DeHaven Wins Trials, Earns Olympic Berth

PITTSBURGH, Penn. - Rod DeHaven of Madison, Wisc. won the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials Sunday and in the process earned a berth for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. The third fastest qualifier for the race, DeHaven, 33, crossed the finish line in 2:15:30 to make his third U.S. national team.

DeHaven, a married father of two and computer programmer, took home $75,000 for his winning effort - $40,000 for the victory and an additional $35,000 for meeting the Olympic qualifying time.

"I'm ecstatic but in a sad way because I'm the only one (who qualified for the Olympics)," DeHaven said after the race. "I had a lot left. I just hung on out there. I was expecting it to be a lot worse. The only thing was that I had some cramps at the end. I was in shape to run 2:11 at a course like Chicago, under better conditions."

Peter De La Cerda of Alamosa, CO was second in 2:16:18 while Mark Coogan of Frederick, MD was third in 2:17:04 and Scott Larson of Boulder, CO took fourth in 2:17:15.

The race started at 7:55 a.m. with a field of 99 runners. The temperature was 61 degrees and the humidity was 84 percent. Scott Bagley led a large pack of runners throughout the early stages of the race. Todd Reeser slipped by Bagley at the 8-mile mark and the duo held an eight-second lead over the pack after the eighth mile.

With the temperature and humidity rising, Peter De La Cerda, David Morris and Eddy Hellebuyck made their moves at about the 11-mile mark. Hellebuyck and De La Cerda led at this point with David Morris 10 yards behind. During the 12th mile, Reeser dropped out of the race. De La Cerda and Hellebuyck led the race through the 13th mile and they passed the halfway mark in 1:07:41. Morris, the leading qualifier and American record holder, stopped briefly to work out a side stitch before continuing the race.

After 16 miles, De La Cerda had a 100-yard margin over the pack, which was led by Mark Coogan and DeHaven. De La Cerda stretched his lead in the 17th mile and was 30 seconds ahead of the field at this point, but DeHaven later said he was feeling confident about his chances at this point in the race. "I thought at 18 miles I'd win the race, barring total disaster," DeHaven said. "I felt really good. I was surprised I felt as good as I did. I expected that at that point in the race, if my quads held together, I'd be OK. This is a quad-busting course, like Boston."

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