BALTIMORE — Violetta Kryza’s resume has a glaring gap in it.
From 1995 to spring 2002, she won 21 marathons around the world, including a personal best 2:31:45 at the Pittsburgh Marathon on May 5, 2002. The next entry is the 2004 Fox Cities Marathon in Appleton, Wis., just four weeks ago.
The layoff wasn’t Kryza’s choice. After testing positive for illegal drugs following that Pittsburgh Marathon, the Polish distance runner was disqualified. She forfeited thousands of dollars in prize money and was suspended from the sport for two years — from June 19, 2002, to June 18, 2004.
She’s among the favorites heading into today’s Baltimore Marathon, which expects 9,500 runners.
“We did not do anything wrong,” her coach and manager, Leen van den Ende, emphatically maintained at Thursday’s press conference. “We took all the normal supplements. They found nandralone, but the body can make it on its own. Still [Kryza] doesn’t agree with the [ban].”
Van den Ende said they spent in excess of $10,000 challenging the ruling, all the way to the sport’s highest authority. It was to no avail.
Said Kryza, who turned 36 eight days ago and runs for Baltimore Marathon sponsor FILA: “This is my job, and I went two years without pay.”
Coincidentally, for the first time in the four-year history of the Baltimore Marathon, there will be drug testing.
Kryza’s racing return at Fox Cities was nearly a disaster. Her goal was to win and break the course record of 2:38:18, which would have earned her $1,500 cash for the win and $10,000 bonus for the record. She flew through the first half in 1:17 but had stomach problems at the 16 and 17-mile marks.
She slowed significantly over the last miles but still won with a time of 2:46:40. As a result, Kryza said she actually feels fresh coming to Baltimore on such short rest.
The stakes are even higher for her today.
The Baltimore Marathon purse is $100,000, eighth largest of its kind among U.S. marathons and nearly four times the prize money offered here last year. The men’s and women’s winners earn $15,000.
One woman with the credentials to challenge Kryza is 43-year-old Russian Ramilia Burangulova, who placed ninth overall and first as a master in her Boston Marathon debut in April.
Burangulova, who trains in Gainesville, Fla., ran the Boston course in 2:34:08 despite the unseasonably warm weather and has a personal best of 2:27:58 in Nashville in 2001.
Fellow Russians Victoria Zueva and Tatyana Maslova could contend, as well as local favorite Lee DiPietro of Ruxton, Md. She was runner-up last year to Gaithersburg-based Russian Elvira Kolpakova, who will not run after winning in Scranton last week.
The men’s race boasts a bevy of top Kenyans, including Washington-based Wilson Komen, 12th at Boston this year; Andrew Musuva; and John Itati in his marathon debut. Rockville-based Russian Mikhail Minyukhin also is in the field. Two-time defending champion Erick Kimayo will not run.
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