The Men  

   For Russia’s Sergey Khropatch, the 5th Annual Steamtown Marathon was the best of times -- and the not so best of times.
     The Moscow native, who turned 35 just four days before the Oct. 8 marathon, appeared to breeze through the finish.  Barely winded, he cruised to a 2:24:56 victory, the 9th fastest time in Steamtown history.
     “I’m not very happy with my time, but I’m very happy that I won,” Khropatch said through an interpreter. “I’ve run much better; my best is 2:18.”

Sergey Khropatch just one block from finish line

     Khropatch, who took home $2,000 for his win, said he didn’t know he was the favorite going into the Sunday morning race. Early on, he was a bit worried the competition would threaten him, but those concerns dropped with every mile marker. Ron Young of Annapolis, Md. held the lead for the first six miles, but Khropach outdid him at the eight-mile mark. Nine miles from the finish, Khropatch pulled away from the pack, leaving his challengers way out of sight.
    Khropatch, who runs three or four international marathons a year, picked Scranton’s Steamtown for his very first U.S. marathon. With its 955-foot drop in elevation, it has been named one of the 10 fastest U.S. marathons by Runners World. The downhills made it a “fast track,” he said, even though the end was packed with some hefty hills.
     “Keep the hills,” he said with a smile. “It is much better and easier for your muscles to run uphill. When I was training in Switzerland, I was training to run up the hills so I don’t mind them. But at the end I was tired.”
     For Khropatch, the Steamtown route wasn’t his usual run around Russia, literally. “Generally, the courses I run

are circular, so here I enjoyed the scenery,” he said. “I’m very impressed with the fans, they cheered me on and it made me feel good.”
     Yet temperatures in the 20’s at the start were just like home. “At first it was a little cold, but I adapted,” he said. “Because I’m from Russia, I’m used to this kind of weather. It would be worse if it was warmer.”    
     Meanwhile, New York City’s Matthew Rosetti, a Scranton native, couldn’t hold onto his strong start and finished second at 2:28:03, a remarkable effort considering at mile 22 his legs cramped so badly he came to a complete stop and could barely move
.     “I started to shuffle with stiff legs -- resembling the Tin Man on his way to Rust City -- and managed to creep through to the finish and hold onto 2nd place,” he said.
       At mile 22, running through the neighborhood where he grew up, his goal changed from a push to win to a struggle to finish. Plagued by dehydration and hypothermia, Rosetti didn’t think he would survive, let alone win the race.

Matt Rosetti guts it out down the home stretch

     There were points where he almost walked; convinced he would drop out. As he staggered into the daunting hills of Green Ridge, familiar faces appeared in the crowd. “Family, friends, and neighbors lined the streets. It was sheer pride that kept me from walking in front of them, so I continued to shuffle along,” he said. “If it wasn't for their encouragement I may have walked right into my old bedroom around mile 23 and curled up into a ball on my bed.”
      Rosetti is convinced that better weather could have brought him a win. “The weather lulled me into a false sense of hydrated security,” he said.
     Rosetti said he hopes to go to Boston and even the Olympic trials someday, but he knows he will be back at Steamtown next year. For now he will settle for second and a $1,000 prize.  
      McKeesport Pa.’s Chris Ciamarra finished third, just 14 seconds behind Rosetti, with a personal best of  2:28:17. It was the first time since 1992 and 30 marathons that the 29-year-old broke 2:30. He went home with an $800 award.