Running three marathons in eight months put Kathleen Monaghan on the injured list in January. The Duluth Clinic general surgeon had been attempting to qualify for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials and pushed hard enough to injure her left leg.
After missing the qualifying standard in Houston on Jan. 13, she was forced to take seven weeks off from running.
However, Monaghan's return to the sport, as a master runner at age 40, was a success in today's 32nd Grandma's Marathon. She finished 11th overall in the women's field and was the No. 3 master in a personal-best time of 2 hours, 53 minutes, 18 seconds. The Olympic Trials qualifying standard was 2:47.
"This was a perfect day for me, I loved it," said Monaghan, who has run Grandma's Marathon six times. "It was warm and I love when it's warm.
"In some other marathons I struggled over the last six miles. I felt strong the last six miles and the volunteers were incredible. They pulled me along."
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She had finished the 2007 Grandma's Marathon in 2:54:55, and then ran the St. George (Utah) Marathon in 3:11 in October and the Houston Marathon in 3:16. By then her leg's iliotibial band was screaming.
"My body had run too many marathons in a short time, especially when you're training just 20 to 30 miles a week," Monaghan said.
She had some family running partners today --Michael Monaghan of Manhattan Beach, Calif., a brother, ran 3:28:50, and Ann Monaghan of New York, a sister, ran 4:15:50.
There were also a number of other Duluth finishers in the women's top 30 -- Nancy Buselmeier, 24, was 18th in 3:10:56; Rochelle Wirth, 46, was 20th in 3:12:45; Meghan Roth, 21, was 22nd in 3:14:42; and Marlo McGaver, 37, was 26th in 3:16:41. Su Kainulainen, 46, of Thunder Bay, Ontario, was 35th in 3:19:44.
Jenna Boren, 31, of St. Paul was the top Minnesota woman, eighth in 2:49:01.
BENCHINA STREAK CONTINUES
Mike Benchina had just finished ninth grade in Chisholm when he decided to run Grandma's Marathon for the first time at age 15. He's now finished 11 in a row, with a time of 2:41:17 today to lead Northland finishers.
"After my first year of cross country I was talking with my friends about the marathon and I said, 'Oh, I can do that.' There were some other younger runners who had done it, like Ryan Davis [of Carlton]," said Benchina, who is 6-foot-2½ and 175 pounds. "After I entered, my parents said I could back out, but I ran that year and want to keep this streak going as long as I can."
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Benchina, 25, lives in Superior and is pursuing a physical education degree at Wisconsin-Superior, works part time at Austin-Jarrow, a Duluth running equipment store, and races a lot. He's completed about 25 marathons, and won the Jim McIntire Half-Marathon last month in Proctor.
"The heat did get to me a little [Saturday]; I kept trying to find some shade," said Benchina, who has a marathon best of 2:31:43.
Also in the top 50 from the area was James Mullenix, 31, of Duluth, a former Minnesota State-Mankato athlete, who was 47th in 2:45:45.
The top finisher with Minnesota connections was Christopher Raabe, 29, who grew up in Sauk Rapids, ran for North Dakota State, and lives in Washington, D.C. He was sixth in 2:17:35 as the first finisher from the United States, a nearly five-minute improvement from last year's race.
Raabe was 16th in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trails last November in New York in a personal-best 2:17:01.
"I haven't been racing a lot, so I didn't know what to expect [Saturday]. I'm happy," said Raabe, who works for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reviewing applications.
