MARA100807.STORIES

Catching up with some stories of a marathon

A wheelchair racer didn't escape unscathed, but he finished. So did kids running with Dad and a daughter running for Dad.

Last update: October 7, 2007 - 10:41 PM

On a hot day, Marcelo Ordaz-Cruz finished his fifth Twin Cities Marathon a bit bloodied but unbowed.

After all, Ordaz-Cruz, 26, is accustomed to dealing with the unexpected. He was on the Interstate 35W bridge when it collapsed Aug. 1, and he barely avoided a tumble into the Mississippi River by steering his van into the guard rail. So a little tumble during Sunday's marathon wasn't going to stop him from finishing.

Ordaz-Cruz was cruising along at about the 19-mile mark when he lost his balance and overturned his racing wheelchair, scraping his hands and knees.

"I was going pretty fast," he said. "A police officer on a motorcycle was in front of me; he was on the right side and he crossed over to the left. It kind of confused me."

With the help of some spectators and volunteers, Ordaz-Cruz got back in the chair and got going again.

He finished ninth among men wheelchair racers with a time of 2:36:09.

KENT YOUNGBLOOD

OTHER RUNNERS

Ordaz-Cruz was among runners who were profiled in the Star Tribune in the days leading up to the marathon. The others and their results:

•Dennis Wallach, 50, of Chanhassan, made the Twin Cities Marathon his 100th marathon, and he finished it in a gun time of 3:01:07.

•Stephanie Hodson, 25, of St. Anthony, ran in the memory of her late father, former St. Anthony Mayor Randy Hodson, and she finished in a gun time of 4:36:46.

•Philip Shano, a 51-year-old Jesuit priest in St. Paul who was told he wouldn't run again because of the effects of surgery for Acoustic Neuroma, was not listed among race finishers.

•Tom Henke, 51, of Minnetonka, who trained for the race with his 15-year-old daughter, Maddie, and his 16-year-old son, Max, finished in 4:56.57, about 10 minutes after his children finished in the same time of 4:46:41.

•Rodney Boatwright, 40, who trained for the race in Iraq and was on his way next to see his family in Texas, finished in 3:14:16.