Wind can’t stop Eggleston from retaining half marathon title

Jeffrey Eggleston might want to place a few wagers before he leaves town. He's on a Las Vegas winning streak.

Eggleston outlasted Paul Katam down the stretch to win the windswept Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon for the second straight year Sunday night on the rain-soaked Strip.

Eggleston, from Boulder, Colo., went back and forth with Katam, a Kenyan who lives in Beaverton, Ore., in a two-man duel for the final three miles before finally shaking him off at the end by eight seconds, 1:04:40 to 1:04:48.

"Actually, it was me versus the other athlete and the wind. It was a battle between the three of us, and I thought the wind was going to win," said Eggleston, 31. "We traded the lead a half dozen times. The wind was slowing us down to a pedestrian pace, so I just tried to sprint, but I couldn't get rid of him.

"Finally, with maybe a half mile to go, I didn't want to leave it to a sprint finish, so I just ran and actually felt good."

The wind gusts, which reached more than 40 mph, were at the runners' backs as they headed north on the Strip from the start line in front of Mandalay Bay, but on the way back to the finish line at the Mirage, Eggleston said "it was like running into a wall."

Eggleston is the fourth fastest seed for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Los Angeles in February, easily making the 2:18:00 standard by running 2:10:52 last year at the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia.

"This is all part of the process for the February Trials," he said. "I want to try to make the team. I think I can do it."

Former Arizona All-America distance runner Jennifer Bergman won the women's half-marathon, edging Olivia Mickle, 1:15:22 to 1:15:51.

Bergman already has the marathon standard of 75 minutes to qualify for the Olympic Trials, but Mickle narrowly missed it in the wind.

"I really wanted to see Olivia get the standard. She was out ther in front by herself for a lot of it," said Bergman, 24. "The last four miles were such strong winds. I've never run in winds like that."

Bergman took the lead with three miles to go and held on for the win. Not bad for someone who didn't book her flight to Las Vegas until Thursday and didn't arrive until Saturday night.

"They told me a room opened up Thursday night," she said. "I was going to do a 12-mile tempo run (Sunday), so this was just more fun.

"I like last-minute plans. There's no time to stress."

ELVIS LIVES — Ian Sharman was a sight to behold as he crossed the finish line of the marathon in eighth place with a time of 2:50:13 dressed as Elvis, with a full white bejeweled jumpsuit, gold-rimmed sunglasses and a wig.

An Englishman who lives in Oregon, Sharman holds the world record for fastest marathon run as Elvis, setting the mark of 2:42:52 in Seattle in 2011.

"Without the wind, I would've got the record," said Sharman, who was all shook up by the weather.

"I'm just disappointed the last eight miles was just such a strong headwind. I was crawling the last eight miles. Sometimes I was running at a 45-degree angle just to avoid falling over."

Sharman is an ultramarathoner who mostly does 100-mile races.

"So this should feel easy, but it doesn't," he said.

Sharman was one of a multitude of Running Elvi in the event.

"The costume is kind of fun, and if you're going to do it, Vegas is the place to do it."

LAS VEGAS LOCAL SHINES — Olivia Garcia, a 12-year-old Las Vegas seventh-grader, finished second among females in Saturday night's Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas 5K presented by SLS Las Vegas. In a race featuring 6,770 starters, Garcia ran 3.1 miles in 19:37, 20 seconds behind race winner Glynis Milne, 30, of Edmonton.

"It feels great," Garcia said. "I actually don't run. I'm a soccer player."

Garcia scored a goal for her travel team earlier in the day.

"I want to be like you when I grow up," said Meb Keflezighi, the 40-year-old former New York and Boston Marathon champion and Olympic marathon silver medalist who paced the 7:45 milers in the 5K and paced the 1:45:00 group of 200 runners in the half-marathon.

Las Vegan Jesse Willms, 28, won the men's 5K in 15:36. Another Las Vegan, Derek Williams, took second in 16:03.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33.