Bob Kempainen never felt so sick in his life. Nor did he ever feel so exhilirated.
The gutsy Kempainen threw up five times during the closing miles, then once again after crossing the finish line in winning the U.S. men's Olympic marathon trials Saturday."I'm a little dehydrated," Kempainen said after completing the difficult 26-mile, 385-yard course in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 45 seconds and earning $100,000 - the biggest first-place prize in marathon history. "I left some fluids on the course.
"But I'm incredibly excited to be on the team - to get another crack at it."
Kempainen, a 29-year-old medical student at the University of Minnesota, finished third in the 1992 trials at Columbus, Ohio, then wound up 17th at the Barcelona Games.
Mark Coogan, whose wife, Gwyn, was fourth in last week's women's marathon trials, finished second in 2:13:05, and Keith Brantly, fourth in the 10,000-meter trials in 1988 and fourth in the 1992 marathon trials, took third in 2:13:22.
"This guy is the toughest human being on the face of the earth," Brantly said of Kempainen. "If what happened to him today would have happened to me, I would have cried and stopped running."
Although Kempainen has been the top-ranked U.S. marathoner each of the past two years and was a 1992 Olympian, this was his first victory in seven marathons.
He will graduate from medical school in the spring and will begin his residency in the fall, after competing in the Olympic Games at Atlanta. He has been on a leave of absence from school since October, while concentrating on his preparation for the trials. On Feb. 26, he will begin his final seven weeks of schooling.
Kempainen took the lead for good shortly before the end of mile 23 when he passed Brantly. He widened the gap between miles 23 and 24, and broke away from his closest competitors between 24 and 25, opening a substantial lead of about 100 meters.
Kempainen is the fastest American marathoner ever, with a 2:08:47 in finishing seventh at Boston in 1994.
Making the team and earning the $40,000 second prize was very satisfying for Coogan, following his wife's just-miss performance last week at Columbia, S.C.
Brantly, who has been hampered recently by pnuemonia and a calf injury, earned $30,000 for finishing third. Steve Plasencia, a two-time Olympian at 10,000 meters, finished fourth in 2:14:20.
Little-known Paul Zimmerman, winner of the 1991 Arizona Marathon and with a career-best of 2:14:56, led for nearly the first 16 miles, twice opening leads of more than one minute. But Zimmerman began slowing during mile 12, and the other top runners started to catch up.
At the end of 12 miles, his advantage had dwindled to 35 seconds, by 14 it was down to 30 seconds and at 15 it had slipped to 15 seconds.
Then, shortly before the completion of mile 16, Jose Iniguez, a native of Mexico who became a U.S. citizen in December, swept past the faltering Zimmerman. Along with Iniguez, there were 15 others in the lead pack.
After that, the pack kept thinning out and eventually the top three separated themselves from the others.
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
U.S. MEN'S OLYMPIC MARATHON TRIALS
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Results Saturday from the U.S. men's Olympic marathon trials:
