Torres, Arthur win LT Marathon again

For the first 13 miles on Sunday morning, Tony Torres had decided that, under the circumstances, second place wouldn't be such a bad consolation prize.

Reno's Lynryd Skynrod, the 2007 Tahoe Triple winner, darted off the starting line in Tahoe City with a focus Torres had never seen before. And it stayed that way for more than an hour, with Skynrod never less than a hundred meters ahead of Torres.

"That guy was going so fast," Torres said. "I was worried because he was on a record pace. I could barely see him."

Then came the notorious uphill stretch north of D.L. Bliss State Park, and the back of Skynrod's head kept getting closer and closer. Halfway up the hill, Torres passed Skynrod and continued with his pace into Emerald Bay.

"I never saw him again after that," Torres said.

Torres became the first person in Lake Tahoe Marathon history to win the event three consecutive years, crossing the finish line at Pope Beach in an unofficial time of 2 hours, 40 minutes, 41 seconds. It was Torres' fastest mark during his historic three-year run in Lake Tahoe, having run a 2:44.55 last year and a 2:43.37 in 2006.

"I am so happy to have won three times here," Torres said. "It's a difficult race, but it was much warmer than last year. And that other guy really kept my pace up."

Skynrod, who ran a 2:39 marathon in the first leg of last year's Tahoe Triple, was close to a record pace. At the halfway point (13.1 miles), Torres had him at 1 hour, 17 minutes. The LTM record is 2:30.55, which was set in 2001 by Joseph Maina Ngunjiri. But once Torres passed him, his pace dropped off significantly and eventually finished with an unofficial time of 2:51.40.

While the men's race included drama, that wasn't the case in the women's race.

Reno's Kristi Arthur won her second Lake Tahoe Marathon " and first since 2005 " in an unofficial time of 3:05.30. Arthur's biggest motivation was staying ahead of her male competitors, which started 30 minutes after her in a separate competition titled "Battle of the Sexes."

To claim the overall purse of $1,000, the men's champion must pass the women's champion, a situation that happened to Arthur in 2005 when Samuel Githninji passed Arthur in the final stretch.

"I promised myself that I wouldn't let that happen again. I allowed the guy to pass me in that last corner about 200 yards away," said Arthur, who finished about 5 minutes in front of Torres and earned $1,000 " $500 for winning the women's marathon and another $500 for winning the "Battle of the Sexes." "I never saw them, but I know they were back there today. I was happy with my race today and the pace I kept."

With a more competitive field flocking to his event, Lake Tahoe Marathon Race Director Les Wright predicted that the record for the 72-mile ultra bike race would be broken last year. Turned out he was a year late.

Thirteen cyclists broke the previous record of 3 hours, 1 minute during Saturday's bike ride, with Tahoe City's Nathan Freed winning the event in 2 hours, 59.08 seconds. Three other cyclists tied for second at 2:59.11, including South Shore's

Sean Sweeney, who won the masters division with that time.

Glenbrook's John Wagnon tied for fourth overall and placed second in the masters division by finishing in 2:59.12.

"The reality is we have more and more guys locally and around the area that are competing in this event," Wright said. "The other bike event here (America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride) is more of a fun event. But you're going to start seeing more and more top cyclists racing in this event because the field is getting so competitive."

There was a good turnout for LTM week. Lake Tahoe race director Les Wright reported about 450 marathoners at the starting line on Sunday in Tahoe City, and said more than 2,500 registered for at least one event during the week. In past years, the marathon was held on Saturday.