Twin Cities Marathon 07

The streets were quiet for the Marathon. I don't know why. But there were a lot of mysteries at the race. How did the lead runner Antonenko break away from the pack to a finish with a six minute lead over the next runner? He was quoted as asking "Why weren't they running?"
Wommen's winner Svetlana Ponomarenko also ran almost unchallenged. Breaks between runners under 3 hours often amounted to minutes rather than seconds.
Why were there so few spectators? This is only my personal observation, but this is the fewest spectators I have ever seen in many many years. Perhaps the bulk of the spectators were not concerned with the foreign winners. (This is not an olympic-quality American runners choice). I am told this by experienced competitors that other races are better for American runners. So spectators may show up later, to cheer on their friends who run at a slower pace than the elite runners. None the less the streets and the Thunder Sticks were pretty quiet. I left after 3 and one half hours.
With early warmth and humidity the race was a battle of attrition among the later runners.

NOTE: My edit-blog function is not available until Tuesday. Lousy old computer.