Rain doesn't dampen energy at Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon
Over the course of the first hour of Sunday’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona Marathon, a steady, chilly rain washed over downtown Tempe, pelting runners as they made their way down East University, up McClintock, into Scottsdale and back again. Some adjusted with rain jackets. Others, perhaps less concerned with their finishing time, donned unwieldy ponchos. Most, though, paid no heed, battling through the unexpected elements with little care.
The persistent runners, estimated at over 13,000 in number, set the tone for a jovial, unencumbered morning in Tempe, where festivities stretched from the eastern edge of Arizona State’s campus up to the finish line, where a concert greeted finishers in Rio Salado Park.
Although there was none of last year’s absurdity, when some runners savored the event’s return from COVID by donning firefighter outfits and Pikachu costumes, the personality of the day’s participants was on full display. So, too, was their diversity. Some trotted along just above a walking pace, while others pursued long-sought personal records. Teenagers ran alongside retirees, husbands alongside wives, parents alongside kids.
“The energy of Rock 'n' Roll, you can't beat having music every mile,” Ashley Paulson, who won the women’s marathon, said. “That just pumps me up.”
Kipkosgei notches key win in men’s half
Because most elite marathoners only compete in two or three full marathons per year, they generally run the half marathon when they compete in events like Sunday’s, which is not as prestigious as races like the New York, Boston and Chicago marathons. This year, Rock ‘n’ Roll recognized that and increased the competitiveness of its eight-race circuit by introducing the Elite Series for the top runners who do participate in the company’s events.
Entering Sunday, Kenya’s Dennis Kipkosgei trailed American Trevor Conde by 29 points in the Elite Series rankings with just two races left. With a time of 1:04.28, Kipkosgei trimmed that gap to just nine points — a matter of two or three places.
“I see I'm capable to be on the podium,” Kipkosgei said. “That's exciting. … Of course, the jackpot is in front in Las Vegas so I'm hoping to do good in Las Vegas.”
Although he later said that the rain caused him problems early on, Kipkosgei felt good throughout physically, enabling him to push the pace.
“There were strong guys here,” Kikosgei said. “When we were in the start, I just felt my body needed a hard pace. No slow pace. So I tried to push. If somebody followed me, I will go with it. Or even if it doesn't come, I have to push with my pace.”
Women’s side finishes as expected
The top runner in Sunday’s event — on either side — was Canadian Malindi Elmore. A two-time Olympian and the world’s top ranked marathoner from Canada, Elmore’s last two full marathons are an 11th-place finish in Boston and a fourth-place finish in Toronto, both of which are prestigious events on the world stage.
Winning in Tempe, then, was to be expected for Elmore, even if she described it as “always fun to come down and win a big race and race against some other good athletes.”
The larger purpose, for her, was to prepare for next month’s Sevilla Marathon in Spain. Arizona was meant to serve as a test run in a similarly hot, dry climate. Instead, Elmore had to dig into her mental fortitude to come out on top with a time of 1:11.36.
“Honestly, today was a hard day for me. I'm from Canada so we came to Arizona thinking it would be warm,” Elmore said. “And here it was fairly cold and windy. So it was one of those days of just working on mental toughness. We're all up there together working hard and trying to achieve our goals. Sometimes, you kinda have to reset your goals mid-race when it's not a perfect day. But every time you finish the race, it's a victory.”
Lauren Paquette, who lives in Flagstaff and runs for NAZ Elite, came in second.
Men’s winner goes back-to-back
By trade, the 22-year-old Iowa native Zachary Garner is an ultramarathoner. He’s more in his element in settings like earlier this month, when he put in a 140-mile week running through the volcanoes of the Canary Islands.
With ultramarathoning as his focus, Garner rarely competes in marathons. Arizona, though, is the exception. Two years ago, he served his Mormon mission in the state and fell in love with it. As a result, he has now returned each of the past two Januarys to run in the Arizona marathon. Each time, he’s come away victorious — an accomplishment Garner downplayed, saying, “All the fast guys run the half.”
But despite his extreme training regimen and the tangible proof of his two winners’ medals, these annual marathons don’t come easy for Garner.
“The intensity's higher than at any point,” Garner said. “An ultramarathon, you die and come back over and over again throughout the race, whereas a marathon, you can only die once and then the race is over.”
On Sunday, he avoided that moment, finishing in a time of 2:29.34.
Paulson turns in strong time in women’s full
A year ago, the winning time for the women’s full marathon was 2:55.01. Despite the unusual conditions, Paulson blew that mark out of the water this go-around, finishing in 2:43.39.
While Garner is unique in how few marathons he runs, Paulson stands out for how many she does. In a given year, she’ll often approach 10 marathons, preferring to use the pageantry of race day to get in her training runs.
But even if the goal Sunday wasn’t to set any records, Paulson excelled. Over the past year and a half, she’s only run a faster time in her hometown race in St. George, Utah.
“By the halfway point, I was feeling like, okay, my legs aren't feeling any type of, even achy,” Paulson said. “So I was really excited to feel that I was almost still pretty fresh by the halfway point and at that pace. I was ecstatic.”
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Rain doesn't dampen energy at Rock 'n' Roll Arizona marathon
