Florida girl inspiration to her rivals

Race Results

Complete race results can be found in Tuesday's editions

Not only did 12-year-old LeAnn Shannon of Orange Park, Fla., finish third in the women's open wheelchair division, but she may have provided the most poignant and inspirational story of Bloomsday 1995.

And with her indomitable spirit, she may have been able to put the entire race into perspective.

Shannon, paralyzed in a car accident when she was 1, had one of the greatest accomplishments in her short but impressive career by topping 27-year-old rival Deanna Sodoma by two seconds.

"(Teammate) Jim Knaub told her this was her race to finally beat Sodoma," LeAnn's mother Ann said. "I was standing at the finish line and looked up and I couldn't believe it, but she had done it."

Shannon, who started racing at age 7 in a chair her father made for her, has won 250 trophies and been recognized with a letter from President George Bush.

Women's wheelchair winner Jean Driscoll said Shannon represents the future of her sport.

More remarkable than those achievements, though, is the attitude Shannon has in regard to her disability.

"People ask her if she would trade where she is now to be able to walk again," her mother said. "But she would never do that because she wouldn't have been able to see the places she's seen and she would have never been able to do the things she's done."

Men's wheelchair winner Paul Wiggins was also touched by Shannon's story. After accepting his trophy and a bouquet of roses, he wheeled over to Shannon and placed the roses in her lap.

Record, what record?

Yobes Ondieki set the men's Bloomsday record of 33:55 in 1992 and hasn't been back until Sunday, when he placed sixth in 35:21.

He saw his record _ which was matched in 1993 by Arturo Barrios _ trashed by 19-year-old Josphat Machuka.

"Records are there for someone to break them," Ondieki said. "He ran a great race. For someone so young, he's amazing."

Ondieki, healing from a stress fracture above his right ankle, has only been training seriously for the past month.

His wife, Lisa, winner of the 1992 women's Bloomsday, did not race because of problems with an Achilles' tendon.

Hill, what hill?

Josephat Kapkory, former Washington State University NCAA distance champion, finished eighth in his first Blooms- day.

"It was nice, but (Doomsday) hill wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Kapkory said. "I kept thinking about it coming up, and it is long, but it is gradual. I saw it on TV and I thought it was going to be steeper."

Kapkory said he went out slower than he probably should have with Doomsday Hill in mind. "I did not want to die on it," he said.

The Kenyan was stunned by the effortless way countryman Machuka won the men's race.

"This is my last road race," Kapkory said. "I'm moving onto the track and will run in some Grand Prix events now."

Notes

Seven-time winner Anne Audain hinted at a comeback on Sunday. The commentator for KXLY's coverage of the women's race reported that she's turning 40 this year and "I'm thinking about coming back and running one more Bloomsday as a masters' runner," she said.

If Audain returns next year, the 40-20-10 factor will be in effect. That is, at 40 years old, her 10th appearance will be in the 20th Bloomsday.

How did Spokane's Kim Jones celebrate her fifth-place finish? She went out for a training run.

It was her best Bloomsday finish ever for one of America's finest marathon racers.

Spokane's Lisa Dressel, a former prep racing phenom, came in slightly under 45 minutes. "I'm not so thrilled with the time, considering I ran 44:20 as a sophomore in high school," Dressel said.

Dressel didn't like the format of having the elite women running by themselves. "It was like being alone out there," she said. "There was probably nobody within 25 seconds in front of me and I don't know how far behind me they were. I think that makes it harder to have a good time."

In masters competition, Englishman Nick Rose, 43, easily won his third straight men's title in 36:54. Diane Tracy, 42, of Hermosa Beach, Calif., edged Honor Fetherston of Mill Valley, Calif., in 45:02 for first money among the women.

Buck Jones, a grad student at Washington State, greatly improved on his 19th-place finish last year by taking 10th.

Jones is becoming one of the nation's elite milers, but showed a knack for road racing Sunday. Although he won't admit it.

"That was about 7 times my normal race distance," he said. Will he continue with road racing? "Not a chance, it's way too much work."

Jon Sinclair, the only runner to win Bloomsday twice before Josphat Machuka's dominating performance Sunday, never expects to quit coming to Spokane.

Sinclair, now 37, won in 1983 and again in '86.

"I won it early on before the fields were really good," the Fort Collins, Colo., runner said. "Then I had one of the great races of my life. I'll keep coming back because I like this event a lot and Don (Kardong, the elite field organizer) is kind enough to send me a ticket.

"As long as they'll have me back, I'll come back and when my racing days are over I'll come back and help out. Maybe I'll help hold up a chute."

Copyright 1995 Cowles Publishing Company
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