Come 7 a.m. tomorrow, nearly 7,000 runners will take off from a bluff beside Cabrillo National Monument, marking the start of the 31st AFC Half Marathon.
The biggest upset the runners could pull off would be this:
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AFC HALF MARATHON
When: 7 a.m. tomorrow
Where: Starts near Cabrillo National Monument, finishes in Balboa Park. Half marathon and 5K are sold out.
Web site: afchalf.com
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For an American male to win.
Since Houston's Marty Froelick won the 13.1-miler in 1987, American men have been shut out. Eleven Kenyans, five Mexicans, one Brazilian, one Moroccan and one Japanese have claimed titles. (Kenya's Patrick Muturi won twice.)
Asked what impact it would have for an American to win, race director Neil Finn said, “For one, people would remember his name. I have to go back to see who won last year.”
That would be Kenya's Nelson Kiplagat. Since 1994, African men have won 13 of the 14 races. Of course, African men beating American counterparts to the finish line in road races is hardly man-bites-dog news.
An American male hasn't won the Boston Marathon since Greg Meyer in 1983. The last American man to win the New York City Marathon: Alberto Salazar, 1982.
The American seemingly with the best shot to earn the $1,500 winner's payday would be Justin Young of Superior, Colo., a Boulder suburb.
Young, 29, ran a nearly six-minute personal record in the marathon last April in Rotterdam (2:13:54). His half-marathon PR: 1:03:58. Kenyan Joseph Chirlee owns the fastest half-marathon in the field (1:02:18).
Young's most impressive attribute is his perseverance. Since graduating from Butler University with a degree in philosophy he has sacrificed pursuing a career or a master's degree while chasing his running dream.
He trained with a running group in Michigan for a year after college, wasn't happy with the environment, then headed to Colorado to train at altitude.
His parents own a watch repair company in Illinois and helped Young open a retail store in Boulder, Colo. Running 115 miles a week, though, requires plenty of rest and after a while the work interfered with his training.
The family closed the shop and Young now does Web design for his parents' company. Young and his wife, who is pursuing a master's degree to become a teacher, rent a home from his parents.
“My parents have been very supportive of my training,” he said.
Young doesn't have a shoe sponsor, typically spending $100 a month for Nikes.
At 29, given his modest success, the 5-foot-9, 129-pound Young is relatively old to still be racing professionally. Asked why he's still pursuing his dream, he said, “I think about that quite often, actually.
“It comes down to not giving up on something you started. I just made a conscious decision not to give up on that dream. Maybe I'll make an Olympic team the next time, I hope.”
Other Americans in the field include Trent Briney, fourth in the 2004 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, and San Diego's Allen Wagner, who finished 25th in the Marathon Trials last November. Young placed 54th.
Asked when was the last time he won a race, Young said, “I don't know, it's been awhile. Maybe in college. I don't race a lot of smaller races.”
Don Norcross: (619) 293-1803; don.norcross@uniontrib.com
