South Africans Ernst Van Dyk and Krige Schabort, two of the fastest wheelchair racers in the world, were put to the test today -- with Grandma's Marathon as only part of the expedition.
Schabort, 44, won his third Grandma's Marathon, with a time of 1 hour, 29 minutes and 33 seconds, in the largest wheelchair field in race history.
Van Dyk, 35, was two seconds behind Schabort in 1:29:35.
After the race, Schabort and Van Dyk immediately left for the airport to catch a 10:50 a.m. flight from Duluth to Minneapolis, with a connecting flight to Atlanta, where Schabort resides.
"I wish I could have stayed and enjoyed the moment, but I had to go," said Schabort by telephone from the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport this afternoon. "I've never had to cut it that close."
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Schabort, who won Grandma's in 2006 and 2005, looked at a 1 p.m. today flight and a flight Sunday, but both flights would have significantly cut into the $2,000 cash prize he earned.
During the 26.2-mile first leg of their daylong race from Two Harbors to Atlanta, Schabort led Van Dyk the entire way.
At 26.1 miles, Schabort took a sharp turn and inadvertently cut off Van Dyk, who holds the world record marathon time of 1:18:27.
"I skidded, and he came to a quick stop," said Schabort, who holds the Grandma's course record in 1:26:00. "He stopped dead. I was still moving and accelerated from there. It was hard to avoid. If I didn't do it, I would have crashed into the barricade."
MCGRORY LEFT TO
HER OWN DEVICES
Two-time defending Grandma's women's wheelchair winner Amanda McGrory got a few surprises this morning.
Before the race, Cheri Blauwet, a two-time Boston Marathon winner, pulled out for a medical reason.
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Blauwet, 24, and McGrory, 21, were set to battle toward McGrory's 2007 course record of 1:46:29, but McGrory of Champaign, Ill., went at it alone.
McGrory missed the mark, but won her third straight Grandma's title in 1:49:59. Tricia Downing, 38, of Denver, Colo., was second in 2:26:16.
Complicating McGrory's effort was her speedometer, which shut off 1½ miles into the race.
"It is always harder to go against the timer than a person," said McGrory, who won $2,000. "I didn't even have that. It was a challenge."
McGrory and Blauwet of Palo Alto, Calif., are set to lead the United States at the 2008 Paralympic Games on Sept. 6-17 in Beijing, China.
