Greene County woman wins Pittsburgh Marathon a second time

A Greene County woman charged ahead in the last mile to capture a second title as champion in Sunday’s Pittsburgh Marathon.
Clara Santucci, 28, of Dilliner finished the 26.2-mile race in 2 hours, 34 minutes, 6 seconds. She surged from 1 minute, 33 seconds back to overtake 26-year-old Kenyan Aliphine Tuliamuk-Bolton in the 25th mile.
“I was behind the lead woman until the last mile. There was about a 2 minute gap between us. It was a long race, but I kept on going and never gave up,” Santucci said.
According to the Boston Athletic Association, Tuliamuk-Bolton is one of the best long-distance runners in the nation. Tuliamuk-Bolton graduated from Wichita State University in 2013, where she captured All-American honors in cross country, indoor and outdoor track. She ran a half marathon in about a 1 hour and 9 minutes in Santa Fe in 2013.
“I knew she was going to be a challenge,” Santucci said.
Temperatures Sunday started around 50 degrees with a light wind, but quickly soared to the mid 70s soon after the race started. Santucci said heat was a factor, so staying properly hydrated during the race was important.
And then there is “the wall” — that challenging part of a marathon that hits pro and amateur alike. For many runners, the wall hits around the 20-mile mark when mind and body more or less rebel. People are faced with a stark choice to quit or keep running. Completing the rest of the race is a matter of will. And when combining Sunday’s heat and Pittsburgh’s hilly terrain, only the strongest runners push forward.
Adding to that challenge is that marathons are not usually won in the last mile — often one of the toughest hurdles of this sport — but through strategy early on.
Santucci said her body hurt as she got closer to Tuliamuk-Bolton, but she kept going and held on for the win because she wanted it more.
“She was having a worse time than I was, but I kept closing in on her,” she said.
Santucci became the first repeat women’s champion since Wioletta Kryza in 2001-2002. Last year, Santucci crossed the finish line with a time of 2:32:25 — the first time she had ever competed in the Pittsburgh Marathon. She attributes the nearly 2-minute time difference between her finish last year and Sunday’s time primarily to the heat.
Monday, Santucci said her legs were sore, but she felt good.
Santucci’s winnings totaled $13,500, including $4,500 from the American Development Program $1,000 for being top Pennsylvanian.
The win in Pittsburgh further cements her reputation as a top distance runner.
In October 2013, Santucci beat more than 39,000 runners in the Chicago Marathon that fielded top runners from across the globe. Only a few Kenyans and a Russian were ahead of her. The first American woman across the finish line, Santucci placed ninth with a time of 2 hours, 31 minutes and 39 seconds. Last year, Santucci was among the top Americans to finish the race with a time of 2 hours, 32 minutes and 21 seconds.
All these victories pave the way for the gold standard — the Olympics.
The U.S. Olympic trial standard for the women’s “A” team is 2 hours, 37 minutes. Since Santucci has made that grade in Chicago and Pittsburgh, she has earned the chance to compete in the marathon finals in February 2016 in Los Angeles.
Not bad for a West Virginia University graduate who regularly runs the rail trails between Point Marion and Morgantown, W.Va.
“I’ve still got a lot of work to do, but my mind is in the right place,” said Santucci, who runs between 120 to 130 miles per week.
Kenyan Stephen Njoroge won the men’s race with a time of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 19 seconds.
He surpassed Ethiopian pacesetter Mulue Andom Berhe with 6 miles left and finished 24 seconds ahead of Negash Abebe Duki, also of Ethiopia.
Njoroge received $8,000.
Penn State graduate Tyler McCandless was the top American man with a fourth-place time of 2:18:29.