By C. ANTHONY MOSSER / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning NewsRunning his second half marathon in as many weeks, Kenyan Stephen Muange bettered his finish but not his time in winning the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon on Sunday.
Muange's winning time of 1:05:02 was nearly two minutes off his personal best of 1:03.11 set the previous Sunday, when he finished second at the Las Vegas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon.
"It was OK," Muange said of his winning time. "But you're always hoping you run better than before."
Muange, 26, had been consistently running under 1:04:00. He finished Sunday's race strong but had no serious challengers. Edwin Henshaw, 24, of Tulsa, Okla., was the runner-up in 1:07:03. Warren Brown II, 22, of Tyler, was third in 1:09.46.
Fellow Kenyan Hyon Ngetich was the easy winner in the women's half marathon. She finished in 1:18:24. Veronica Clemens, a University of Virginia graduate who resides in New York, was second in 1:22:47.
In the men's race, Muange pulled away at the 3-mile mark and continually increased his lead.
"It was a good day to run," Muange said. "I felt good. There was not much wind. It was not too hot and not too cold. Overall, I'm satisfied with it."
Both Muange and Ngetich were expected to be among the top finishers. Ngetich, 24, was third last year and fifth in 2007. She began separating from the woman's field at the 6-mile mark.
"I was happy," Ngetich said. "You never know how well you're going to run. I was not expecting to win, so I was really happy with that."
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