The 2002 Salt Lake Marathon had a little confusion, a little sibling rivalry and a big winner in the July 24 race.

Tunisia's Chokri Dhaouadi outran former BYU track stars and brothers, Craig and Marc Lawson, to win the marathon in a time of 2 hours 32 minutes.

The Lawsons made a late push but it came a little too late in the race. Dhaouadi held on to win by fifty yards, while Craig Lawson took second and older brother Marc came in third.

"I felt good at the end," said Craig Lawson, BYU track All-American. "I tried to go for first and make up the ground. I just didn't have enough."

Lawson, who won the 2000 SLC Marathon, attributed his success in running to former Cougar coach Sherald James.

"He really got me ready to compete," Lawson said. "I owe it all to him."

The marathon began in Parleys Canyon under a moonlit sky at 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, July 24. The race followed the path the pioneers took into the valley and ended at Liberty Park.

A pack of five runners stayed together for the first 8 miles before splitting with some confusion at a turnaround.

The pace car could not get through a road barrier (it finally ran over a chair) and the Lawson brothers found themselves momentarily stopped.

Dhaouadi and another runner made it through without problem and led by about twenty feet after all the runners made it through.

"They didn't have any problems with the course. The hardest part of the race was knowing the mileage," Dhaouadi said. "I could not find the right pace."

He even had to ask those sitting in the pace car how many miles he had left.

Dhaouadi led from the twelve-mile mark when he overtook an unnamed runner who fell back in the pack.

"Nobody bothered me during the race," Dhaouadi said. "Some guys would come in and then they would go out."

The field of runners consisted of some of the best in the country.

"It is my job to recruit the best," said Gene Whitmore, elite athlete coordinator. "We pay for about 40 elite runners to come and compete. We turn 80 to 100 away."

Elite runners are those who win at a competitive level consistently, Whitmore explained.

"This is their living," Whitmore said. "But it is a terrible payday. Why would you do 26 and a quarter miles for $1,000?"

Not all of the elite runners depend on running as their source of living.

Lawson is training for the 2004 Olympic trials while also working at an accounting firm and being a husband and father of three.

"Marc and I meet together every morning to train, before work and heat," Lawson said. "It is no fun running by yourself."

Kathy Smith finished first for the women with a time of three hours and four minutes. Second-place Aimee Larkin finished eight minutes behind her.

Copyright Brigham Young University 24 Jul 2002