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Arnstein
and Coordt Claim Victories at Kaiser Permanente Napa
Valley Marathon
Coordt Earns Record Fourth Victory
NAPA,
Calif. - March 7, 2010 - Michael Arnstein, 33, of New
York, NY and
Mary Coordt, 40, of Elk Grove, Calif. garnered wins
today at the 32nd
Annual Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon (NVM).
They topped a
capacity crowd of approximately 2,300 runners who
enjoyed perfect
weather for marathon running during their 26.2-mile
journey through the
picturesque Napa Valley wine growing country. Cool,
windless conditions
under clear skies dotted by colorful hot air balloons
helped numerous
runners score personal records on the fast, rolling
marathon course from
Calistoga to Napa. The 2010 NVM served as the Road
Runners Club of
America's Western Regional Marathon Championship race.
Arnstein's winning time was 2 hours, 31 minutes, and 26
seconds. Coordt
crossed the finish line at Vintage High School in
2:46:08 and added a
fourth NVM women's victory to her resume, the most ever
by a woman at
NVM. Coordt also won NVM in 1997, 2005, and 2009.
Arnstein, who owns a small, New York-based software
company, improved
upon a runner-up finish in this race in 2008. He has won
several of the
40 marathons he has raced, including last year's New
Jersey Marathon.
Kenneth Burgess, 29, of Piedmont, Calif. led for almost
ten miles of the
men's race as Arnstein was content to stick about 20
seconds back.
Burgess, a naval engineer in the U.S. Coast Guard, was
coming off a
cross country season that culminated at the U.S. Armed
Forces National
Cross Country Championships in Spokane, Wash. last
month.
"I'm coming off running pretty quick miles in cross
country, so my
initial 5:45 per mile pace seemed slow to me," said
Burgess, "but after
13 or 14 miles I could feel the pace kind of creep up on
me."
Once Arnstein took the lead, he didn't relinquish it.
Although he emerged as the winner, he missed a longtime
goal.
"I've been on a quest to break 2:30 in the
marathon for a very long
time, about ten years," Arnstein said. "I was
on pace for about 23
miles. After that the wheels kind of fell off. The mind
wants to go, but
the body doesn't respond. I always get really close.
Always, I'm pushing
myself as hard as I can."
Several feet from the finish line, Arnstein kneeled to
the ground and
bowed his head for several seconds to reflect on his
race. Burgess
finished second in 2:40:16, a personal record time.
Donald Courter, 34,
of Mountain View, Calif. was third in 2:44:19, a
five-minute PR.
"This was a surprisingly fast course for me,"
said Courter after
competing in his first NVM.
Arnstein, also, went home pleased, despite narrowly
missing his race goal.
"I'm extremely excited. It's been a dream of mine
to win this race,"
Arnstein said. "The event is super high class. If
you want the highest
quality marathon, the most beautiful scenery, the
absolute best
organization, you come here. It's by far the best
marathon in the United
States outside of the Boston Marathon. It's the kind of
race that I want
to come back to every year."
In the women's race, Coordt was initially accompanied by
Abigail Larson
(age 30, Salt Lake City, Utah) and Meghan Arbogast (48,
Corvallis,
Ore.). By ten miles, the contest was between Coordt and
Arbogast. Last
October, Coordt qualified for her fourth U.S. Women's
Olympic Marathon
Trials race while running a 2:45:00 PR at the USA
Women's Marathon
Championships in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. She plans
on running the
2012 Trials in Houston. Arbogast, an accomplished ultra
marathoner and a
three-time Marathon Trials qualifier, was looking for a
sub-2:46:00 time
at Napa that would also qualify her for the 2012 Trials.
So, the pair
worked together.
"I told Meghan 'I'll try to run 6:19 minute (per
mile) pace as long as I
can with you,'" said Coordt who had planned to run
only 20 miles of the
race because she is pointing towards the Two Oceans
Ultramarathon in
Cape Town, South Africa on April 3rd. "At 20 miles
I felt really good,
and my husband wasn't there to pick me up. So, I was
getting excited
about helping Meghan to a qualifier, and decided to keep
going."
When Arbogast fell off Trials qualifying pace at 23
miles, Coordt
jettisoned to the lead. "I was suffering a little
bit more than I wanted
at that point," Arbogast said. "My legs were
just tired out. I knew at
that point that it was going to be really tough to make
the Trials
qualifying standard."
Arbogast finished 34 seconds behind Coordt, in 2:46:42,
earning second
place honors. Yiou Wang (24, Mill Valley, Calif.) ran
strongly over the
last several miles, and captured third place in 2:55:00,
a personal
record. Molly Friel (42, Fresno, Calif.) and Abigail
Larson, the early
co-leader who is a two-time winter Olympian in cross
country skiing,
followed in 2:57:50 and 3:00:42 respectively for fourth
and fifth places.
Among masters (40 years and older runners), Robert Evans
(43, Pollock
Pines, Calif.) garnered the men's masters win in
2:46:40. Coordt, 40,
earned women's top masters honors.
Chris Houde (50, Carmichael, Calif.) won the men's
wheelchair division
in 2:22:05. There were no female wheelchair
participants.
In the accompanying, Kiwanis 5K Fun Run, Brian Collett
(25, San Lorenzo,
Calif.) was the men's winner in 16:55 and Michelle Lines
(28, Chicago,
Ill.) was first among women in 19:45.
Full race results for the Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley
Marathon are
available on the event's web site at www.napavalleymarathon.org.
All proceeds from the Napa Valley Marathon (a non-profit
organization)
are donated to local charities in the Napa Valley.
* * * *
* *
The Napa Valley Marathon appreciates generous sponsor
support from
Kaiser Permanente/Thrive, Calistoga Mineral Water
Company, ASICS America Corporation, Gatorade, Silverado
Trail Wineries Association, Marathon & Beyond, Road
Runners Club of America, USA Track & Field,
MarathonFoto, Napa Valley Marriott Hotel & Spa, GU,
CBS 5, Napa Valley Register, KVYN/99.3 The Vine, KVON
1440 AM, the Napa Running Company, KCBS 740 AM,
Silverado Brewing Company, Napa Valley Bike Tours, Wine
Country Inn/Napa Valley, Clover Stornetta Dairy, and
Calistoga Bed & Breakfast Consortium.
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