1. Bob Kempainen, North Minnetonka, Minn., 2:12:45.
2. Mark Coogan, Boulder, Colo., 2:13:05.
3. Keith Brantly, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., 2:13:22.
4. Steve Plasencia, Eugene, Ore., 2:14:20.
5. Marco Ochoa, Fullerton, Calif., 2:14:22.
6. Keith Dowling, Albuquerque, N.M., 2:14:30.
7. Dan Held, Waukesha, Wis., 2:14:53.
8. Jon Warren, Houston, 2:15:59.
9. Jeff Jacobs, Roscoe, Ill., 2:16:13.
10. David Morris, Albuquerque, N.M., 2:16:20.
11. Terrence Mahon, Haverford, Pa., 2:16:28.
12. Darrell General, Mitchellville, Md., 2:16:30.
13. Ashley Johnson, Flagstaff, Ariz., 2:16:39.
14. Craig Woshner, Winchester, Va., 2:16:41.
15. Ed Eyestone, Layton, Utah, 2:16:51.
16. Budd Coates, Emmaus, Pa., 2:17:26.
17. Jose Iniguez, San Antonio, 2:17:42.
18. Kevin Collins, Cicero, N.Y., 2:17:51.
19. Dennis Simonaitis, Coalville, Utah, 2:17:57.
20. John Dimoff, Portland, Ore., 2:18:06.
21. Howard Nippert, Blacksburg, Va., 2:19:08.
22. Joe Lemay, Danbury, Conn., 2:19:10.
23. Tom Redding, Tampa, Fla., 2:19:54.
24. Steve Wilson, St. Petersburg, Fla., 2:19:58.
25. Will Kimball, Eugene, Ore., 2:20:21.
26. Joe Rubio, San Luis Obispo, Calif., 2:20:30.
27. Jeff Morganti, Syracuse, N.Y., 2:20:57.
28. Don Janicki, Louisville, Colo., 2:21:02.
29. Eric Peters, Albuquerque, N.M., 2:21:03.
30. Kevin Corliss, St. Paul, Minn., 2:21:18.
31. Mark Andrews, Chapel Hill, N.C., 2:21:31.
32. Frank Nabity, Sierra Vista, Ariz., 2:21:35.
33. Mark Curp, Lee's Summit, Mo., 2:21:38.
34. Chad Newton, Brevard, N.C., 2:21:43.
35. David Steffens, Issaquah, Wash., 2:21:51.
36. John Mirth, Englewood, Colo., 2:21:58.
37. Jim Hage, Lanham, Md., 2:22:16.
38. Ed Holzem, Appleton, Wis., 2:22:31.
39. Bob Schwelm, Bryn Mawr, Pa., 2:22:33.
40. Russell Sears, Lafayette, Ind., 2:22:36.
41. John Sence, Maineville, Ohio, 2:22:37.
42. Earl Stoner, Hagerstown, Md., 2:22:45.
43. James Hamilton, Imperial, Pa., 2:23:01.
44. Paul Rosser, Salt Lake City, 2:23:24.
45. Rene Sepulveda, Dallas, 2:23:58.
46. Jim Brunswick, Cambridge, Mass., 2:24:02.
47. Dave Nelson, Maryville, Tenn., 2:24:07.
48. Don Johns, Lambertville, Mich., 2:24:15.
49. Jeff Hacker, San Francisco, 2:24:48.
50. Joseph McVeigh, Athens, Ga., 2:25:22.
51. Phil Olsen, Provo, Utah, 2:25:38.
52. Tom Harding, Norwalk, Conn., 2:25:52.
53. Randy Haas, Orwigsburg, Pa., 2:25:53.
54. Carl Nuccio, Rockford, Ill., 2:26:57.
55. Chuck Lotz, Charlotte, N.C., 2:26:58.
56. Stan Holman, Spokane, Wash., 2:27:03.
57. Mark Prinzel, Goose Creek, Texas, 2:27:04.
58. Greg Wenneborg, Tucson, Ariz., 2:27:15.
59. Matt Clayton, San Diego, 2:27:24.
60. Travis Grappo, Las Vegas, 2:27:27.
61. Mike Dudley, Morgantown, W.Va., 2:27:32.
62. Patrick Piper, Charlotte, N.C., 2:27:42.
63. Thad Karnehm, Bryon Center, Mich., 2:27:47.
64. Kevin Broady, Anaheim, Calif., 2:28:22.
65. Chris Morlan, Spokane, Wash., 2:28:59.
66. Matt Messner, North Bend, Ore., 2:29:42.
67. Richard Stark, Ann Arbor, Mich., 2:29:49.
68. Mica Comstock, Albuquerque, N.M., 2:29:53.
69. Bob Stolz, Harrisonburg, Va., 2:30:02.
70. Michael Harrison, Virginia Beach, Va., 2:30:38.
71. Mark Conover, San Luis Obispo, Calif., 2:31:01.
72. Tony Williams, Bellevue, Wash., 2:31:49.
73. Bill Courtney, Northville, Mich., 2:31:54.
74. Randy Accetta, Tucson, Ariz., 2:32:27.
75. John Hill, Bellevue, Wash., 2:32:37.
76. Jose Aispuro, Watsonville, Calif., 2:32:49.
77. Chuck Crabb, Bridgeport, Pa., 2:33:28.
78. Dror Vaknin, Tampa, Fla., 2:33:56.
79. Miguel Tibaduiza, Reno, Nev., 2:33:56.
80. David Petersen, Bend, Ore., 2:34:33.
Other locals
83. Ken O'Brien, Salt Lake City, 2:37:42.
88. Larry Smithee, West Jordan, Utah, 2:50:16.