Chokri Dhaouadi had a feeling before the 33rd running of the Deseret News marathon started that he was going to win.

It was, he said, as he searched patiently for the right words, "All in my hands. I had it in my mind how I would run. I knew I would win."

The Moroccan runner, who is living and training in Albuquerque, N.M., controlled the race. He ran, he said, as fast as he needed to win. He was first off the line at the start near Mountain Dell Reservoir at 5 a.m., and he was first across the line near the northern tip of Liberty Park.

Dhaouadi's time was 2 hours, 32.15 minutes. His best marathon time is a 2:19.

Trying to figure out who finished 2nd and 3rd was a little more difficult. From a distance, brothers Craig and Marc Lawson look alike — same height, same weight, same hair color, same build.

As it turned out, younger brother Craig of Sandy had a little more kick the last few miles and beat older brother Marc of Draper. Times were 2:32.54 and 2:34.46, respectively.

This year's distance run drew 850 runners from around the country. Each had a reason for running the grueling 26.2-mile race. The Lawson brothers, said Marc, entered "because we've been doing this for so long, more than 20 years, now, it's hard to give up, and I guess I'll keep doing it as long as I can."

The two started running at age 7 and ran distance events competitively in high school and at Brigham Young University.

Dhaouadi came because of the Olympics — the 2004 Summer Olympics. He wants to represent Morocco, he said, and he feels his best chance is as a distance runner.

In the beginning, he said, he ran the 10K and then the half-marathon, "but now I start with the marathon. I just start. I was number three in Italy, and I won in Africa. Now I win here."

The fact he trains in Albuquerque, which is similar in elevation to Salt Lake City, helped. The altitude, he said, didn't bother him.

"It was very nice. The first half I don't know my time. I had in my mind to run a 2:15 or 2:16. I saw (Craig Lawson) behind me. But no one pushed me to go faster," he said.

Marc Lawson said the two brothers, who train together, ran stride for stride to about the 22- or 23-mile mark, "then Craig had enough left and put on a surge to try and catch the leader. I was starting to feel it in my legs. At that point I was just trying to finish. The last couple of miles seemed like an eternity."

Craig Lawson said he could tell the leader was running a conservative race and had it in his mind to try and push for the lead.

"But, even for me, the last three to four miles were a struggle after all the downhill running and the banging on the legs. You're lucky if you have legs to really make a move. I didn't. I just stayed equal distance from him. I couldn't close the gap."

Consensus has long been that the Deseret News marathon is one of the most challenging on the distance circuit because of the altitude and the course itself, which goes uphill for about six miles, then slopes down for another 13 miles and then finishes on the flat.

This is the third year for the Lawson brothers. Craig Lawson won the event in 2000 and was third last year. Marc Lawson was third in 2000 and fourth last year.

Other top finishers include Jerry Henley in 4th at 2:43.29, Jody Benson in 5th at 2:44.37, Fritz Van de Kamp in 6th at 2:46.06 and Gordon Hullinger in 7th in 2:50.32.

---

E-MAIL: grass@desnews.com