Winner took his best shot at record

Victoria Sun

Monday, Feb. 4, 2002 | 11:10 a.m.

He wanted to break a record.

She wanted to break free from devastating loss.

He failed and she succeeded, to some degree.

Both emerged winners of the 36th Las Vegas Marathon that finished at Sunset Park on Sunday morning.

Abebe Yimer, a Las Vegas resident who moved here from Ethiopia, was clocked at 2:18:48, six minutes and 43 seconds slower than the record.

Midori Sperandeo, of Fair Oaks, Calif., turned in a personal best 2:41:51.

"This race means a lot to me," the 35-year-old Sperandeo said. "I lost my baby at five months (in) June of last year.

"It was the worst thing that has ever happened to me and my husband. My one escape was running. I wanted to have something positive after such a difficult loss. I thought of the baby when I was running the entire way."

It was her first marathon in two years. She last competed in the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Yimer, 21, moved to Las Vegas after running in the Boston Marathon, to further his running career.

His goal was to break the course record, but he said through an interpreter that he was unable to do it because the pace car led him in the wrong direction after the 21-mile marker.

"He ran the measured distance," race time keeper Bill Callanan said. "It is my understanding that the driver made a right turn, but Abebe kept going."

Yimer finished ahead of Thomas Lentz, who was second at 2:22.15.

"I was prepared for the race," Yimer said. "I thought I was going to break the record. I was disappointed with my results."

Yimer said he pulled ahead of the pack after three miles.

His personal bests in Ethiopia were 2:17 in the marathon and 1:03 in the half-marathon.

Since arriving in the U.S., he has been competing with the Las Vegas Running Team.

"I don't want to go back to Ethiopia," Yimer said. "My goal is to remain here in the U.S. I have a good (marathon) time in Ethiopia, but I didn't have a chance to go to any international marathons even though I had a good time. Here, I will have a better opportunity because I want to run full-time."