Krong wins fight to the finish
The course through wound through Mesa, beginning at Usery Mountain Regional Park and wrapping up at the Mesa Riverview shopping center.
“I threw it into surge in the final half mile and I was finally able to get it,” said Krong, a familiar face to the Phoenix area as he took second in the P.F. Chang’s half-marathon in January.
“It was a pretty fair course. It started early enough to where it didn’t get too hot. ... I didn’t have any time goals. I just wanted to come in here to win, and I came in here with that competitive aspect. ... I’ve had some good success in Arizona this winter.”
Bak posted a time of 2:46:20.4, nearly seven minutes faster than Utah’s second-place finisher Melody Jenson (2:53.13.1). Like Krong, she had already qualified for the Boston Marathon in mid-April.
“It’s always a benefit when I get another qualifier for (the Boston Marathon),” Bak said. “I knew this course was going to be fast and fun. It looked like it was going to be a fun, scenic course.”
Bak had the race her way nearly the entire way.
“I stayed in second (place) for the first couple of miles,” she said. “You never know what someone else is going to have at the end. I was pretty happy to have a good margin.”
Lakeside’s Joshua McAdams was the top male finisher in the halfmarathon with a time of 1:09.52 and Phoenix’s Nicole Scozzari was the top woman at 1:45.40.
The event has rapidly gained in popularity as more than 2,000 runners were turned away.
Runners from 10 countries and 49 states participated.