"Because of humidity and heat,'' he said, "it kept slowing me down.''

Moments after crossing the finish line, he iced his legs and sounded eager to express his appreciation to all concerned.

"First of all,'' he said, "I want to thank the race committee, the race director and all the sponsors of this event. Also, I want to thank everyone in West Virginia who makes the race a success.''

Morseman, who hopes to qualify for the 2012 Olympic marathon, remembers staying with Mutisya and Cherus for about three miles in what started as a three-man race.  

"And then Gideon started to take off up in the hills, and Festus started to take off a little bit, and then he fell back to about where I was,'' said Morseman. "And then he took off again. And then I was like, 'Oh, no.' I was starting to feel the hills.''

After slipping into third place, Morseman picked up the pace and came within 10 yards of second-place Cherus on the South Side Bridge. 

"He looked back at me,'' said Morseman, "and started to take off, and that was about it.''

Like Mutisya, Morseman found the Distance Run to be a pleasant experience and good preparation for a marathon he plans to run in early October.

"I love it. I'll definitely be back,'' he said. "It fit me very well. But I've done some hard training in the past couple of weeks getting ready for my marathon.''

BRIEFLY: About 600 runners, including relay teams, were entered in the 15-miler. ... Mutisya earned $1,100 as the overall male winner. ... Last year's winner, Tesfaye Girma of West Chester, Pa., ran a 1:16:26. ... Mutisya runs between 70 and 90 miles a week. He won the Distance Run 1994-97 and 2000. ... Pyles, who is preparing for a marathon in St. Paul-Minneapolis in six weeks, trains about 100 miles weekly in Huntington's Ritter Park and works as a personal trainer. With a little luck, he said, victory on Saturday was within his grasp. "I think maybe today I could have had a shot of being right there,'' he said. "But there's more years, hopefully. If I would have run this all out, I think I was in 1:20 shape. But the USA Marathon Championship is in five weeks, and I'm shooting for the top 10 there. ... As a senior at Point Pleasant, Pyles placed third in the Class AAA 1,600-meter race.

Reach Mike Whiteford at 348-7948 or mikewhitef...@wvgazette.com.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- It's fitting that Gideon Mutisya on Saturday won yet another Charleston Distance Run.

He's been a familiar figure - a 5-foot-3, 96-pound bundle of running efficiency - in the city's annual 15-mile race since first winning in 1994, and he always seems grateful for the local hospitality.

"The first time I came to West Virginia to run in this race, I won it,'' he said afterward. "And everybody in Charleston showed me kindness, and that's why I like to come here.''

Not even the infamous hills posed much of an annoyance.

It was midway through the six-mile stretch of South Hills, in fact, that the 41-year-old Mutisya, a Kenya native now living in Hartford, Conn., began pulling away from his only two challengers, who incidentally were about half his age.

He took the lead for good after the first three miles, opened a 200-yard lead at the six-mile mark near the South Side Bridge and cruised to victory Saturday morning, hitting the Laidley Field finish line in one hour, 22 minutes, 48 seconds. It was his sixth Distance Run victory.

Along the way, he bypassed most water stops but, having built a comfortable lead of 400 yards by the final mile, allowed himself a few sips on Hansford Street. 

Finishing a distant second was Festus Cherus, 20, a Kenyan now living in Marietta, Ga., in 1:24:14, and third was Bryan Morseman, 22, of Addison, N.Y., in 1:25:05. Jason Pyles, 27, of Huntington, a Point Pleasant native and Marshall University graduate, placed fourth in 1:25:47.

Mutisya's time was the slowest winning time in the race's 36-year history, more than four-and-a-half minutes slower than the previous low of 1:18:03 run by Philip Ndoo of Kenya in 1974. Last year, running in cooler, less humid conditions, Mutisya ran fourth in 1:22:53, five seconds off his time Saturday.

At the 7:30 a.m. start on Virginia Street, Saturday's temperature stood at 70 degrees under cloudy, runner-friendly skies, but the August humidity was delivering its customary agony. Later in the race, the sun began peeking through and the temperature rose about 10 degrees.

Mutisya, who in 1996 set a Distance Run course record of 1:12:24, offered an explanation for Saturday's unimpressive pace.  

"Because of humidity and heat,'' he said, "it kept slowing me down.''

Moments after crossing the finish line, he iced his legs and sounded eager to express his appreciation to all concerned.

"First of all,'' he said, "I want to thank the race committee, the race director and all the sponsors of this event. Also, I want to thank everyone in West Virginia who makes the race a success.''

Morseman, who hopes to qualify for the 2012 Olympic marathon, remembers staying with Mutisya and Cherus for about three miles in what started as a three-man race.  

"And then Gideon started to take off up in the hills, and Festus started to take off a little bit, and then he fell back to about where I was,'' said Morseman. "And then he took off again. And then I was like, 'Oh, no.' I was starting to feel the hills.''

After slipping into third place, Morseman picked up the pace and came within 10 yards of second-place Cherus on the South Side Bridge. 

"He looked back at me,'' said Morseman, "and started to take off, and that was about it.''

Like Mutisya, Morseman found the Distance Run to be a pleasant experience and good preparation for a marathon he plans to run in early October.

"I love it. I'll definitely be back,'' he said. "It fit me very well. But I've done some hard training in the past couple of weeks getting ready for my marathon.''

BRIEFLY: About 600 runners, including relay teams, were entered in the 15-miler. ... Mutisya earned $1,100 as the overall male winner. ... Last year's winner, Tesfaye Girma of West Chester, Pa., ran a 1:16:26. ... Mutisya runs between 70 and 90 miles a week. He won the Distance Run 1994-97 and 2000. ... Pyles, who is preparing for a marathon in St. Paul-Minneapolis in six weeks, trains about 100 miles weekly in Huntington's Ritter Park and works as a personal trainer. With a little luck, he said, victory on Saturday was within his grasp. "I think maybe today I could have had a shot of being right there,'' he said. "But there's more years, hopefully. If I would have run this all out, I think I was in 1:20 shape. But the USA Marathon Championship is in five weeks, and I'm shooting for the top 10 there. ... As a senior at Point Pleasant, Pyles placed third in the Class AAA 1,600-meter race.

Reach Mike Whiteford at 348-7948 or mikewhitef...@wvgazette.com.