Marathon Fun

Dallas Marathon female winner has a surprise guest at finish line

CORRECTION: The finish-line runner was not an interloper, as originally suggested, but a registered entrant. The story and headline have been updated to reflect the new information.

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The MetroPCS Dallas Marathon bounced back on December 14 with a new course and a winner in Kimutai Cheruiyot, the fastest male, who ran the race in 2:17:11.

But woe to the runner who broke in on the finish of female winner Shitaye Gemechu.

Gemechu, a runner from Ethiopia, won with a time of 2:46:45. For her final four miles, she ran virtually unaccompanied, other than an escort of bicycles and a jeep.

But just as she neared the finish line, Janice Moore, another runner who was part of a relay team, emerged to run the final block next to Gemechu. Moore, wearing a bib with the number 30417, sprinted to break through a banner that marathon officials had set up for Gemechu.

"Wow, is this an upset?" asked Julie Henner-Benson, one of the commenters on WFAA, which broadcast the race live.

"It reminds me potentially of the old Rosie Ruiz-type thing," said fellow commentator Todd Whitthorne, referring to a runner who broke in at the end of the Boston Marathon in 1980.

Gemechu also avoided a near-collision with one of the event jeeps, which got in her way as she made a turn in the final stretch.

Cheruiyot was one of seven Kenyan participants who've run previous marathons in near record-breaking times of just over two hours. The record time is 2:12:04, set by Moses Kororia, in 2006.

Logan Sherman of Dallas won the half-marathon in the men's division at 1:08:20. Sara Hall, an Olympic Trials finalist, won the women's division in 1:12:26.

Moore, who joined Gemechu at the finish line, was part of a relay team called The Incredibles; her segment of the race was the final 5.7-mile leg.

"I have nothing but the best respect for Shitaye Gemechu and did not mean to go in front of her," Moore says. "I thought she was another relay runner. It all happened so fast. It wasn't until she pulled out her country's flag that I realized who she was."

Moore, who has run a number of marathons and half-marathons, says she was running in the same area as the half-marathon people, but that area was congested.

"We had another rival relay team we were trying to beat, and I felt like I was losing time," she says. "So I switched over to the full marathon area, which was almost empty. She came up behind me in a flash. I didn't even see the banner until I was there."

Changes in this year's race included having half-marathoners and full marathoners begin and end at the same point, perhaps calling for traffic direction at the finish. "It might be helpful to have someone standing where the race splits and give each group their own chute," Moore says.

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Politics News

Dallas narrows down field for new city manager to 4 candidates

Photo by R K on Unsplash

This is an Dallasite's sign to launch that small business they've been dreaming of.

After six months without a city manager, the city of Dallas has narrowed down the field of replacements to four semifinalists including one serving as current interim city manager, plus candidates from Fort Worth, Michigan, and Georgia.

Dallas has been without a city manager since May, when previous city manager T.C. Broadnax left to take a job with the city of Austin. Since that time, Broadnax's former chief of staff Kimberly Bizor Tolbert has served as interim city manager.

The city retained Baker Tilly, a consulting firm, to recruit and compile candidates. (Baker Tilly famously erred in the brochure it created for the position by featuring a photo of the Houston skyline instead of Dallas; they've since replaced it with Dallas.)

A spokesperson for Baker Tilly did not respond to inquiries but according to D Magazine, an email listing the candidates has been sent to the Dallas City Council.

The semifinalists include:

Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, Dallas’ current interim city manager
William Johnson, an assistant city manager in Fort Worth
Mark Washington, the city manager of Grand Rapids, Michigan
Zachary Williams, a county chief operating officer in Georgia

All have more than 25 years' of public administration experience and have worked in similar capacities in their respective cities.

Before working in Fort Worth, Johnson was Baltimore’s transportation director and Atlanta’s deputy chief operating officer and public works commissioner.

Washington worked in Fort Worth and Austin before becoming Grand Rapids’ city manager.

Williams has mostly worked in Georgia at the county level, including serving as county manager in Fulton County and chief operating officer in DeKalb County.

Tolbert began working for the city in 1998, first as the city manager’s assistant and later in the aviation department. Broadnax hired her as his chief of staff in 2017.

Unlike the Mayor and the Dallas City Council, the city manager position in Dallas is not elected but is instead appointed by the city council, and is tasked with executing policies, overseeing the annual budget, and managing staff at city hall.

The council’s Ad Hoc Committee will choose finalists, introduce them to the public, and make an offer in early 2025.

politics