Running: Marathoners prove their points...

Sunday, September 26, 2004 - 05:00 AM

More than 50 years separate them on the calendar, but for Danny Kassap as much as Ed Whitlock, there was something new to the journey yesterday

Danny Kassap, 22, a Congolese refugee, now a Toronto resident, dominated a field of tested marathoners in his very first attempt at the 42.2-kilometre distance. His time was more than two minutes ahead of runner-up Joseph Kahugu of Kenya.

Kassap went into the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon as something of an unknown quantity and came out as an exciting, emerging star worth watching in the future. Whitlock, meantime, is no stranger to this event, but managed to follow the most difficult act of all: his own.

On a day of record fields and sunny, temperate conditions, Kassap was the first to move to the front of a stage that grew more crowded as the day went on. The 22-year-old Congolese refugee turned west-end Toronto resident dominated a solid field of true, tested marathoners – in his very first attempt at the demanding 42.2-kilometre marathon distance.

Kassap’s time of 2:14:50 was more than two minutes ahead of runner-up Joseph Kahugu of Kenya. Defending champion Joseph Nderitu of Kenya finished third in 2:19:16.

But if Kassap was fastest of nearly 2,000 marathon entrants – more than double last year’s field – it was Whitlock who was the man of the hour. Or perhaps that should read, the man of sub-three hours.

At 73 years old, Whitlock is not just getting older. He’s getting better, his 2:54:49 time shattering his own age-group record set here last year by more than four minutes. Three years ago, as he entered his eighth decade on the planet, Whitlock set a goal of becoming the first 70-something runner to go under three hours for the marathon. Now he’s done it twice.

To put these two on a level playing field, distance runners like to use something called a WAVA percentage, which translates race times into an age-adjusted score out of 100. Kassap’s yesterday came in at 94.07. Whitlock was at 99.98.

Another way to measure it came at a more palpable level. While Kassap was applauded with some gusto as he took the tape, Whitlock was saluted with a deafening ovation and cries of his name from the crowd. And yes, he noticed it.

"I guess I’m a pretty low-key person," said Whitlock. "But the noise does hit you. It’s not something I’m used to. It has an impact."

"I’ve told this to friends – it’s a little like being with a rock star," said Whitlock’s son Neil, a pretty solid runner in his own right, but a spectator on this day. "We go to a race, and after it’s over, every 10 feet, someone wants to come over and talk and shake his hand."

Whitlock said this week that he felt stronger than last year, and his better preparation and overall fitness showed early. He reckoned at the halfway point he was headed for 2:56 or thereabouts, comfortably under last year.

"I thought last year was the last one under three hours for me," said Whitlock, who hasn’t decided on accepting an invite to next year’s Rotterdam Marathon or competing in the World Masters Games. "I don’t think I’ll be able to beat this one. Realistically, this is the end."

For Kassap, it could well be the beginning. His dream finish to this story would be to line up at the start of an Olympic marathon in a Canada uniform. But first he has to get his citizenship. A more immediate goal, he said, is to run a 2:12 marathon at Ottawa next May – no Canadian has gone under 2:13 since Peter Fonseca in 1995.

"At 30K I looked at my watch and it said 1:35, and I thought, `Oh, that’s good,’. " said Kassap. "I watched the Olympic marathon a couple weeks ago and I remember noticing they were through 30K in 1:37 or so. I knew I was going to finish, and I knew I was faster than these guys ’cause I run shorter distances and have more speed."

Kassap has been a made-in-Canada success story since arriving three years ago and living downtown at Covenant House for a short while. Distance running coach Ross Ristuccia didn’t think all that much of Kassap when he showed up for his first training at the University of Toronto Track Club – and Kassap’s first half-marathon here was a distinctly underwhelming 1:37 dawdle. In May, he ran a scorching 1:04:14 for the same distance. Working at a fish and chips shop and training with the UTTC team, he has become a threat anywhere from five kilometres and up.

"I don’t want to put any limits on him, or a label," said Ristuccia. "He’s pretty independent. He doesn’t want handouts from anybody."

Kassap and Whitlock were by no means the only standouts, as the Waterfront Marathon swelled to 9,000 runners over-all – up from 5,900 last year – with a little over 5,000 entered in the half-marathon race.

Ninety-three-year-old Fauja Singh of Essex, England, set an age-group record for the half-marathon, his 2:30:02 time following on his record run in last year’s full marathon. Giitah Macharia of St. Catharines won the men’s half-marathon in 1:05:41, while Monica Hostetler of Rochester, N.Y., took the women’s race in 1:19:09.

Toronto’s Lioudmila Kortchaguina won the women’s marathon in 2:36:32, finishing just in front of Michal Kapral of Toronto. Kapral pushed his daughter Annika in a baby jogger around the marathon course in 2:49:44, an effort that may well put him into the Guinness Book of Records for pram-pushing. He also used the run to raise money for the Hospital for Sick Children.