Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, November 15, 1993 TAG: 9311150036
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NEW YORK LENGTH: Medium
The unseasonably warm weather - a record 72 degrees - caused 27 people to be taken to hospitals from the course and another 28 from the finish area, said Gus Pappas, a spokesman for New York's Emergency Medical Service.
The two runners in critical and stable condition were identified only as males from Washington, D.C. and Connecticut. They were evacuated from Central Park by helicopter after ice baths failed to revive them. Pappas said they were unconscious at the time and had hyperthermia.
Two of the top female runners, Kim Jones of Spokane, Wash., and Anne Marie Letko of Glen Gardner, N.J., were among those hospitalized and released. Jones had an asthma attack near the 17th mile and dropped out.
"I thought I was going to die," Jones said in a statement issued by race officials. "It was pretty bad."
Espinosa, a runner-up the past two years, won in 2 hours, 10 minutes, 4 seconds, the sixth-fastest time in the world this year, and American runners finished a surprising second and fifth.
Bob Kempainen, 27, of Minnetonka, Minn., was second, and Keith Brantly, 31, of Ormond Beach, Fla., was fifth, both with personal-best times.
Espinosa, who trained in the high altitude near Mexico City, was ready for any weather conditions.
"I was well-prepared for the heat or the cold," said the 30-year-old runner.
Espinosa was the surprise second-place finisher behind countryman Salvador Garcia in 1991. He placed second again last year, nearly 1 1/2 minutes behind Willie Mtolo of South Africa. This time, Espinosa earned the $20,000 first prize and a new Mercedes-Benz sedan, worth about $42,500.
Pippig, 26, running the race for the first time, led nearly all of the final 20 miles in winning the women's division in 2:26:24, just off her previous career best of 2:26:53.
No American-born man has won the New York City Marathon since 1979, when Bill Rodgers ran to his fourth consecutive triumph. No American-born woman has won since Kim Merritt in 1975.
Kempainen, a medical student at the University of Minnesota, was timed in 2:11:03, the fastest of the year by an American. It was more than a minute better than his previous best of 2:12:12, set with a second-place finish in his marathon debut in the Twin Cities Marathon in 1991.
It was the best finish by an American in this race since Ken Martin also was second in 1989.
The last time two Americans made the top five was 1987.
Two other Americans cracked the top 20 - Steve Plasencia of Eugene, Ore., finished 16th, and Don Janicki of Louisville, Colo., was 19th.
The top American female finisher was Ellen Gibson of Park City, Utah, who took 16th in 2:50:17.
The race attracted a field of approximately 26,000 runners.
by CNB