Liz Condo - newsobserver.com
Mitch VanBruggen of Durham is the first to the finish line of the Raleigh City of Oaks Marathon Sunday November 6, 2011, in Raleigh. VanBruggen finished the marathon in just under 2 hours and 30 minutes.
RALEIGH -- Mitch VanBruggen smiled and cupped his right hand to his ear as fans lining the City of Oaks Marathon course urged him down the finishing stretch.
The Duke exercise physiologist and Durham resident wasn't showboating as he won the fifth annual edition of the Sunday morning race that started and finished at the Bell Tower on N.C. State's campus.
VanBruggen, 26, was merely basking in a what described as a “runner's high.” He's enjoying a rebirth to his running career that he described as disappointing while competing for St. John's University, an NCAA Division III school in Collegeville, Minn.
"The conditions were great and I'll tell you, the sections through Umstead Park were scenic,” VanBruggen said. “I was getting that runner's high when you're in the moment. It was fun the whole way. I took running too seriously in college – I was a little too anal – and I'm enjoying this.”
VanBruggen won with a time of 2 hours, 29 minutes, 33 seconds on a day that was ideal for distance running. Two years years ago the field was hampered by rain and last year by the cold, but conditions were dry and the temperature an average 54 degrees over the course.
The “Oaks” marathon and half-marathon added a third feature this year as the traditional Old Reliable 10K made for a triple play of road races to enter. A combined field of 3,774 runners – about 500 more than a year ago – turned out.
VanBruggen, who won by over four minutes, was running only his second marathon and is now preparing for the Boston Marathon in April.
"I did better than I expected,” he said. “This is a good distance for me.”
Tim Surface of Raleigh was second in 2:33.50 and Ryan Woods of Boone third in 2:37.36.
Marathons are also a new phase of running for the women's winner, Kimberlie Fowler, a downtown Raleigh resident and real estate broker.
Fowler, 31, played softball in high school and didn't get into running until after college. This was her 14th marathon – she ran Chicago a month ago – and her first win, with a time of 2:55.22.
She crossed the finished line simultaneously with her boyfriend, David Meeker, which isn't unusual in road races. But this finish was different because she was pacing him to his best time.
"That was his strongest race,” Fowler said. “He might start beating me soon.”
Kelcey Carlson of Raleigh was second in 3:05.13 and Trisha Moore of Raleigh third in 3:08.28.
The men's half-marathon winner was Raleigh's Joe Moore, a former Kansas State distance runner. The women's half-marathon winner was Raleigh's Jemissa Van Hoy, a two-time indoor track All-American at North Carolina State.
Moore, 27, won in 1:05.14 and Van Hoy, 27, in 1:17.11.
Van Hoy, a middle-distance runner for the Wolfpack, was running her first half-marathon and may step up to a marathon. That will come as a surprise to her old college teammates not accustomed to racing at such distances.
"They probably think I'm crazy,” she said.
The men's 10K winner was Colin Jones of Raleigh in 34:57 and the women's 10K winner was Laura Berry of Raleigh in 39:45.
