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)