Shahar Zolelhayan

Local Woman Wins Marathon

Park City native, Laura Blake, won the 27th Front Range Marathon over an elite field of the best long distance runners in the country. Laura's time of 2 hr. 28 min. 21 sec. was only 2 minutes off the women's course record set last year by Sarah Rawlings. Kathy Lasker and Lisa Peterson finished second and third, respectively. Laura's victory came on the heels of her performance at the NCAA Track and Field Championships, in which she placed second running for Colorado State.

Group    Runner               Time          Origin
=====    ======               ====          ======
Men      1. Peter Teagan      2:12:34       San Antonio, Texas
Men      2. Kyle Wills        2:13:05       Billings, Montana
Men      3. Jason Wu          2:14:28       Cutler, Colorado

Women    1. Laura Blake       2:28:21       Park City, Colorado
Women    2. Kathy Lasker      2:30:11       Chicago, Illionois
Women    3. Lisa Peterson     2:31:14       Seattle, Washington

In an exciting race, Peter Teagan of San Antonio, Texas, used a finishing kick to win the men's marathon for the second straight year, in a time of 2 hr. 12 min. 34 sec. Ahead for much of the race, Kyle Wills of Billings, Montana, finished second, when he could not match Teagan's finishing pace. Jason Wu of Cutler, Colorado, placed third in a very competitive field.

This year's race through downtown Boulder boasted the largest field in the marathon's history, with over 9500 men and 6700 women competing. Race conditions were perfect with low humidity and temperatures that never exceeded 85°.