Early Start, Too-Early Finish : Embarrassed Grandmother, 62, to Be Disqualified After Marathon ‘Victory’

The day after Sunday’s Los Angeles Marathon, Norma Surmon forgot about her aching legs and blistered feet, because embarrassment was killing her.

Surmon, a 62-year-old grandmother from Granada Hills, was surprised when a friend called with news: The unofficial published results showed her as the winner of the women’s 60-64 age group. But when Surmon heard her time, she was mortified, realizing a mistake had been made.

Although Surmon had indeed crossed the finish line 4 hours 20 minutes 3 seconds after the marathon had begun, she had started almost 1 1/2 hours before the official start of the race. Her actual time was about 5:45, placing her far down the list in her age group.

“I feel really bad,” she said. “Somebody who should have this recognition didn’t get it.”

Surmon, competing in her first marathon, said she wasn’t trying to fool anybody. A secretary at a Valley hospital, she and seven friends from work decided to walk the 26.2 miles, which meant they would be on the course a long time, which in turn created fears of being alone on the streets in a rough part of town.

“One of the girls had done two (previous) marathons and frightened the rest of us into starting early,” Surmon said. ‘I argued against it, but I lost.”

Marathon officials had no idea that Surmon or anyone else had jumped the gun. “Oh my,” a marathon spokesman said when a reporter told him about the mistake. Surmon, who was not able to get through to the marathon organization Monday to make officials aware of the situation, will be disqualified; the age-group title will go to Anna Hollenberg of Redlands, who clocked 4:56.53.

Although older than her friends, Surmon finished ahead of them. “I was elated by the experience until I was told my name was in the paper,” she said, adding: “I don’t even like the limelight. I’m a shy person.”

Now she has to endure teasing. Her children have already begun the inevitable comparison with Rosie Ruiz, whose victory in the 1980 Boston Marathon was allegedly aided by a trip on a subway.

“My son said he’ll need therapy because he has a cheater for a mother,” said Surmon, sighing good-naturedly, lamenting her predicament.

Other Valley-area runners had more conventional experiences.

Dennis Bock, a pilot from Agoura Hills, flew over the course in 2:36.32, finishing 25th overall and winning the men’s 45-49 age group. His showing surprised him: “I find it amazing.”

Bock, 45, thinks he benefited from the heat, which topped out at 87 degrees. “I actually run better when it’s hot,” he said. A distance runner since 1979, Bock has run in all eight L.A. Marathons and in a total of 64 marathons. His best time was 2:32 in the 1985 L.A. race, but, he said, “I’m getting faster as I get older.”

Bock doesn’t limit himself to marathons. He has competed in the Ironman Triathlon and the Race Across America, a bicycling event. In November, he’ll go to Hawaii for an ultramarathon, which consists of a six-mile swim, a 250-mile bike ride and a 52.4-mile double marathon.

The heat also didn’t bother 84-year-old William Kuester of Thousand Oaks, but his footwear did. “I wore incorrect shoes,” he said. “I’ll never do that again.” Despite blisters, Kuester walked the course in 8:05.12, winning the men’s 80-98 age group for the third time.

“It’s a thrill to get out there,” he said. “I love being on the starting line when the gun goes off and the whole world starts to move.”

A Seventh-day Adventist pastor, Kuester was competing in his 10th marathon. He trains by walking four miles in his neighborhood a few times a week and spends off days in his hot tub.

Sunday’s heat had a negative impact on Sheila Logan, 23, a former Pepperdine cross-country runner. Logan finished 17th in the women’s division in 3:13.43, “but I expected to break three hours,” she said. “The heat drained me early--I was even sweating on the starting line.”

Competing in only her second marathon, Logan was frustrated at the start, estimating that it took her two minutes to cross the starting line. But she wants to enter more marathons. “I love them,” said Logan, who lives in Calabasas and is going to Cal State Northridge for a master’s degree in kinesiology.

Michael Murphy, who ran back-to-back marathons Sunday to make up for an L.A. Marathon he missed three years ago, wasn’t bothered by the heat during his first marathon--he started before dawn and finished at 8:30 a.m.--but he suffered under the sun in the real race. Cramping at the 13-mile mark, he limped to the finish in about 7 1/2 hours.

“I’m a little sore,” he said the day after the race, “but it feels kind of nice.”