Crisanto’s Victory in Marathon Timely

IRVINE —  Marcelino Crisanto knows something about waiting for the right moment to make a move. During the inaugural Goodyear Orange County Marathon Sunday, Crisanto did precisely that, taking the lead with three miles left and holding off all challengers to win in 2 hours 15 minutes 58 seconds.

Crisanto, 26, who lives in Toluca, Mexico, finished the 26.2-mile marathon almost a full minute ahead of countryman Gumercindo Olmendo , who was second in 2:16.40. Rich McCandless, of Hayward, Calif., was third in 2:16.46, and Sammy Rotich of Kenya fourth in 2:19.28.

McCandless and three others--Peter Fonseca, Danny Gonzales and Mike Skinner--pulled away from the field after 10 kilometers. The four ran together until the 15-mile mark, where Skinner and Gonzales fell off the pace. It was then that Fonseca, who was third in the Los Angeles Marathon in 1990, seemed content to stay behind McCandless, 35, as the runners put distance between themselves and Gonzales and Skinner.

Fonseca and McCandless passed through the 20-mile mark in 1:42.35.

As the race developed up front, a second pack of five runners--which included Rotich, Crisanto and Olmendo--started to close the gap on Skinner and Gonzales as McCandless and Fonseca began to drop off the initial fast pace.

Shortly before the 22-mile mark, Fonseca took off the bright pink cap he was wearing, almost as if it was a signal that he no longer could keep pace. McCandless then surged into the lead, leaving behind the tiring Fonseca.

Soon after, the runners, who followed a course that started in Anaheim and traveled through Santa Ana, Orange, Tustin and Irvine, turned onto the Irvine Bike Path. Crisanto and Olmendo, who were about 20 seconds behind, began cutting the distance between themselves and McCandless.

Three miles from the finish at UC Irvine, a charging Crisanto passed McCandless, ending his bid for the top spot. About 300 yards from the finish, Olmendo surged past McCandless for second place.

Crisanto, who finished 19th at this year’s London Marathon but has run a best of 2:12.42, said he expected to catch McCandless and the others as the lead pack slowed from an initial sub five-minute pace.

McCandless didn’t seem surprised that the pace slowed. “It was a fast pace and I think it got away from me at 21 miles,” McCandless said. “I wasn’t trying to surge--I had a nice gap at that point.”

Crisanto, who was in 10th place throughout most of the race, agreed. “I knew the leaders had gone out too fast,” said Crisanto, who along with the women’s overall winner, Janice Klecker of Minnetonka, Minn., won a BMW 318i. “They were under five minutes per mile so I knew they couldn’t hold it. I was waiting for the moment that that would happen.

“With three miles to go exactly , that’s when I felt I was going to catch (McCandless) and pass him.”

Crisanto, who started running at age 18, is used to making split-second decisions. In fact, such a decision led him to pursue a running career. Similar to many young Mexican kids growing up, Crisanto aspired to be a professional soccer player.

“There was a key point in my life when I decided I was going to be a runner. I was on the training field at the University of Mexico State and I was sitting on a bench,” he said. “On one side of the field were soccer players and on the other were runners. I started walking toward the soccer players, but I changed my mind and turned around and walked back toward the runners.”

Crisanto said he has never looked back on his choice and hopes to emulate Mexico marathon great Rodolfo Gomez, who was sixth in the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

As expected, Klecker won the women’s race, finishing in 2:35.09. Cindy James of Chicago, was second in 2:36.05 and Leslie Lewis of Torrance was third in 2:44.31.

Klecker, 31, who won the Twin Cities Marathon two weeks ago, said she competed so soon after a major race so she could escape the cold weather in Minnesota.

“The alternative was to be in Minneapolis with 30 inches of snow,” said Klecker, who had difficulty getting to the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport Saturday because of the weather. “It was an obstacle course.”

Klecker passed race leader James at the midpoint and never lost the lead.

Race organizers had expected 5,000 athletes for the marathon alone, but official estimates fell short of that prediction. Race officials Sunday estimated that 1,700 people competed in the marathon alone and about 3,000 competed in the marathon, 5K run, wheelchair race and the in-line skating competition.

Marathon Notes

Sunday’s race, which offered $40,000 that was divided among the second- through 10th-place finishers, featured top marathon star Antoni Niemczak of Poland. Niemczak, who was among a second group of runners through five miles, dropped out of the race with stomach problems. . . . Former marathon great Alberto Salazar chose to race in the 5K, where he finished eighth.. . . Anaheim’s Kevin Broady was the top male Orange County finisher in the marathon, placing 14th in 2:27.00. Laguna Niguel’s Jennifer Thomas, a former UC Irvine All-American, was 11th in the women’s race in 3:00.33.