Mendoza already thinking nine
Eight, contrary to the TV show title, will not be enough for Saul Mendoza.
Mendoza won his eighth straight men’s open wheelchair title Sunday with a time of 26:31, earning $2,000 in the process.
He ties Craig Blanchette for the most titles won by a men’s wheelchair racer. Blanchette won eight consecutive races from 1987-94.
“It’s very exciting,” said the Mexico native, now a resident of Wimberley, Texas. “I’m a climber and there are a lot of hills here, which helps my racing style.
Mendoza, who sports a massive upper body, typically dominates the ascending portions of the Bloomsday course.
“There are a few races during the season with hills like this,” Mendoza said. “I’ve been winning them this last year.”
So will he be back for a ninth shot at the title?
“Oh, yes,” Mendoza said. “I will try.”
In the women’s race, 19-year-old Arizona student Shirley Reilly claimed the victory with a time of 34:52.
“It’s my third time, so I’m getting used to the course,” said Reilly, who came to Bloomsday with Arizona student and disabled track coach Tyler Byers of Spokane. “It was exciting. I had a great race.”
Thirteen-year-old Susannah Scaroni of Tekoa, a second-place finisher last year, was the junior winner and fourth-place finisher among all women at 46:48. Eleven-year-old Amber Lynn Weber of Spokane Valley finished fifth.
Quick turnaround
Dorota Gruca’s third-place time of 39:54 in the women’s race is impressive enough on its own. But consider what she’s done recently, and it becomes even more astonishing.
Gruca, a 34-year-old from Poland, won the Salt Lake City marathon just seven days before running Bloomsday. Still, she hung with the leaders the entire race on Sunday and managed to break free from the pack for her impressive finish.
“I was not tired after the marathon,” she said, calling the turnaround easy. “(But) it’s not an easy marathon. The first half is very hilly, up and down.”
Gruca said her recovery time after races has gotten shorter thanks to improved nutrition and training techniques.
“Now I know much more than I did years ago about how to prepare and how to get stronger after marathons,” she said.
Spokanites shine
Three Spokane residents were among the top four Washington finishers in the women’s division.
Janet Collar of Spokane finished with a time of 44:55 and a $1,000 prize. Olympia’s Linda Huyck was second, and Spokane residents Jayne McLaughlin and Heather McLaughlin finished third and fourth, with times of 46:32 and 46:58 respectively.
In the men’s race, Eric Tollefson of Tacoma, who finished ninth last year, was the top Washington finisher with a time of 38:08, not good enough to break the top 15.
Chris Charles of Seattle had the second-best time among state residents with a time of 38:47. Don Walker led all Spokane residents with a time of 38:48, and Joe Miller, a sophomore at Gonzaga, originally from Bremerton, finished in 39:10.