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Tuesday, April 22, 2003
One quick decision, then one fast finish
Copyright © 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. | ||||||||||||||||
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Cheerios and Easter candy may not be the grade-A certified Breakfast of Champions, but it worked for Elise Moody-Roberts.
Approximately three hours and 32 minutes after her groggy wakeup, she was a shocked winner of the women's division of the 74th Boys and Girls Club Patriots Day 5-Miler road race. "My mom was just vacuuming and then she said, why don't we run the Patriots Day race in Portland," Moody-Roberts said. "It was a real last-minute thing." Moody-Roberts' time of 32 minutes, 4 seconds was 16 seconds ahead of 42-year-old Kate Meyers of Portland. The two traded the lead several times over the final two miles before Moody-Roberts made a final surge as the race turned off windy Washington Ave., onto the final quarter-mile sprint to the finish on Cumberland Ave. "She went by me one last time and I was just like, you go for it, young lady, because I don't have anything left," joked Meyers, third a year ago. Ethan Hemphill, 30, a Portland resident and L.L. Bean copywriter, defended his overall championship by dominating the field of 449 from start to finish with a winning time of 25:44. Hemphill's Dirigo Running Club teammate Todd Coffin, 42, of Bath, was a distant second in 26:31. Hemphill used the same strategy he employed in 2002. "I just run as hard as I can for as long as I can and the last two years it's worked quite well," Hemphill said. He cut six seconds off his 2002 time and laid waste to the field before the course hit the two-mile marker along Baxter Boulevard. Shortly after the mile mark, Hemphill began to stride away from early challenger Douglass Pelletier, the 18-year-old son of course record-holder Sam Pelletier (23:33 in 1984). Douglass Pelletier showed some real grit by hanging tough for third after the fast 4:46 first mile. Hemphill then tossed in a 4:37 second mile that effectively sealed the win. While Hemphill was being interviewed in the bright sunshine, Moody-Roberts, a 5-foot-1, 86-pound eighth grader, was becoming the day's big story by crossing the finish line. While Moody-Roberts did not have much advance notice for the race, she is an experienced runner with an impressive pedigree and support group. This winter she won the Cape Elizabeth Turkey Trot 5K. Her vacuuming mother happens to be 1984 Olympic trials marathoner Kim Moody, and her dad, David Roberts, won the 1987 Seattle Marathon in two hours, 30 minutes. So when Elise Moody-Roberts decided her goal for a sunny Monday morning was to run five miles in less than 33 minutes, she was setting a reasonable standard. Her time of 32:04 is the slowest women's winner in the Boys and Girls Club race since 1978. Most champs have been in the 29-minute range. The record is 26:24 by three-time Olympian Lynn Jennings in 1985. "I'm happy. I'm really happy. I never thought of (winning). I was just trying to keep up with my brother," Moody-Roberts said. That would be her 14-year-old twin Stanis, who turned in a mighty impressive 30:53 to win the boys' 13-14 age group. Both are state cross country ski champions. While Stanis was saying he thinks his sister, "will be in the Olympics someday," Elise was recalling that she once beat her brother in a third-grade race. "That was my moment," she said. It seems safe to say that Elise Moody-Roberts now has another running moment - and there might be many more to come.
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