By John Schumacher
Mike Morgan delivered his statement early Sunday morning. He was going to take control of the California International Marathon and not look back.
For nearly 23 miles, the bold strategy worked. And then Tesfaye Girma-Bekele and Josh Cox sailed by, with Ethiopia's Girma-Bekele pulling away in the final mile to win in 2 hours, 13 minutes and 42 seconds.
Ethiopia's Buzunesh Deba had an easier time in the women's race, leaving Canada's Cheryl Murphy behind after six miles to win by nearly eight minutes in 2:32:18.
"I'm very happy," the 28-year-old Girma-Bekele, who lives in New York City, said after claiming the $10,000 winner's check and moving up from last year's runner-up finish.
"I like this course."
Deba, 22, sounded like she'd earned every penny of her $10,000 payday.
"The course was not easy," she said. "It was windy and it was cold."
As in 29 degrees at the start in Folsom. Morgan didn't seem to mind, grabbing the lead and building his margin to 30 yards after three miles, 100 yards at mile 10 and 200 yards after 15 miles.
But the chase pack – Cox, Girma-Bekele, Kenya's Kipyegon Kirui, Ethiopia's Fikadu Lemma and American Trent Briney – didn't despair.
At mile 20, with Morgan some 225 yards ahead, the pursuers made their move.
Coming off the H Street Bridge near mile 22, Morgan's lead was down to 100 yards. As they ran down J Street through east Sacramento, Girma-Bekele and Cox sailed past Morgan near 50th Street, just before mile 23.
Those two ran together until Girma-Bekele's final move on L Street at mile 25 left Cox out of answers.
"I knew 100 percent (I would win) the last two miles," said Girma-Bekele, who was coming off a disappointing 57th-place finish on Nov. 1 in the New York City Marathon, where he went through the half-marathon in 1:05:12 before fading to a 2:29:36 finish.
"I saw at 20 miles, 'I've got to go.' "
Cox, 34, and from Mammoth Lakes, came along for the ride, finishing second with a personal-best 2:13:51. Kirui, 29, grabbed third in 2:14:59, with Morgan, 29, hanging on for fourth in 2:15:27.
"Mike set the tone for the whole race," said Cox, who needed a 23-second pit stop to handle intestinal problems near mile 16. "He was battling that wind all by himself. The way this course undulates, with the ups and downs, you can really make up time.
"I ran a PR. I'm thrilled."
Morgan, from Rochester Hills, Mich., sounded disappointed, but said he wasn't second-guessing his strategy.
"I was probably a little too aggressive," said Morgan, who ran the tangents brilliantly to cover the shortest possible distance.
"It kind of blew up in my face the last couple of miles … I wouldn't do it any other way. That was the game plan. It just didn't pan out."
Deba didn't have to fret as much about strategy for her third marathon.
After winning the Quad Cities Marathon on Sept. 27 and finishing seventh in the New York City Marathon, she came to the CIM brimming with confidence.
When did she know she would win?
"On the starting line," said Deba, who lives in New York City.
"When I came to this race, I wanted to run under 2:30 … Next year, I want 2:27.
"I'm so happy."
A tight hamstring near the 14-mile mark caught Deba's attention, but she was far enough ahead to run comfortably to the finish near the steps of the state Capitol.
Russia's Elena Orlova, 39, finished second in 2:40:01, with Russian Galina Alexandrova, 34, third in 2:40:41.
"Today was very cold," Orlova said. "It's not good to run."
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