April 21, 2005
April 21, 2005
The following story appeared in Tuesday's Poughkeepsie Journal. You can read the article as it was originally published here.
LOCAL RUNNERS SHINE IN BOSTON
By Pete Colaizzo
Poughkeepsie Journal
It took Mary Denitto almost 10 minutes to reach the starting line of Monday's Boston Marathon. It took Diane Matthews close to two minutes to reach the starting line in Hopkinton, Mass.
But once the two Dutchess County women got around the crowd and got rolling, they posted two of the best finishes in local running history at the 109th annual race.
Matthews, a 23-year-old old Marist College graduate student who lives in Poughkeepsie, placed 46th overall in the women's field and 683rd overall out of nearly 20,000 starters in a net time of 2 hours, 59 minutes, 56 seconds. Denitto, a 57-year-old Rhinebeck resident, was 15th in the veterans age division (ages 50 to 59) in a net time of 3:32:39.
Matthews pulled off a rarity at Boston by running the second 13.1 miles faster than the first half marathon. The famed course from Hopkinton to Boston features long downhill stretches in the first half, followed by the Newton Hills in the latter stages of the race. That portion of the race culminates with Heartbreak Hill in the 21st mile.
A 2004 University at Albany graduate, Matthews powered through the hilly portion of the race faster than the downhills. She went through the halfway point at Wellesley in 1:31:28 and completed the second half in faster than 1:30.
Denitto, a perennial top age-group finisher at Boston, didn't cross the starting line until 9:37 had elapsed. She was able to crack the top 1,000 women's finishers and make the marathon Web site (www.baa.org) list of top age group finishers with her 15th-place finish.
Marist College communications professor Keith Strudler was the fastest local male finisher. Strudler, a 34-year-old Fishkill resident and champion triathlete, was 670th overall in a net time of 3:00:54.
Hyde Park resident Ed Fitzmaurice, last year's top local finisher, finished within the top 1,000 runners (966th) with his net time of 3:05:16.
