Andres Espinosa Perez, one of the MetroPCS Dallas White Rock Marathon's most celebrated champions, is running the Rock again Sunday.
"I want to race it like I used to," Perez, 47, said by telephone from Mexico through an interpreter. "I'm trying for a good time, even at this age."
After improbable but dominating White Rock victories in 1988 and '89, Perez won the 1993 New York City Marathon title in unseasonably hot conditions in 2:10:04.
"I was very, very happy," to win after consecutive runner-up finishes in New York, Perez recalled. "My dreams were realized during that day. I couldn't believe that I won."
Quite suddenly and unexpectedly, Perez reached the pinnacle of the marathon world.
"That really caused the world to sit up and take notice, not only of the little steel worker from Monclova, Mexico, but of Mexican distance runners in general," said Robert Vernon, who covered Perez for The Dallas Morning News. "Andres was right at the forefront of that conversation."
Five months after New York, Perez ran his career best, 2:07:19, at the 1994 Boston Marathon. He broke the course record but finished four seconds behind Cosmas Ndeti in one of Boston's most memorable finishes.
Perez, who ran for Mexico in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, remains the world record holder for the masters marathon at 2:08:46, set in a fourth-place finish in Berlin in 2003.
Since then, Perez said, he's focused on raising his four children and starting his own business, Transport Espinosa Perez, in Queretaro, where he now resides. He's continued to run, but he wasn't training for any specific race until last spring.
Shortly after the 2010 Boston Marathon, Perez contacted his old agent, Troy James of Allen. Perez said he wanted to race again in Dallas, where he won the 1990 and '91 Turkey Trot as well as the two marathons.
Perez's renewed interest in racing came after Robert Cheruiyot smashed the Boston Marathon record with a 2:05:52. That dropped Perez to fourth all-time among Boston runners.
James said he thought Perez wanted to close his career where it began. Perez has spent the last eight months training about 90 minutes a day.
"I think the training awakened that part of him that made him so successful," James said. "Now he's talking about running a 2:15 when he's 50. I think now that he's back into the training, he feels energized. That's the competitive fire that makes for champions."
In 1988, a then-unknown Perez showed up at the last minute to run White Rock. He was a hard-working 25-year-old husband and father who trained in the afternoons after his eight-hour shift at a Monclova steel mill. His only marathon experience had been a 3:20 finish five years before.
He had decided to run Dallas when a friend who was registered suggested they drive up together. Perez agreed to come only after running 18 miles on Friday before leaving Mexico for the Sunday race.
Despite the lack of rest, he blew past two-time champion and favorite John Lodwick and finished the Rock in 2:16:13, more than 10 minutes ahead of runner-up Jeff Pope (2:26:19).
"That confirmed me to be a runner, a true marathoner," said Perez, who didn't consider himself a serious runner at the time. "That was the start of my career."
John Klotsche, a non-runner who lived on White Rock Lake at the time, walked out of his house to get his newspaper as Perez ran by that morning. Klotsche, intrigued by Perez's substantial lead, tracked him down through a reporter and invited Perez to his office the next day.
After talking to Perez through a translator for two hours, Klotsche offered to cover his travel and other expenses to run U.S. marathons with no strings attached.
Perez returned in 1989 and won Dallas again, which made him an instant hero in Mexico.
"That opened the door to do training at the Olympic Village in Mexico City," said Perez, who stopped working at the steel mill and started training professionally. "I didn't know how good I was."
Perez says he doesn't know how long he'll keep running.
"There's a point in our lives when our bodies can only take so much, only go so far," he said. "I'll still be running up until the point my body will not take me. Dallas is not the end."
WHITE ROCK MARATHON
When: 8 a.m. Sunday (Ch. 8)
Who: An estimated 22,000 runners – about 7,000 marathoners, 10,000 half marathoners and 5,000 relay runners.
Information: 972-839-3976 or www.runtherock.com.
Weather: The National Weather Service projects partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the high 40s for the start with an afternoon high of 57.
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