America’s Finest City Half Marathon : Course Record-Holder Pfeffer Is the Class of a Modest Field

SAN DIEGO — When Kirk Pfeffer cruised to victory with a time of 1 hour, 2 minutes and 55 seconds in America’s Finest City Half Marathon in 1981, he never thought his course record would last nearly five years.

It was an excellent time, but it’s 41 seconds slower than Pfeffer’s personal best, which was set in Philadelphia in 1981. And it’s quite a bit slower than the American record of 1:00.55 set by Mark Curp in Philadelphia in September of last year.

Yet, Pfeffer’s mark has endured in a sport where records are regularly broken.

Why?

“The heat may have something to do with it, but money probably plays the biggest part,” said Pfeffer, who will compete in the ninth annual AFC Half Marathon Sunday morning at 7. “This race (in San Diego) should be a lot better advertised and should have a lot more support and money.”

Money brings speed.

No prize money is offered in the AFC Half Marathon. And the race has no world-class runners competing.

Pfeffer said that big-time half marathons--like the one in Philadelphia--offer the winners $5,000 to $10,000. AFC Half Marathon director Neil Finn said that about 25 or 30 runners competing in San Diego will receive round-trip air fare, a hotel room and a per diem of $25.

“If you get a field filled with 10 Africans and British runners, you’ll have a fast field,” said Pfeffer, who attended Crawford High School and ran cross-country at Grossmont College before transferring to the University of Colorado in 1976.

The AFC Half Marathon has attracted talented long-distance runners such as Pfeffer, but the top half marathoners in the world will not be racing in Balboa Park.

Even though Pfeffer has been training for only five weeks since suffering a stress fracture and is coming off a fifth-place finish in last year’s race (with a time of 1:06.20), he is the top-seeded male runner in Sunday’s race.

Pfeffer, 30, is competing because he wants to test his foot. He is also using the race as an opportunity to take his son on a trip. The Pfeffers live in Boulder, Colo., where Pfeffer teaches art and physical education at an elementary school.

Other seeded runners include Dan Janicki of Tucson, who was third in the 1985 AFC Half Marathon and second in last year’s race, and Barry Brown, 41, of Glen Falls, N.Y., who was the Masters winner of last year’s race with a time of 1:10.04. Brown holds the American Masters record for the half marathon at 1:06.25. (The Masters category consists of runners who are 40 and older.)

In the women’s division, former San Diegan Laurie Binder is top-seeded. Binder, who lives in Oakland, won the women’s division last year with a time of 1:17.37. She also won the 1980 AFC Half Marathon and the 1979 Mission Bay Marathon.

The second-seeded woman is former San Diego State track and cross-country star Laurie Crisp of Modesto. She earned a spot in the Aztec record books with her performances during the 1983 track season. That year, Crisp ran a 9:49.94 in the 3,000 meters to place fifth on the all-time SDSU women’s list. Her time of 16:58.64 in the 5,000 meters placed sixth on the all-time list and her mark of 36:01 in the 10,000 meters placed fourth.

Janine Aiello of Berkeley, who won the 1985 and ’86 Empire State Building Run-Up and placed second in the 1986 San Francisco Marathon, will compete, as will Mindy Ireland of Alpine. Ireland was the top woman finisher in the 1982 and ’83 Heart of San Diego Marathons.

“The unusual thing is the quality of the field we can attract with nothing,” Finn said. “The goal we’re working on is to get the prize money to attract the big-name runners. I’ve spent half the year chasing it (money). That’s a sore point with me. I got three big turndowns from corporations on the same day. It was black Monday.”

And Pfeffer’s record lives on.

Race Notes America’s Finest City Half Marathon starts at 7 a.m. Sunday at Cabrillo National Monument in Point Loma. The course follows San Diego Bay, winds around Harbor Island, goes inland through the downtown area and concludes in Balboa Park. About 6,000 runners are expected to compete. All runners must use the express buses provided at Balboa Park (Park Boulevard at President’s Way and Zoo Place) for transportation to the starting line. Buses leave between 4:30 and 6 a.m. . . . There is no day-of-race registration. Late registration for Sunday’s race will take place today from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Sheraton Harbor Island East. Entry fee is $20, half of which is tax deductible. The race benefits the American Lung Assn. of San Diego and Imperial counties.