De Reuck pulls off upset

ST. LOUIS — Ten days shy of her 40th birthday, Colleen De Reuck pulled off a major upset to win the U.S. Olympic marathon trials yesterday and earn a trip to Athens, Greece, this summer.

The Boulder, Colo., resident who gave up her South African citizenship to become an American in December 2000, will be joined by Deena Kastor of Mammouth Lakes, Calif., and Jen Rhines of Ardmore, Pa., on the U.S. team. The Olympic marathon is scheduled for Aug.22.

“This is my country now. It’s just amazing. It’s a dream come true,” said De Reuck, whose finishing time around the 3-lap, 6.88-mile criterium course through Forest Park was 2 hours 28 minutes 25 seconds — the fastest trials time since the first women’s Olympic marathon in 1984.

De Reuck was awarded $39,000, with Kastor (2:29:38) and Rhines (2:29:57) receiving $33,000 and $27,000, respectively.

The weather was perfect, starting with temperatures in the 40s on a clear, dry, sunny day. The conditions produced 27 personal records among the 107 women who completed the 26.2-mile race. Thirteen of the top 20 finishers set personal bests, including Rhines, 29, who chopped a whopping 11 minutes, 19 seconds off her previous best.

De Reuck was not supposed to win yesterday — make the Olympic team, maybe, but the woman who was supposed to win was Deena Kastor. The American marathon record-holder sported a 2:21:16 qualifying time to De Reuck’s 2:28:01, and it appeared early that Kastor would literally walk away with the race.

“I’ve seen a lot of upsets in this race, and I would never fax in the results ahead of time,” the 31-year-old Kastor said in an interview days before the race.

How accurate she would be.

But it was neither Kastor nor De Reuck who made a bold move from the start. It was Blake Russell, in her second marathon and the fourth-fastest qualifier, who bolted from the start and attempted to run away with the victory.

Coached by the same man, Bob Sevene, who directed Joan Benoit Samuelson to the 1984 Olympic gold medal, the blonde, pony-tailed Russell immediately gapped the field before the opening mile was completed on the track at Washington University.

“I took a chance and it backfired,” said Russell, who led the field by 50 seconds at the 5-mile mark and by more than a minute at the halfway mark when Kastor stopped twice to shake a pebble from her running shoe. “I was way faster because I couldn’t see my splits.”

She flew through the half-marathon in a blazing 1:11:58, still 40 seconds in the lead. But Kastor began to reel her in, cutting the lead to 12 seconds by 16 miles and seven seconds by 17 miles after a long uphill climb.

Kastor ran right by Russell in the next mile and appeared to be comfortably headed for victory. Russell was continuing to slow, hoping to hold onto her place to make the team. But she was forced into third after mile 20 when De Reuck easily overtook her. Kastor still had a half-minute lead on De Reuck, but by mile 23 the lead was down to 19 seconds. Kastor was running out of energy and De Reuck was closing fast.

“I was surprised,” said De Reuck, who represented South Africa in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics. “I thought she was the favorite. But anything can happen in the marathon.”

And on the same hill that defeated her last year, De Reuck charged and caught Kastor over the top with two miles to go. By mile 25, De Reuck was firmly in the lead by 21 seconds.

“I will take from this and grow from it and maybe not hit the wall next time,” Kastor said.

Down the final stretch, De Reuck grabbed a small American flag from husband Darren and waved it enthusiastically as she reached the finish more than a minute ahead of Kastor. Behind her was the race for the third and final spot. Rhines caught the fading Russell before mile 26.

“I cut it kind of close,” said Rhines, who was on the 2000 Olympic team in the 10,000 meters with Kastor. “I was definitely worried. If the race had been a mile shorter, I wouldn’t have made the team.”