Former Boerne Champion runner wins San Antonio marathon - San Antonio Express-News

Ryan Miller had a kick during his debut in Sunday’s Humana Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon.

Miller, who formerly competed for Boerne Champion and Texas A&M, punctuated his victory in the men’s marathon by waving his arms, imploring the crowd to cheer and kicking through the tape at the finish line.

“It’s a dream come true,” Miller said. “Rock ‘n’ Roll is the race in San Antonio every year, and I was born and raised here. It’s been a dream of mine to win it, and I did today.”

Miller, 28, dominated the 26.2-mile race and finished in 2 hours, 20 minutes and 43 seconds. He enjoyed a seven-minute victory, with Chicago’s John Biznak’s coming in second in 2:27:48.

“I wanted to run comfortable and get a good, long hard run in and that’s what I did,” Miller said. “I was going to run with two other guys, but about mile 10 they started dropping off. … I kept running the pace. I felt comfortable all the way through the line. I wasn’t even breathing hard.”

Outside of the fact he won what he described as a “bucket list” event, he put in some good work in his training for the U.S. Olympic Trials, scheduled for Feb. 29 in Atlanta.

“Probably the number one key training run I do with my coach is that we do hard, long runs and we incorporate quality into it,” Miller said. “Today was just a real, long steady run and good aerobic effort. When you condition your legs to running that fast for that long, it’s easier when you get to the actual race.”

Miller qualified to compete in the 2016 Trials, but in the week leading to the race, he experienced a sharp pain in his stomach. Initially, he thought it was a stomach bug. However, his appendix was nearly ruptured, and he had an appendectomy two days before the trials. Since then, he’s focused on the 2020 t rials and Sunday’s race was part of getting there.

While Miller will be in Atlanta, the women’s marathon winner, Susie Duke, hoped to qualify for the trials.

Duke, 38, from Grinnell, Iowa, fell short by 2½ minutes with her time of 2:47:33.

“That was the goal,” Duke said. “Of course, I missed it by a couple of minutes. I felt pretty good until about the last eight miles, and I was starting to struggle, and the last 10K was pretty rough. But, I mean, it was a beautiful course, and it was perfect day and I had wonderful people that were running around.”

San Antonio’s Kristine Bruciaga was second in 2:58:02.

Duke flew to San Antonio on Saturday. Last Wednesday, she returned to Iowa following a Thanksgiving family vacation in France.

“I’m kind of a little bit off and my rhythms were a little off, but I was happy to come here and give it my best shot,” Duke said.

Duke competed in the 2016 trials and turned in a time of 3:16:12. She hoped to get another chance.

“For sure (I’m disappointed), but I was going to be happy with anything in the 2:40s,” Duke said. “I’m proud of my effort. I would have liked to have run a little bit faster, but I am happy with my effort.”

Former college steeplechase athlete Emmanuel Rotich breezed to the win in the men’s half-marathon. Rotich led from start to finish and crossed in 1:04:30. Runner-up M. Angel Ramirez of Flagstaff, Ariz,. was four minutes behind.

“I’m happy with it,” said Rotich, who turns 23 on Friday. “The goal was to have fun today and enjoy the realization of running the first Rock ‘n’ Roll. It was just incredible.”

It was Rotich’s fifth half-marathon. He is transitioning from college athletics, where he was an NCAA national qualifier for Tulane in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Rotich, who lives in New Orleans and is from Kenya, competed in his final college race by finishing 20th at the NCAA championships back in June in Austin.

“I’m just getting this experience,” Rotich said. “This is my last race of the season. I was just getting out of college and the goal was to get some experience, to know how to race.”

Boston’s Molly Seidel, the women’s half-marathon winner, clocked a 1:10:27, improving her personal best by four minutes.

Seidel, 25, paced herself by running with a lead pack of men — and it worked. Seidel won the race by nearly eight minutes.

“There were going to be some fast men here, so I figured I’d get with the pack, try to hold on and see what I could do,” Seidel said.

Seidel, who normally runs in 5Ks and 10Ks, made her competitive half-marathon debut Sunday. She used the race to prepare for the Chevron Houston Marathon, set for Jan. 19.

“I’m trying to get used to these longer things and learn how to pace and cruise with it for 13 to 26 miles,” she said. “… It felt like I had really, good effort out there. I’m still learning and was about 30 seconds off what I was hoping to run today, but that’s just part of it.”

dhinojosa@express-news.net

Twitter: @hinojosa_david

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