Posted: May 1, 2006

Athletics: Country Music Marathon Crowns New Champions

Course record shattered in half-marathon

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - (April 29, 2006) - A rising star and a race veteran each engineered a tactical race en route to winning the seventh annual Country Music Marathon Saturday in Music City. Ethiopian newcomer Feyisa Tusse captured the men's title in a time of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 6 seconds, while Russian Tatiana Mironova won the women's race in 2:36:51. Each earned a winner's check of $17,500 or a Nissan automobile.

For Tusse, it was his first marathon victory and a personal record for the former 5000 and 10,000 meter runner. Mironova, 36, finished third here in Nashville last year.

Tusse, 26, used a surge at mile 20 to pull ahead by 15 seconds and take the lead from countryman Fekadu Degefu and 2003 Country Music champion Jomo Kororia. Kenyan David Kirui was nearly a minute and a half back. However, by mile 22, clocked at a "pedestrian" 5:30, it turned tactical and nobody wanted to take the lead. Kirui was able to move back into the picture, but after expending his energy, dropped back five meters by mile 24. Tusse was biding his time at that point and with just over a mile to go, he had the victory in hand. Kirui (2:15:20) used a furious sprint over the final 100 meters to take second place over Degefu (2:15:26).

"After I passed the halfway point, I was thinking I might quit," said Tusse after his victory. "I tried my best but I had a pain in my stomach. I said 'I will keep trying. I will win this race.' At 30 kilometers nobody wanted to lead. By 40 kilometers, I was thinking 'I am the winner.'"

The women's field was narrowed down early to Kenyan Anne Jelegat, Ethiopian Dire Tune and Mironova. The trio passed the half-marathon at 1:19 and the real race started at 16 miles. The women negative split the second half of the race, running into the wind but dropping the pace. Mironova started to close the gap at 20 miles but it wasn't until the women entered Shelby Park at mile 23 that they started to separate. Mironova used a strong surge over the final two miles, making up a 40 second deficit, to pull away and cross the finish line all alone. Jelegat was second (2:37:23) and Tune was third (2:39:10).

"I don't remember the course from last year, I just ran," said Mironova. "Today it was all new tactics. The first half was easy and the second half was hard work. Nobody wanted to go, nobody wanted to take the lead. The last mile was so fast, I felt like I was a cat, running for the mouse."

Local standout Kevin Hill, 29, of Nashville, Tenn., had a good day as he finished 10th overall and earned $1000 as the first Tennessee state winner and another $1000 as the first Davidson County winner. Maureen Manning of Brentwood earned the same amount for her efforts on the women's side. Masters winners, who earned $1000 each, included Janusz Akuma, 40, of Chicago and Bethany Heslam, 41, of North Port, Fla. John Payne won the wheelchair division in 3:00:21.

In the half-marathon, Fernando Cabada from Fresno, Calif. and a student at Virginia Intermont College, shattered the course record, covering the 13.1 miles in 1:04:57 to erase the old mark of 1:08:54 from 2003. On the women's side, Aileen Conlon of Hoboken, New Jersey won in 1:24:37.

Over 23,000 entrants joined the elite fields for the seventh annual Country Music Marathon & ˝ Marathon that runs thru Music City and finishes at The Coliseum, home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans. Hundreds of high school cheerleaders and 50 live bands lined the course and over 800 Team In Training participants raised $2 million (net) for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The evening was capped off with a headliner concert by country music star Phil Vassar.

7th Country Music Marathon - Nashville, TN, Saturday, April 29, 2006

MEN
1) Feyisa Tusse, 26, Ethiopia, 2:15:06, $17,500 or a 2006 Nissan X-Terra
2) David Kirui, 34, Kenya, 2:15:20, $8000
3) Fekadu Degefu, 30, Ethiopia, 2:15:26, $4000
4) Jomo Kororia, 25, Kenya, 2:16:06, $2000
5) Juan Cardona, 31, Columbia, 2:18:18, $1250
6) Asnake Fekadu, 26, Ethiopia, 2:19:46

WOMEN
1) Tatiana Mironova, 36, Russia, 2:36:51, $17,500 or a 2006 Nissan X-Terra
2) Anne Jelegat, 36, Kenya, 2:37:23, $8000
3) Dire Tune, 21, Ethiopia, 2:39:10, $4000
4) Mary Akor, 29, Los Angeles, USA, 2:42:05, $2000
5) Elena Orlova, 36, Russia, 2:44:07, $1250

State of Tennessee ($1000) and Davidson County ($1000) winners
MEN
1) Kevin Hill, 29, Nashville, 2:32:02, $2000
2) Jonathan Eckberg, 26, Nashville, 2:34:49, $1000

WOMEN
1) Maureen Manning, 38, Brentwood, Tenn., 3:10:17, $2000
2) Lindsay Honea, 21, Nashville, 3:18:24, $1000

MASTERS (40+)
Men
1) Janusz Akuma, 40, Chicago, 2:39:54, $500

Women
1) Bethany Heslam, 41, North Port, Fla., 3:26:32, $500

Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.

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