Clayton Gerein rolled across the line just seconds behind good friend Jim Lawson for a one-two finish in the wheelchair marathon.
"I think you got it," Lawson said, smiling and looking over his shoulder at Gerein as the two caught their breath.
John McEvoy of Fargo, N.D., is first to break the tape at the University of Manitoba Stadium in the men’s marathon. It’s his first victory in the event.
The finish line is far from the end of the road for Gerein, who's hoping his time of one hour and 58 minutes in Sunday's Manitoba Marathon is good enough to qualify him for his seventh Paralympic Games in Beijing this August.
"I've been marathoning like hell this year, but I've just been struggling," said Gerein, 44. "I've never pushed so bad in all my life. I hadn't been sub-two hours yet this year."
The native of Pilot Butte, Sask., has medalled at nearly every summer Paralympics since the 1988 Seoul Games in a variety of different events. He won gold in the marathon at Sydney in 2000, and followed that with a bronze in Athens in 2004.
But as age is starting to catch up with him, Gerein said he'll retire at the end of this year, which would make a trip to Beijing extra special.
Meredith Kennedy of Winnipeg, who has been running for 10 years, wins her first marathon championship.
"It would be nice to go there, cross the finish line, and say, 'That's it,' " he said. "I've been at it ever since 1985, so it's been a great career. I've travelled a lot, met a lot of fantastic people, but it's time to move on."
Lawson, 36, led the way on his handcycle wheelchair to set the pace for Gerein and keep an eye on the track ahead.
Although Lawson acted as coach for the day, the Regina resident said he's learned plenty from Gerein since the two met nearly a dozen years ago.
"When you get out on the race course with someone like that, and you start to see what they put into it, giving everything you have to every moment, that's something I picked up from him," Lawson said. "The determination and the grit that he shows is amazing."
John McEvoy of Fargo, N.D., won the full marathon in 2:36.31 after racing neck-and-neck with Greg Penner of Steinbach through the first 20 miles.
"This is my first win and I'm very happy. This is a great day. This is just a beautiful feeling," said McEvoy, 33, who is from Ireland but moved to Fargo about five years ago to take a position as a professor of microbiology at North Dakota State University.
Clayton Gerein, of Pilot Butte, Sask., came in second in the wheelchair marathon.
For Meredith Kennedy, the women's marathon winner, her two biggest fans were among the smallest in the crowd at the finish line.
Kennedy, 29, who won her first marathon title with a time of 3:18.49 after being third last year, noted her nephews Kaelan, two-and-a-half, and Andrew, seven months, her sister Alison's sons, were her motivation during some tough slugging in the last four miles.
"Kaelan's been talking about it all week," laughed Kennedy, a Kenora native who lived in southern Ontario for 11 years before moving to Winnipeg to be near family. She is a manager at Goodlife Fitness on Kenaston.
"It (winning) means a lot. It's my second year living here and I know a lot more people, so it means a lot more to have a lot of people here supporting me," Kennedy said, adding she was "very surprised" that she won.
"I've been running for 10 years, so it makes the last 10 years feel worth it. It's a growing race. It's the (30th) anniversary race. It's pretty cool."
Winning the men's half-marathon was University of Manitoba Bisons track and field team member Desire Budigoma of Winnipeg with a time of 1:12.22.
Sarah-Anne Brault, a recent graduate of Collège Louis Riel, was the women's half-marathon winner with a time of 1:20.16.
The SCCAM Elite relay team won the marathon relay event in a time of 2:43.45.
In the women's division of the full marathon, won by Kennedy, third-place finisher Karin Nowak-Bailey, 35, of Winnipeg was jokingly dubbed "the sandbagger" by her training partners between hugs at the finish line.
In the half-marathon, a pair of young newcomers came first in both the male and female categories.
Brault, 18, finished the 21-kilometre course to win her first-ever half-marathon.
"It was just supposed to be a training run, but I ended up racing it," said Brault, who normally runs triathlons. "I had no idea what to expect."
On the men's side, 19-year old Budigoma also won his first try in a half-marathon Sunday.
"I was just running for fun. I ended up with a better time than I expected," he said. "It was great with all the people cheering from the sides."
eric.mackenzie@freepress.mb.caashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca
Full Marathon/Men
1. John McEvoy, 33, Fargo, N.D., 2:36.31
2. Greg Penner, 30, Steinbach, 2:37.43
3. William Rettie, 44, Ueda, 2:42.46
Full Marathon/Women
1. Meredith Kennedy, 29, Winnipeg, 3:18.49
2. Nancy Chong, 46, Midhurst, Ont., 3:21.51
3. Karin Nowak-Bailey, 35, Winnipeg, 3:22.09
Half Marathon/Men
1. Desire Budigoma, 19, Winnipeg, 1:12.22
2. Greg Miller, 18, Winnipeg, 1:13.06
3. Jeremy Walker, 26, 1:13.35
Half Marathon/Women
1. Sarah-Anne Brault, 18, Winnipeg, 1:20.16
2. Darolyn Trembath, 26, Winnipeg, 1:21.48
3. Georgette Mink, 31, Winnipeg, 1:22.07
Marathon Relay
Men - SCCAM Elite: 2:43.45
Mixed - Lyle Style: 2:44.02
Women - Bison Babes: 2:47.05
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