Air Force captain Dickie takes command of 15K race
By Casey McGuire-Turcotte
Special to The Advertiser
Setting an "honest pace from the start," Bob Dickie showed the small group of spectators and his competitors in the 26th Annual Norman Tamanaha Memorial 15K Run what his coach already knew: the sky is the limit for this 28-year-old Air Force captain.
Advertiser library photo • Oct. 1, 2002
Dickie finished yesterday's 9.3-mile race at Kapiolani Park in 48 minutes, 39 seconds, opening with a blistering 4:47 mile and averaging 5:13 per mile to win by a little less than two minutes.
"The goal today was to run hard and get in oxygen debt. I felt great and exceeded even my own expectations," Bob Dickie said.
Christian Friis, who trains with Dickie and the FILA Hawai'i team, finished second in 50:25, followed by Hawai'i Pacific's Ahdeslam Naji in 50:39.
The race is Dickie's last before his Boston Marathon debut on April 21 where he hopes to qualify for the Olympic trials. If yesterday is any indication, things could go very well.
"For the past 17 weeks, I've been averaging between 90 and 110 miles each week getting ready for Boston," Dickie said. "The goal today was to run hard and get in oxygen debt. I felt great and exceeded even my own expectations."
Sayuri Kusutani celebrated her 44th birthday yesterday with yet another road victory, finishing in 55 minutes, 29 seconds to win the women's race and finish sixth overall despite running the last three miles alone.
Advertiser library photo • Feb. 19, 2001
"My goal was to get the course record (54:40 held by Darlene Mota)," Kusutani said, "but really there's nothing better than just crossing the finish line."
"My goal was to get the course record," Sayuri Kusutani said, "but really there's nothing better than just crossing the finish line."
Kristi Markowicz of 'Aiea was second in 58:46, and Dolly Skeete of FILA Hawai'i was third at 1:01:30.
To qualify for the Olympic marathon trials, Dickie will have to run a sub 2:22 (about 5:26 pace) at Boston, a feat his coach, Farley Simon, believes he is more than ready to do.
"Bob has been working really hard for the last four months, and I think his body will react well to a little rest," Simon said. "If he had had someone to run with, he could have gone faster today. That's a good sign."
Dickie credits his success to his coach, his training partners, and most of all to his wife of eight years, Brandi.
"My wife gets me to bed on time, makes sure I'm eating right, and even helps me with my running clothes," Dickie said. "She's been my biggest training partner through it all."
NOTES: There were 280 entrants in yesterday event, nearly half the number usually entered in the race according the race organizers, who said the rainy weather and the war in Iraq may have contributed the lower turnout ... Norman Tamanaha, a standout track and cross country runner at McKinley High in the early 1920s, is often referred to as the father of running in Hawai'i. In 1955, at the age of 48, Tamanaha finished fifth at the Boston Marathon with a time of 2:38:30. He was one of the founders of the Mid-Pacific Road Runners Club. ... Tamanaha died in 1977.
