FORT LAUDERDALE - Erica
Flaks, of
Boca Raton, is lucky to be alive, let alone finishing second in
a career-best time at the Fort Lauderdale
A1A Marathon.
The 38-year-old South African was mugged a year and a half ago in a
Wal-Mart parking lot in Pompano Beach.
She suffered a serious knee injury that kept her out of the Boston
Marathon and still has scars on her arms and legs from the brutal
mugging.
"They hurt me," Flaks said. "They threw me on the ground and dragged
me. That put me out of running contention for more than a year. It
just suspended everything. I couldn't do Boston and I was very upset
about that."
Flaks was thrilled just to be out running competitively again. She
finished Sunday in 3 hours, 25 minutes and 36 seconds. She was
seventh at the
Marathon of the Palm Beaches in December but Sunday's race, her
ninth marathon, was exhilarating.
"I am just happy to be running again," said Flaks, who started
running cross country and track in high school at age 14 in South
Africa. "They caught the guys who mugged me and I was very thankful
for that. This is the first time I have come back running strong
after that whole incident.
"When someone along the course yelled that I was second lady, I was
so surprised. I couldn't believe it. All I wanted to do was maintain
it. All I wanted to do was run again."
All aboard
The train that delayed the start of the race for 15 minutes in downtown Fort Lauderdale didn't seem to derail any runners."It didn't bother me at all," said half marathon runner-up John Reback, of Jupiter. It didn't matter."
Said Miami's Aldo Virano, "Only a little bit did it bother me because you end up warming up during the race when it's a half marathon. If it was a 5K, then it would have bothered me."
This and that
Race organizers came close to hitting last year's totals despite a new 13.1 race in Fort Lauderdale in November and another 13.1 race in Miami next week. The marathon, half marathon, 5K and kids' race combined for 4,188 for the fourth-year event.Defending half marathon champion Anton Van Zyl watched the race along the course. He didn't run because of a knee injury.
Fort Lauderdale graduate Mark Mason, of Sarasota (class of '82), was back making his 25-ton sand sculpture that runners got to pose in front of after the race. This year he added a fish that looked like Nemo of film fame.
The course change of having the Birch State Park portion early in the race instead of at the end was well-received. However, several runners said that some of the mile markers were off.
Achilles Team Freedom's Jesus Pintos, of Boynton Beach, won the half marathon hand-crank title
Allen Notkin, 47, of Cooper City, training with David Shula, also of Cooper City, for the June 21 Ford Ironman Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, event, finished 17th in the marathon in 3:18:39.
Mandy Miller, of Fort Lauderdale, training for next month's Marathon des Sables in Morocco, successfully completed the marathon twice wearing an 18-pound backpack, including a 5:22 finish for her second one.
BSO firefighter Angela Hygema, of Dania Beach, preparing for the triathlon season, finished the half marathon in 1:35:31. Wellington cross country and track coach Kara Weber-Fleming finished the half in 1:33:09. Miami teenager Jeffrey Tait, at 14 the youngest in the Top 25 of the half, finished in 1:25:36.
Sharon Robb can be reached at srobb@SunSentinel.com
