With nobody to push him, Eric Heins didn't expect an eye-popping time during Sunday's 24th annual City of Roses Half Marathon in Cape Girardeau.
But Southeast Missouri State University's second-year cross country coach came away satisfied with his performance as he repeated his title in the 13.1-mile event.
Heins' time of 1:10.20 was about the same as his winning effort in 2003. Devon Barns was the second overall finisher in 1:25.13 and Gary Holda was right behind him in 1:25.22.
"It was kind of what I was shooting to run," said Heins, a former standout collegiate runner. "I knew from last year there wasn't going to be anybody with me, so I just wanted to pace myself and use it as a training run."
Heins said the mild weather could not have been better for the early morning run that utilized a new course this year.
The course still headed south from Arena Park, where the race finished, but for the first time it turned east, went under the Emerson Memorial Bridge, looped downtown and passed by the Missouri entrance to the bridge on the way back to the Cape LaCroix Recreation Trail.
"It was a lot more scenic this year, but it was still mostly flat," Heins said. "And the weather was perfect."
Heins, who won the St. Louis Marathon earlier this year, said his next big event will be the Boston Marathon in April.
"That will be the biggest race of my marathoning career," said Heins, who only began running marathons about four years ago.
Debbie Kerber-Rehr was the first female finisher in 1:32.48, followed by Joanne Huck (1:38.30) and Sarah Zaragoza (1:39.49).
Nearly 150 runners competed in the event, including about 15 walkers and noncompetitive runners. Complete results are in Scoreboard on Page 2B.
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