FAYETTEVILLE — Nothing like a marathon with the girls.

Blair Dean came to Fayetteville for shopping and food, and she threw in a marathon victory at the 31 st annual Hogeye Marathon on Sunday. Dean, of Jonesboro, finished in 3 hours, 24 minutes and 55 seconds.

Fayetteville graduate student Brian Hurley won the men’s marathon in 3: 03: 50. Little Rock’s Glen Mays won the men’s halfmarathon for the second consecutive year in 1: 13: 43, and Melissa Davis of Springfield, Mo., won the women’s race in 1: 32: 16.

Dean, 36, is the chairman of the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and is a professor at Arkansas State. She and a group of eight friends, all mothers of two children, took a minivacation.

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“We warmed up [Saturday ] with a 26. 2-mile shopping spree,” Dean joked. “We had a wonderful time, spending some time together away from home. This is just a treat for us to get away.”

Dean said her group decided on the Hogeye since none of them had run it before. Bridgette Inboden, a member of the group, finished third in 3: 55. 07.

“Hogeye is one we haven’t tried yet,” Dean said. “It was very challenging from what we had heard, and it proved itself [Sunday. We had a good time. I never have expectations. If I feel good, I try to do the best I can and leave nothing left on the road.”

Dean joked that winning the race gave her special privileges among the group. She rattled off names of her friends who had already cleaned up the condo they stayed in this weekend, including Inboden, who had taken out the garbage.

“Maybe I’ll get to pick the music [on the drive home ] and they’ll let me sing a little louder,” Dean said.

Hurley, 26, ran his first Hogeye Marathon in 2006 when he finished third behind Brian Sentinella of Anacortes, Wash., and Tom Brennan of Poteau, Okla. This time, Hurley led most of the race and held off Conway’s Stan Ferguson by almost one minute.

Hurley grew up in Missouri and ran track in high school and in a Division III college in Maine. He is currently going after a doctorate in history at Arkansas.

“I was hoping to improve on last year’s finish,” Hurley said. “I ran about the same time as last year’s time.”

Hurley said he knew Ferguson, a former champion and regular topthree finisher at the Hogeye, was trailing him. The knowledge both helped and hurt him in the race.

“I was in front of him throughout the whole race, but he was catching up to me at the end,” Hurley said. “If it had been a couple more miles, he would have caught me. I was fading the last five miles.”

Hurley said he realized how close Ferguson was at the turnaround point, halfway through the race.

“I was checking,” Hurley said. “I was very aware of him. It kept me going in the end. It might have made me go a little harder too soon, but it certainly was good motivation for the last four miles. “ I would have gone slower those last four miles had I not been aware of someone gaining on me.” Hurley said his faltering finish wasn’t helped by the Hogeye finish. Hogeye begins and ends in the downtown square, and the gentle, sloping

1 first 2 / 2 miles of the race is constantly on runners’ mind since they know it’s all uphill on the return trip. “I was sort of dreading that the whole time,” Hurley said. “The finish here is really difficult. It helps to know.” HOGEYE

MARATHON MEN 1. Brian Hurley, Fayetteville, 3: 03: 50; 2. Stan Ferguson, Con way, 3: 04: 49; 3. Walter Quinn, Fayetteville, 3: 16: 27; 4. J. D Wells, Pea Ridge, 3: 21: 31; 5. Stephen O’Neal, Rogers, 3: 27: 22 6. Gary Gehrki, Arkadelphia, 3: 33: 15; 7. Jack Sullivan, Omaha Neb., 3: 34: 55; 8. Kyle Kaplan, Cabot, 3: 35. 00; 9. Chris McGin nis, Fayetteville, 3: 35: 39; 10. Gregory McGaughey, Rogers 3: 37: 58. WOMEN 1. Blair Dean, Jonesboro, 3: 24: 55; 2. Margo Laville, Leawood Kan., 3: 43: 09; 3. Bridgette Inboden, Jonesboro, 3: 55: 07; 4 Jamie Huneycutt, Fayetteville, 4: 03: 24; 5. Maria Vargas, South Park, Penn., 4: 23: 16; 6. Abigail Darrah, Fayetteville 4: 38: 37 7. Bridget Furnish, Norman, Okla., 4: 38: 55; 8. Ellen Cole Norman, Okla., 4: 38: 55; 9. Kathy Hooper, Tulsa, 4: 55: 56; 10 Angela Ivory, Nashville, Tenn., 5: 20: 44. HALFMARATHON MEN 1. Glen Mays, Little Rock, 1: 13: 43; 2. James Bresette, Clin ton, 1: 18: 47; 3. Dan Uskert, Bentonville, 1: 19. 40; 4. Giovanni Petris, Fayetteville, 1: 23: 25; 5. George Wright, Norman, Okla. 1: 23: 37; 6. Cameron George, Springdale, 1: 24: 50; 7. Clint Clupka, Siloam Springs, 1: 25: 21; 8. Josh Stokes, Fayetteville 1: 29: 40; 9. Daniel Walters, Fayetteville, 1: 31: 43; 10. Thomas Bishop, Fayetteville, 1: 32: 05; 11. Kevin Thomas, Fayetteville 1: 32: 09; 12. Jesse Eaton, Bentonville, 1: 32: 49; 13. Joe Fluech Greenbrier, 1: 33: 38; 14. Shannon McFarland, Rogers, 1: 34: 01 15. Ron Schmidt, Fayetteville, 1: 34: 08. WOMEN 1. Melissa Davis, Springfield, Mo., 1: 32: 16; 2. Tracy Evans Woodward, Okla., 1: 34: 30; 3. Tina Coutu, Sherwood, 1: 41: 05 4. Tammy West, Tahlequah, Okla., 1: 42: 29; 5. Katie Helms Fayetteville, 1: 46: 34; 6. Andrea Murphy, Sherwood, 1: 47: 02 7. Natalie McBee, Fayetteville, 1: 47: 41; 8. Melanie Baden-Kuhn Stuttgart, 1: 50: 09; 9. Michelle Thompson, Lowell, 1: 50: 41; 10 Jessica Butler, Rogers, 1: 51: 09; 11. Abrena Rine, Springdale 1: 51: 38; 12. Ashley Mason, Little Rock, 1: 51: 52; 13. Beth Brown, Bentonville, 1: 52: 10; 14. Whitney Thomas, Maumelle 1: 53: 28; 15. Allison Martin, Maumelle, 1: 53: 28.