MIAMI — With prize money on the line, just about every good local runner shows up no matter how low-key the race.
Still, no one expected a world-class men’s field at Saturday’s John Alden Life Doral-Ryder Open Fore-Miler.
Marcello Cascabelo and Antonio Silio, two-time Olympians from Argentina training in Coral Gables for a month, blew South Florida’s elite men’s field away.
Cascabelo, 29, the No. 1-ranked steeplechaser in South America, and Silio, 26, top-ranked half-marathoner, set a quick early pace and ran together for most of the race until the final stretch when Cascabelo outkicked Silio by one-tenth of a second to win in 18 minutes, 45 seconds.
“I am faster in the shorter runs,” Cascabelo said. “This was a training run for us. We are doing daily double workouts to train for the World Cross Country Championships in Spain.”
Olympic trial steeplechase qualifier Jeffrey Wentworth, 32, of Brooksville, finished third. Training for the Penn Relays, Wentworth finished in 19:12. Wentworth ran 4:30 for the first mile. At the 5K mark, he was 12 seconds faster than any of his previous best times this year.
“They started surging after the mile and I’m thinking ‘oh no,”‘ Wentworth said.”I knew then we were in for a long day. That last mile I just died coming into the wind and they looked so good. I don’t feel bad at all finishing third, they’re a notch above me.”
Paul Marmaro, 1989 Fore-Miler winner from Boca Raton, was fourth and the top South Florida finisher. Marmaro, fighting off a cold, had trouble breathing, he said. Marmaro’s time was 19:28. He led for the first half mile.
Trinidad’s Ronnie Holassie, a Gulfstream Race Track groom from Carol City and winningest road racer in South Florida, was fifth in a personal best 19:35. Alan Miller, 44, of Cooper City, won the Masters title in 21:39.
Prize money for the top five men’s and women’s finishers was $200, $100, $75, $50, and $25. The Miami Runners’ race had 602 finishers.
In the women’s race, Mary Level-Menton of Coral Springs maintained a steady pace to win the women’s title in 23:06. Florida Atlantic cross country coach Sharon Chiong of Boca Raton was second in 23:34.
“I ran as hard as I could to win,” said Level-Menton, who caught Chiong at the 2.5-mile mark. Level-Menton was suffering the after effects of a cold.
