Heny, Ruwiyati set new marathon records
Heny, Ruwiyati set new marathon records
JAKARTA (JP): Central Javanese teenage duo Heny Melon and
Ruwiyati shattered the national women's 10-kilometer road best as
they shared the glory in a race in Medan, North Sumatra,
yesterday.
Heny, 16, was the first to best Suryati's three-year-old
record of 35 minutes and two seconds by 22 seconds in a neck-to-
neck battle against Ruwiyati, who finished second in another
record-breaking time of 34 minutes and 51.07 seconds.
Suryati, a Medan resident, was also raised in Salatiga when
she set the national best in the Borobudur 10-K in 1992.
Heny's and Ruwiyati's was a battle between two of Salatiga's
arch rival clubs in the race held to celebrate the 45th
anniversary of North Sumatra Military Command. Heny trains with
Dragon, an outstanding stable of national middle-distance and
long-distance runners. Ruwiyati belongs to Tiger Lokomotif.
Both national runners broke away from a big pack midway to the
finish line, setting up a close duel in the rest of the race.
They maintained their pace but broke into a nail-biting sprint in
the final 50 meters.
Heny romped home with her career high prize money of Rp 2
million (US$909) for winning the race and setting a new best
mark. Ruwiyati had to be content with Rp 1.5 million in cash.
Both runners earned extra bonuses from North Sumatra Military
commander Maj. Gen. Arie Kumaat for their record-breaking
performance, with Heny receiving Rp 15 million and Ruwiyati
bagging Rp 10 million.
Rukmini and Karmina completed Salatiga's clean sweep as they
finished third and fourth respectively.
In the men's division, Asia Marathon runner-up Eduardus
Nabunome failed to live up to his billing when he managed only to
finish second behind Osias Kamlase.
Osias, a 10-kilometer specialist, burst to a winning time of
30:33.12. He upset Eduardus by just 0.68 second for the top prize
money of Rp 2.5 million.
"It is a very disappointing finish. The route suited me very
well and I gained momentum in the last four kilometers. But I
wasted it all," said Eduardus.
Eduardus had ventured a pre-race guess that he would break his
national best of 29:25, which he set in 1988.
The organizers offered two cars as prizes for any male or
female competitor who completed the race in less than 30 minutes,
for female athletes, and 28 minutes for male athletes.(amd)