Russian woman gets late birthday present

The Russian distance ace now has 45,000 reasons to let the party begin.

Skvortsova dominated the women’s field Sunday morning, crossing the finish line at Mandalay Bay in 2 hours, 29 minutes and 1 second, in near-perfect running conditions for a marathon and half-marathon field of more than 17,000.

Skvortsova’s victory was worth $20,000.

But she added a $25,000 bonus by winning the event’s Megabucks Challenge, a male-female showdown in which the elite women’s field was given a head start of 18 minutes, 3 seconds on the elite men. Kenya’s Christopher Cheboiboch did all he could in winning the men’s title in 2:16:49, but that still left him about six minutes short of overtaking Skvortsova.

“After about 20 miles, I was thinking about whether the men would catch me. I was nervous,” Skvortsova said through an interpreter. “But when I got to 24 and 25 miles, and the men were still not there, I would’ve been very upset if I got caught. I started running so hard that last mile, thinking that if a man was going to catch me, he’ll have to run an incredible time.”

By that point, Cheboiboch already had given up the chase.

“I knew I just had to finish strong and forget about passing her,” said Cheboiboch, who steadily pulled away from countryman Philip Tanui at the 18-mile mark and, like Skvortsova, went unchallenged to the finish.

Tanui at least kept Cheboiboch company longer, as the duo built a huge lead between miles 14 and 18 heading down Torrey Pines Drive. Skvortsova, on the other hand, took over the women’s race two miles in — while the race was still on the Strip — and never looked back, ultimately winning by more than seven minutes, with Kenya’s Irene Mogaka a distant second in 2:36:15.

But the confident Russian didn’t seem to mind not having anyone to push her for 24 miles.

“Running by myself was actually quite relaxing,” she said. “I knew the only challenge I had left was winning the challenge between the men and women.

“Even Friday and Saturday, I was confident I would win the women’s race. But I was superstitious, so I didn’t want to talk about it.”

Mogaka, still quite satisfied after running a personal best, couldn’t believe how Skvortsova literally ran away from the field so early in the race.

“She went, and she went, and went and went. She never came back,” Mogaka said. “I tried to push the pace to see if I could catch her. But then the lead was 100 meters, then 200, then 400. She just kept running. The pace was just getting faster and faster, so I couldn’t catch her.

“I had to go back to my own pace. I had been training to run under 2:40, and I met that. So I have no complaints.”

Cheboiboch made a similar move on Tanui, building a 75-yard lead between miles 18 and 19, and extending it to 400 yards after a nice downhill stretch heading east on Twain Avenue between miles 21 and 23.

“I’m not so good on the downhills,” Tanui said. “I knew I would not catch him again after that.”

In fact, Tanui dropped to third, finishing in 2:20:26. Kenyan Jynocel Basweti, with a solid final eight miles aided by a speedy bathroom break, moved from sixth to second, finishing in 2:17:41.

“I struggled around mile 17. I got a stomach problem,” Basweti said. “I went to a restroom real fast, and from there I ran faster.”

Defending champion Joseph Kahugu, another in the Kenyan contingent, hung around the lead for 12 miles before he began dropping back. He ultimately finished fourth in 2:21:13, well off his 2006 winning time of 2:16:19.

“That’s the way marathons go,” Kahugu said. “You can’t say anything about it, you can’t complain. Chris did a good job. I’m OK with my performance today.”

Tegla Loroupe, the former women’s world-record holder and a two-time New York City Marathon winner, took third in the women’s race, with almost no training. Loroupe ran New York last month — taking eighth — and Las Vegas on Sunday in more of an ambassador role for her peace foundation. So finishing third, in 2:41:37, was fine with her.

“I was not expecting third,” said Loroupe, 33. “I’m really happy, because I did not have much preparation. It’s a wonderful race. I’ll come back.”

Cheboiboch, despite not winning the challenge, excitedly said he intends to return.

“I’ll come, I’ll come. For a city like this, I’ll come,” the 30-year-old said. “This city is in the desert, but I saw Paris today, I saw New York. It’s amazing to come here for the first time, then win a race here.”

Skvortsova wasn’t thinking about next year, but rather to the belated birthday party awaiting Sunday night.

“We have to do the cool-down, so tonight, we’re going to the nightclub to go dancing,” she said.

Contact reporter Patrick Everson at peverson@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0353.