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Friday, October 31, 1997

Texan wins Athens marathon

By STEVE SCHEIBAL / The Brazosport Facts

CLUTE, Texas -- It's easy to talk to Melissa Hurta. Talking about her friends and family, her soft southern voice makes you like them as much as she does. And when she giggles, it's impossible not to grin with her.

Best of all, Hurta, the 34-year-old Jones Creek woman who won the 26-mile Athens Marathon Monday in just under three hours, doesn't lose her patience as she explains to unbelievers -- who can hardly survive three hours of television -- what makes her run.

She'll tell you everything that running has done for her: national commercials and magazine articles, wonderful friends, trips around the world. "Plus, I can eat what I want," she adds with a giggle, somehow without smugness.

Her victory in Athens (that's Greece, not Georgia) will only increase that exposure, cementing her place as a world-class runner and bringing her closer to a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team.

But still, the unbelievers ask, is it worth it?

Understand, Hurta runs 80 miles a week. That's more than a lot of people drive. That will get you to Houston -- where she goes twice a week to train -- and back.

And that's just preparation. The race lasts for 26.2 miles. If you're good, which Hurta is, you do that in less than three hours, averaging less than seven minutes a mile.

How many people can run just one mile in less than seven minutes, let alone 26.2 of them?

Of course, that's what Hurta expects. Adversity doesn't set in until after the gun sounds.

Athens brought more than its share of surprise challenges. The route was laid out in kilometers, not miles, and conversions get tough to compute after you've run 12 miles. Her watch also wouldn't work, and because no one read off splits at the kilometer markers, she couldn't pace herself with anything except instinct.

How many people can run 26 miles, each in less than seven minutes, long after you've lost your perception of time and space?

To Hurta, it wasn't a big deal.

"I think I probably would have run the same, either way," she said. "I think you just have to go with the flow."

But is it worth it?

"I like it most of the time," she said. "It's going to hurt. You have to just know that it's going to hurt some."

After a life of running, it seems, Hurta's learned that lesson. In high school, she went to the national cross-country finals and placed second in the state mile race. She also went to Baylor University on a cross-country scholarship.

Then, life moved beyond running. She got married, had a son and got a job at UPS Parcel Service. After 11 years, she's still with the company.

She was pulled back into competition almost by accident. In 1992, friends talked her into a series of races in Houston that culminated with Hurta's first marathon.

"I realized that long distance is where I should be," Hurta said.

She has never been far from the pinnacle of her sport. In 1995, Hurta missed the cut for the Olympic team by eight seconds, and she never quite bridged the gap. When the Atlanta Games rolled around in 1996, she was on the sidelines, watching the events after a running friend gave her the tickets.

Now, her sights are set squarely on making the team in 2000.

At the Houston Marathon this year, she finished 11th among the women, but as the top-ranked Texan in the field, she won a ticket to the Athens Marathon.

While her victory there meant a lot to her, the reactions of her friends and family when she got back seem even more precious.

Since her win, Hurta said she has been besieged by gifts from friends and she "hugged everybody."

That reaction demonstrates the support that Hurta has enjoyed over the years.

In 1995, UPS allowed her to work part time and train for the Olympic Trials while earning full-time wages.

Family members have been even more supportive. Hurta flew out to Athens with her mother and called her husband, Ed, just after she won.

"We're definitely behind her," Ed Hurta said. "She's got a great character and an excellent attitude. That and her hard work is what makes her so successful."

"She's a real quality person and I think the world of her," added Bob Sipple, the former president of the Brazosport Area Road Runners Association. "She exemplifies the value of running."

Is it worth it? It is to Hurta. Between her friends, family and success on and off the track, she said that running has "given quite a lot back."

"A lot of things that would have never happened to me in my life," she said "happened to me because of my running."

Like the moment she crossed the finish line in Athens, the knowledge that after years of long hours and longer miles, she stood among the best runners in the world.

"I had a gigantic smile on my face," Hurta said. "I was very happy, but I was ready to finish. You're always ready to be through."

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Distributed by The Associated Press.