Clint Wells doesn’t really consider himself a marathoner, but he has an impressive win-loss percentage of .500 after claiming Sunday’s Denver Marathon.
Wells, a 31-year-old steeplechaser who ran for the University of Colorado, prevailed with a time of 2 hours, 28 minutes, 36 seconds, after pre-race favorite Mike Korir was overcome by cramps late in the race.
Wells could empathize. In his only previous marathon at New York in 2003, Wells struggled to the finish with a time of 2:34. Wells was three minutes behind at mile 18, but by mile 21, Korir was walking and Wells was in command.
“I kind of thought he had it wrapped up,” Wells said of Korir, who had opened a big lead early. “I was just trying to keep my own pace. When I saw him, I was pretty surprised. I patted him on the back when I went by and he was very non-responsive. I looked back a mile later and I couldn’t even see him.”
Wells planned to do the half-marathon until elite athlete coordinator Rich Castro talked him into switching last Wednesday. Wells still doesn’t consider himself a marathoner.
“I just wanted to see if I could do the distance and feel strong the whole way,” Wells said.
Alan Culpepper, a teammate of Wells’ at CU, took the half-marathon in 1:04:52 despite taking a wrong turn near the finish line. A two-time Olympian, Culpepper used the race as a tune-up for the New York City Marathon on Nov. 5.
“I can just tell from the way my legs feel that I’ll be able to recover quickly and get a few more sessions in,” said Culpepper, fully recovered from a bout with anemia over the summer. “Now it’s just putting the final touches on. I’ll get a lot from this race.”
Taeko Terauchi of Japan won the women’s marathon (2:51:35). Dawn Fischer of Gillette, Wyo., won the women’s half (1:29:20) after 1996 New York City Marathon champion Anuta Catuna took a wrong turn and finished second in 1:31:05.
Catuna, a native of Romania, became a U.S. citizen recently in a downtown Denver ceremony and hopes to make the U.S. Olympic team.
