Justin Young and Hiromi Ominami Sweep Titles at AFC Half-Marathon

Young becomes first American to win men's race since 1987; Ominami Repeats as women's champ

August 18, 2008

Taking a page from Constantina Dita's Olympic playbook, Justin Young used a surge only five miles into yesterday's America's Finest City Half-Marathon in San Diego to escape the field and set himself up for a solo run through to the finish line. Sounding much like some of the women in Beijing, men's runner-up Joseph Chirlee of Kenya told reporters,"We gave him too much space. I tried to pull away from our group at six miles to try to catch the guy, but it was too late." Winning by nearly a minute in 65:46, Justin became the first American man to win AFC since Marty Froelick in 1987. On the women's side, Hiromi Ominami of the Toyota Auto Body club repeated as champion, picking up a $500 bonus for repeat win. A more solid field than 2007 pushed Hiromi until the final brutal climb up Sixth Avenue to Balboa Park, as she broke the tape in 72:47, two seconds faster than a year ago, and 12 seconds ahead of runner-up Hyvon Ngetich of Kenya.

Justin's next race will be the US 20K Championships in New Haven, Connecticut on September 1st. Hiromi and her sister Takami, who was 5th in AFC yesterday, will next compete at the US 10K Classic in Atlanta.

Photos by: Patrice Malloy of Malloy Marketing Group