CANADIAN TAKES
By
Jeff Foley
Special
to the Times
While Chuck Terry and Bob Irwin,
both members of the Albany-based Willow Street Athletic club, ran a gutsy first
half together (1:14:30), Couillard was 52 seconds
behind.
“I was running on pace,” said Couillard, who ran with a pace chart taped around his
wrist. “I wanted to hit each mile within my time.”
Terry, 23, meanwhile, was running
his first marathon. Coming off a summer racing season that saw him run several
sub-15:00 5Ks, he edged away from Irwin around the halfway mark and ran alone
until the finish was just four miles away.
The race, which started in Schenedtady’s
“Going into Watervliet,
I wasn’t sure how big a lead I had,” Terry said. “I thought I couldhave it, but I was running so slow that I knew
somebody would catch me by the end.”
After passing Irwin 20 miles into the
race, Couillard quickly went by Terry. Last year’s
third-place finisher, Couillard ran the final 10
kilometers in about 36 minutes and set a personal best by eight minutes.
“I’m improving every year,” Couillard said, “Like wine, I guess.”
After running in fourth for much of
the race,
When asked at mile 20 if he wanted
water or a sports drink, Irwin jokingly replied, “a stretcher.” But he
rebounded to take third in 2:34:22, a personal record by 20 minutes. Terry
hung on for fourth (2:38:34).
“If I could go back, I wouldn’t have
pushed the first half so hard,” Terry said. “People had warned me about that.
It’s such a long race that anything can happen.”
“It felt good to get the win,” said Leitzinger, who is 38. She ran her fastest marathon
(3:00:22) at the race in 2003. “But I can’t help but be a little disappointed
that once again I missed my three-hour goal. I have a few more good years left
in me.”
As if to emphasize that sentiment,
46-year-old Nancy Taormina was the second women
(3:06:33).
“When it comes to marathons,“