LOS ANGELES MARATHON : NOTEBOOK : Supporters Nearly Too Much for Appell

Olga Appell felt her first pride in U.S. citizenship on Thursday, when she was introduced for the first time as a U.S. runner. Even reporters at that news conference cheered.

“She was really affected by that, she realized what she had done,” said her husband, Brian.

But only three days later, she felt her first annoyance. It happened Sunday in the Los Angeles Marathon, which Appell eventually won with a personal best time of 2 hours 28 minutes 12 seconds. It was the fastest time by a U.S. woman in almost three years.

Early in the race, which she won by nearly nine minutes over Emma Scaunich of Italy, Appell, formerly of Mexico, found herself surrounded by Latino runners.

They wanted to give her encouragement. Worse, they wanted to break marathon rules and give her a drink of water.

“I had to tell them to please back off, that I needed to run,” said Appell, who became a U.S. citizen Feb. 25. “I understand that they wanted to help, but I needed more room.”

Her husband expects that these displays of affection will continue.

“She has already become something important to many Latinos, which is good,” Brian said. “We just can’t let it affect her running.”

The only thing that affected Appell’s running on Sunday was, predictably, boredom. By the second half of the race, she was so far ahead, she said became confused.

“I couldn’t read my watch, I was wondering where I was, then I heard somebody say I was headed for a 2:30 finish,” she said. “I wanted to do better than that, so I got it going.”

By bettering her previous best time of 2:28:56 in last year’s New York City Marathon, in which she finished second, Appell returns to her Albuquerque home with one thought in mind.

“We’re already looking forward to Atlanta and the Olympics,” Brian said. “It’s a long way away, but that’s the goal.”

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While teammate and friend Paul Pilkington was winning his first Los Angeles Marathon, Ed Eyestone was achieving another, more dubious landmark.

For the first time in “13 or 14” career marathons, Eyestone did not finish the race. He dropped out at Mile 24 because of a groin injury that friends thought would prevent him from even starting.

“He gets points in my book for even being out there,” said Bob Wood, Eyestone’s agent.

Eyestone, the pre-race American favorite from northern Utah, suffered the injury Friday during a workout and photo shoot at Griffith Park.

He spent the rest of that day and Saturday undergoing treatment in an attempt to heal it in time for a shot at defending his U.S Track and Field marathon title.

“But when I took my first steps of the race, I felt it again,” he said.

Why didn’t he quit earlier?

“I wanted to go far enough so I could get back easily and celebrate with Paul,” he said.

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Jerry Dunn, who ran a record 104 marathons last year, ran in his second Los Angeles Marathon Sunday and gave it this review.

The good: The medals.

“This race really improved the medals this year,” he said, fingering the piece of engraved glass hanging from his neck. “That is why most of us run, for the medals, and these are really nice.”

The bad: The crowds were smaller than last year, and his running partner, Elaine Gillaspie of Spoonfish, N.D., tripped over a protruding manhole cover.

“I don’t know why the crowd wasn’t as big as the past, maybe it was the rain,” said Dunn, a massage therapist from Indianapolis. “But I tell you what, after I yelled a little bit, they were just as loud.”

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The award for the most unusual runner who finished--a different category from the most unusual runner who goes four blocks for the TV cameras and drops out--goes to Mark Millington of London.

Millington, 34, ran the entire race inside a rubber rhinoceros outfit, complete with a huge snout.

He said he wasn’t doing it for laughs, but for Save the Rhino International, a group attempting to stop the poaching of rhinos worldwide.

The costume weighed 30 pounds, and Millington said he was burdened by “sexual jokes” about his snout, but he nonetheless finished the race in 4 hours 57 minutes.

That’s faster than about 5,000 humans.

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Ahmed Salah of Djibouti entered the race with the fastest time--2:07:07--but at 37, his best days are behind him. Salah challenged Pilkington for five miles before dropping off the pace.

He finished 13th in 2:15:04, struggling at the finish with severe cramps. After crossing the finish line, Salah had trouble standing without support. He was taken to a medical tent in a wheelchair and was treated and released.

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Dave Callahan, 35, of Northridge, was one of the many Angelenos determined to finish the marathon despite the Jan. 17 earthquake, which has disrupted his life. Callahan, whose residence was condemned, was unable to train for the past month. Still, he managed to finish in 7:23:08, walking the final 10 miles.

“After a while, you wonder if you’ll be swept off the streets,” said Callahan, who was trying to finish in 6 1/2 hours.

The dialysis technician worked 12 hours Saturday, which might have contributed to his slower pace. He has a 16-hour shift scheduled today.

Times staff writer Elliott Almond contributed to this story.