Janko Benša (born 28 June 1977) is a

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

retired

distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance running comes two d ...

. He was the men's winner of the 2000

Austin Marathon The Austin Marathon (also known as Ascension Seton Austin Marathon presented by Under Armour for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in Austin, Texas, since 1992. The race weekend also features a half marathon and a 5K run with a ...

. He competed internationally for

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

during the 1990s.

Running career

Competing for Yugoslavia

Benša made his international debut in the junior men's race at the

1995 IAAF World Cross Country Championships The 1995 IAAF World Cross Country Championships was held in Durham, United Kingdom, at the University of Durham on 25 March 1995. A report on the event was given in ''The New York Times'' and in the Herald A herald, or a herald of ar ...

, where he placed 77th. In the following year's IAAF World Cross Country junior men's race, he finished in 35th place. Later in 1996, he ran both the

5000 meters The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stand ...

and

10,000 meters The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

at the

1996 World Junior Championships in Athletics The 1996 World Junior Championships in Athletics were held in Sydney, Australia on August 20–25. Results Men Women Medal table Participation According to an unofficial count through an unofficial result list, 1049 athletes from 142 cou ...

. On August 21, he finished the men's 10,000 in 19th overall with a time of 29:53.41. On the other hand, the men's 5000 meters had multiple heats from which the top places from each heat would progress to a final round two days later. Benša started in heat #2, running 14:08.34 for fifth place on August 23. Two days later, he finished 10th overall in the final round of the men's 5000 in 14:12.13. In 1997, he finished in 11th place in the men's 10,000 meters at the European U23 Championships. About a month later, he finished in 15th place in the men's half marathon at the 1997 Summer Universiade. In the fall, he finished the

1997 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 6th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on October 4, 1997, in the city of Košice, Slovakia. A total of 228 athletes, 144 men and 84 women, from 45 countries took part. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results ...

in 1:03:41. At the

1998 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 7th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on September 27, 1998, in the city of Uster, Switzerland. A total of 236 athletes, 139 men and 97 women, from 54 countries took part. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the res ...

, he ran a lifetime best of 1:02:11, which was good for 20th place in a deep field. He won the men's race at Yugoslavia's ''Beli Kros'' in 1999.

Racing in the United States

He left for the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

to race professionally. On February 20, 2000, he was entered in the

as a professional

pacemaker An artificial cardiac pacemaker (or artificial pacemaker, so as not to be confused with the natural cardiac pacemaker) or pacemaker is a medical device that generates electrical impulses delivered by electrodes to the chambers of the heart eith ...

, but decided in the middle of the race to try finishing and ended up winning. On December 31, 2000, in below-freezing temperatures and strong gusts, he won a four-mile road race organized by

NYRR New York Road Runners (NYRR) is a non-profit running organization based in New York City whose mission is to help and inspire people through running. It was founded in 1958 by Ted Corbitt with 47 members and has since grown to a membership of more ...

called the New Year's Eve Midnight Run. He finished the race in 19:31 (min:sec), ahead of runner-up

Marcus O'Sullivan Marcus O'Sullivan (born in Cork, Ireland on 22 December 1961) is an Irish retired middle-distance runner. He competed for Ireland at four Summer Olympics. After Steve Scott and John Walker, he is the third all-time by total of sub-4 minute m ...

by 15 seconds. On January 20, 2002, Benša won the men's race in the Carlsbad Marathon, after which he was given $3,000 in prize money.
Association of Road Racing Statisticians - Race profile: ''2002 San Diego Carlsbad Marathon''. On June 1, 2002, he won the Stillwater Stampede 5-miler in 23:46.47, breaking the course record previously held by 2:10-marathoner Nelson Ndereva Njeru.

References

Serbian male long-distance runners Serbian male marathon runners 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Vrbas {{Serbia-sport-bio-stub