Arabian captures women's division

The Rocky River resident's time was good enough to finish 13th overall.
& lt;a href=mailto:richesson@vindy.com & gt;By BRIAN RICHESSON & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- Anjanette Arabian entered Sunday's Peace Race with an open mind and a plan.
After three miles of the 6.2-mile course, she would evaluate herself and the remainder of the race.
"I came in here and said, 'Let's see how I feel after three miles,' " she said. "And I felt pretty good, 'so let's just keep the momentum going.' "
Arabian rode that momentum across the finish line in 34 minutes, 27.8 seconds to win the Women's Open competition and its $500 prize.
Gravity's pull
"The first two miles are a lot downhill, so it's kind of hard to judge how you feel because gravity's pulling you," said Arabian, who turned 30 on Sept. 25. "After three miles, you have a pretty realistic idea of where you are."
The Rocky River resident, who works as a lawyer in downtown Cleveland, set a personal record with her victory that placed her 13th overall. Her previous best time was 35:12.
"I didn't know who all was going to be here, so I just go in ready to compete," Arabian said. "I never enter a race assuming I'm going to win. If you do that, you don't win."
Arabian didn't know until Friday that she was going to run in the Peace Race. It had been at least three years since she last ran in Youngstown.
But a friend talked her into running. It wasn't a hard proposition considering Arabian coaches the Magnificat High track and cross country teams and has run for the past 17 years.
Asked how many wins she's had in that time, Arabian said, "Enough to make me happy."
So on a near-perfect day for running, Arabian added to her list of happy moments while taking advantage of the field.
"I had a nice group of guys around me that were switching around, back and forth, and being able to push each other," she said.
Top five
In turn, they kept Arabian at an optimal pace, allowing her to finish in front of Jessica Textoris, 22, of Strongsville (35:55.5); Melissa Rittenhouse, 27, of Wooster (35:56.8); Jeannie Debonis, 38, of Brecksville (36:53.1); and Laura Kaulen, 27, of Austintown (37:30.6).
The women's field was without standout Amy Yoder Begley, who was expected to participate. She notified race organizers of her absence because of an injury.
Yoder Begley, of Kendalville, Ind., holds a 10K time of 32:50.