Manchester City Marathon: Moulton twins aim to be frontrunners

Those watching the third Manchester City Marathon/Half Marathon today may do a double take when the lead pack runs by.

Among the runners expected to contend for the men's marathon title are Patrick and Casey Moulton, the 27-year-old twin brothers from Pelham who qualified for the 2008 Olympic Marathon trials.

A former Pelham High and Providence College runner, Patrick arrives just three weeks removed from his second consecutive victory in the Hartford Marathon, which he captured in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 22 seconds. In March he won the National Marathon in Washington, D.C., running a course-record 2:21:18.

The same day Patrick won in Hartford, Casey captured the five-mile Grace Race in Chelmsford, Mass., setting a course record. In May, the brothers ran the Vermont City Marathon together, with Patrick finishing third (2:22:23) and Casey fourth (2:26:12).

This will be the Moultons' first Manchester Marathon start.

"We both decided last minute," said Patrick, a Providence resident who runs for the Boston Athletic Association. "My brother wanted to do it, and he convinced me to do it."

Having never run two marathons three weeks apart, the Hartford winner isn't setting his expectations too high.

"This one's going to be more of a fun race with my brother," Patrick said. "Hopefully I'll feel good."

Casey, a Pelham resident who got serious about running after high school, ran his first marathon in May 2005, while Patrick first tried the distance that October. In February 2006, both qualified for the 2008 Olympic Trials by running 2:15 times in the Austin Marathon in Texas. At the November 2007 trials in New York, Patrick finished 28th (2:18:35) and Casey 83rd (2:28:29).

After Manchester, Patrick will aim to qualify for the 2012 Olympic Marathon trials by running faster than the qualifying standard (2:19) at next April's Boston Marathon.

"My last couple marathons haven't been as quick as I've wanted," he said. "I'll have a lot of time after Manchester to train for Boston."

About 1,800 runners are expected to brave the Manchester course for the concurrent marathon and half marathon, which start at 8:50 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park on Elm Street. The route takes runners through the Millyard, the north end and east side before returning downtown, where the half marathon finishes. Marathon runners will continue across the Merrimack River, winding through the west side and traversing the Hands Across the Merrimack footbridge before finishing at Veterans Park.

The field's elite runners will compete for nearly $20,000 in prize money. The men's and women's marathon winners will earn $1,500 each, while the half marathon winners will take home $1,000 apiece.

In addition to the Moultons, the men's marathon field will include 2007 champion Scott Rowe of Dover and Titus Mutinda of Lowell, Mass., a 44-year-old Kenyan who finished second to Patrick Moulton in Hartford. Defending champion Benjamin Ndaya of Lowell, Mass., who finished third in last Sunday's Cape Cod Marathon, is not entered.

Hopkinton's Christin Doneski plans to defend her women's marathon crown despite a spring knee injury that interrupted her training for two months. Doneski, 38, won last year after pulling a hip muscle a month before the race.

"I hope it turns out like last year," Doneski said. "I worried about (an injury), and it turned out to be no problem."

> Official Manchester City Marathon/Half-Marathon Web site
> Click here to view the Union Leader's gallery of photos from the 2008 marathon
> No iPods: Runners contemplate how they'll cope

The top two finishers in the 2008 men's half marathon, Kenyans Elijah Kitur and Joseph Ekuom, are slated to run today's 13-mile race, while women's half marathon defending champ Heidi Westerling of Acworth is not entered.