Portland Boys & Girls Club 5 Miler
Portland, ME,
April 19, 1999
Decker cruises to victory
By DAN HICKLING, Portland Press Herald

Complete story and results are available for a short while at http://www.portland.com/news/sports1.shtml

Ethan Nedeau learned a valuable lesson Monday at the 70th annual Portland Boys and Girls Club 5-mile Patriots Day road race. Don't let Byrne Decker get ahead of you, because it might be the last you see of him. "I watched his back pretty much the whole way," said Nedeau, a 26-year-old graduate of Lincoln Academy and the University of Massachusetts.  It didn't take Decker long to break free of Nedeau — and everyone else in the field of 606 finishers — and win the race for the second time in the past three years.  Decker, a 29-year-old lawyer from Yarmouth, finished in 24 minutes, 47 seconds in near-ideal conditions for a comfortable victory. Nedeau was a quarter-mile back in 25:56, followed by Michael Payson (26:12), Justin Valliere (26:18), Kevin Way (26:22), and former winner Bruce Bridgham (26:42).  Rose Prest-Morrison, 25th overall, won the women's division in 30:04, just five seconds ahead of runner-up Gayla Underkoffler. Christine Snow-Reaser, a two-time winner, was third in 31:16. 

Nedeau's game plan was to set the fastest pace possible, but he hadn't counted on Decker running even more aggressively.  "I went out fast," said Nedeau. "My first (mile) split was 4:52, but he was a few seconds better than that.   "I didn't slow down, he just pulled away. There's no reason for anybody to be in great shape in late April."

Decker already had been in serious training to run a marathon next month in Pittsburgh, and was using this event as a tune-up.  "When you are running from wire to wire," Decker said, "you want to push it. I suppose I could have cruised, but I was trying to run as fast as I could."   Decker maintained a pace just under 5 minuites a mile as he turned the corner on Washington Avenue for the finishing kick down Cumberland, with Nedeau well behind.  "I tried to hang in there," Nedeau said. "I didn't want to give up the whole race just because I couldn't stay with him. So I just tried to sustain a particular level throughout the race.   "It's tough when you see someone running away from you. You start to question yourself. You start to say 'I must be dying if he's running away like that.' You can start to psych your way out of the race."

There was no such problem in the women's division. The race began in earnest when Prest-Morrison and Underkoffler overtook Snow-Reaser in the third mile, and it ended with Prest-Morrison maintaining a two-step lead to the finish "I'm surprised because I just had a baby nine months ago," said Prest-Morrison, 36, of Limerick. "But I felt so strong that I didn't feel tired at any point in time. I just kept going and going.

Byrne Decker wins the Portland Boys and Girls Club 5-miler by more than a minute over runner-up Ethan Nedeau. Staff photo by David MacDonald

"I don't normally look back, but at the last corner I did look back and I saw Gayla was right there. So I knew I was either going to go now or I'm going to get passed." Oberkoffler, who gave birth the same week as Prest-Morrison, was feeling the effects of the uphill fourth mile and was beginning to falter.  "I was just trying to survive to the end," said Oberkoffler, 37, of Scarborough. " I tried to push it a little bit, but it was tough."  Lendall Smith, 53, of Brunswick, who crossed the finish line last in 1:06:23, was no less satisfied than Decker.   "It was a great experience," said Smith. "My goal was just to start and finish and I did that, so it's been successful."  Nine-year-old Courtney Belyea (55.24), the youngest racer, wound up in 593rd place, three spots ahead of the oldest, Elizabeth Irving, 71, who clocked in at 56.59.