One for the aged at Ocean Beach

New London - Fortysomethings of the world recently welcomed Keven O'Neil to the fraternity. And now they may want to plaster his face on a billboard.

O'Neil, 40, of North Kingstown, R.I., won the 48th John and Jessie Kelley Road Race on Saturday at Ocean Beach Park, bettering Connecticut College junior Doug Wright of Darien, who is roughly half O'Neill's age.

"I'll take it while I can get it," O'Neil said, shortly after finishing the 11.6-mile race in one hour, three minutes, 47 seconds. "Next year, they'll be destroying me."

But it'll be a year's worth of ammunition for Conn cross country coach Jim Butler, who rode his bicycle alongside Wright, who admitted he never ran anywhere close to 11.6 miles. Still, about losing to the 40-year-old …

"(Butler's) not going to let me forget that," Wright said with a grin.

Wright finished 33 seconds behind.

Wright noticed O'Neil's quick start and figured that it would result in a slow finish.

"I didn't know who he was," Wright said. "I thought he went out too hard. … I thought, 'He'll probably come back to me.'"

He never did.

"My goal was a six- to eight-mile tempo run," O'Neil said. "But then I realized I could win it. And then I realized (Wright) was close to me, so I couldn't back off."

O'Neil's goal was based on what he plans to do today, a 20-miler to prepare for a marathon.

"A pretty easy seven-minute pace," he said. "I'm coming off a 90-mile week."

Laura Brustolon repeated as the women's champion, finishing in 1:13.20, a better time than last year. Brustolon ran at Stonington High School, then two years at the University of Maine and the last two years at Southern Connecticut State University.

"Last year, I had no idea," she said as to whether she knew she was the top women's finisher. "I heard 'first female, first female' (near the finish line). This year, I was a lot more nervous. I felt like I had to prove something."

O'Neil, meanwhile, said he'd have been more nervous if this race took place across state lines.

"I don't know anybody here," he said. "There's less pressure when you're out of state. This is a great place to run."

The race attracted nearly 700 runners.