of Pressler. But going into the final six miles, the West German runner could not keep up the pace with Trujillo. ``I was worried,'' said Trujillo, who has won three other marathons. ``Last year I was in second place and I got passed at mile 25. I thought she looked good. I knew it would probably be her or me. I picked up the pace to see if she would go with it and she didn't. I just made one surge.'' Pressler said the hills on the last five miles of the course took her out of the race when Trujillo made her final surge. ``I was very tired ... I couldn't run faster,'' she said. ``She also knew the course. I didn't.'' Trujillo admitted the bonus money, called primes, gave her extra incentive. She won $5,250 in primes and because she won the race, the award was doubled. ``I was aware of the extra money and it made me push it,'' said Trujillo, who has a degree in computer science and is working toward a master's in Spanish literature at Arizona State. ``I was surprised the pace wasn't faster. I pushed it and no one ran with me.'' Trujillo was born in Mexico, but moved with her family to the United States when she was 14. She became a U.S. citizen in 1988, and ran at Hartnell Junior College in Salinas, Calif., before running to ASU. Trujillo, ran for Mexico in the 1984 Olympics, placing 25th in the marathon.