On first try, they earn come-from-behind wins
When they arrived in Boston, Oleg Strijakov of Russia and Heidy Lozano of Houston had concerns about how they would fare in their first Boston Marathon.
Strijakov wondered how his injured calves would hold up if the stiff competition he faced in the men's masters division pushed the pace. Lozano, more accustomed to the hot and humid climes of the Southwest, wondered if she was capable of weathering a northeaster that turned the 111th edition of this Hopkinton-to-Boston footrace into a torturous trek.
As their races unfolded, though, they took a similar path to victory, dropping back from the elite runners to set their own pace and adjust their goals. In the end, Strijakov, 43, and Lozano, 44, emerged with the $10,000 first prize for winning their division.
Strijakov, a middle-distance runner who competed in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona before becoming a marathoner the following year, finished 44th overall in 2 hours 28 minutes 55 seconds. Lozano, who was 36th overall among the women, ran in 2:56:03.
"Coming in, you know it's going to be a difficult course, not a PR course," said Lozano, who recorded a personal best (2:51:46) with a third in last year's California International Marathon and competes in Ironman triathlons. "It was certainly not a PR for me, but I was very, very pleased to have conquered the weather, the conditions.
"And the fans were absolutely wonderful out there; they were very encouraging. I just loved the whole experience, even though the conditions weren't ideal."
Strijakov's journey began with a glimpse at the field.
"The goal was to win this race," he said through an interpreter. "But when I came to Boston and looked at the list of runners, I understood that the Kenyans and Ethiopians would go with the elite runners, so I decided to slow down and go at my own pace."
Initially, Strijakov tried to go with the lead group, but after 6.2 miles, he decided that discretion was the better part of valor and opted to drop off the pace. Slowly, he began to reel in those masters runners, first catching the Kenyans, then the Ethiopians.
Then, with 2 miles to go before reaching the finish on Boylston Street, Strijakov went into the lead.
"When I caught those guys, I thought, 'Oh my God, thank you,' " said Strijakov, who had orthotics in his shoes to mitigate the calf spasms he suffered last June in the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minn.
Lozano said she experienced a similar moment of inspiration when she lined up among the lead pack, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with American favorite Deena Kastor and noticing they were wearing the same wool cap.
"I'm going, 'I guess I didn't go too wrong; if I could run just as fast as her,' " said Lozano, breaking into a laugh. "So I wore one of those and I wore gloves. I was going to wear a wind[breaker], but some guy said, 'Don't wear one of those, it's just going to act like a sail and slow you down,' and I said, 'Good thinking, thank you.' So I ditched that and just went with my normal gear."
When Lozano found herself falling off the pace set by the lead group of elite runners, she reevaluated her plan and "just went into a different gear," she said.
"Around Mile 21 or 22, someone told me that I was the first woman with a triple-digit bib, and I couldn't believe it," Lozano said. "I was shocked. At that point, I was like, 'Oh my goodness, really?'
"I thought they had miscounted or something, so I just stayed the course and stayed with the plan, and when I got to the finish, they told me I was the first to finish in my division."
Lozano finished some three minutes ahead of runner-up Lisa Goldsmith, 42, of Nederland, Colo. (2:59:38), and 5 1/2 minutes ahead of Sheila Mason, 40, of Williamstown (3:02:42).
Strijakov finished three minutes ahead of runner-up Robert Weiner, 42, of Evergreen, Colo. (2:31:20).
Asked if she planned to return to Boston next year, Lozano said with a laugh, "Definitely. Hopefully, it'll be 90 degrees. That'll be Houston weather next year."
