Posted: June 17, 2006

Athletics: Grandma's Marathon - 30 years and Running Strong!

Photo: MarathonFoto

Duluth, Minn.: Grandma's Marathon is 30 years and still running strong! Seven thousand two hundred six runners started the 30th annual Grandma's Marathon that began at 7:30 a.m. with hazy partly cloudy skies and 64 degrees and wind coming out of the southwest at three miles per hour.

In the men's division, the first 10K was dominated by a pack of Kenyan runners with no clear leaders. By mile 10, however, 2005 champion Wesly Ngetich, 28, of Kenya had moved up from the back of the pack to take the lead. He quickly distanced himself and ran alone for the next several miles with the chase pack nearly two minutes behind. By mile 20 it looked as though Ngetich had secured the win for a second year in a row, but during the next two miles a Russian duo of Sergei Lukin, 31, and Pavel Andreev, 36, and Jae Hyung, 35, of South Korea picked up the pace and closed the gap between them and Ngetich. At the top of lemon drop hill near mile 22, Ngetich ran out of steam allowing Lukin to surge ahead. In the end, Sergei Lukin claimed victory in 2:14:30. Andreev was second in 2:16:46 and Hyung was third in 2:18:22. Rounding out the top five were Laban Moiben, 22, of Kenya (2:18:34) and David Kirui, 28, of Kenya (2:20:12). Ngetich finished in sixth place with a time of 2:20:13. Lukin earned $8,000 and an additional $1,000 of bonus money for running under 2:15:00

Oleg Strijakov, 42, of Russia won the men's 40 and over division and finished 9th overall with a time of 2:20:37. He will take home a total of $2,500 in prize money

Photo: MarathonFoto

2005 women's champion, Halina Karnatsevich, 37, of Belarus, took the lead right from the gun with Maria Portilla, 33, of Peru and Mary Akor, 29, of Gardena, Calif. just a few yards behind.

The trio ran in places one, two, three through 20 miles with Svetlana Nekhorosh, 32, of the Ukraine in fourth. Nekhorosh would eventually pass Portilla and Akor and take over the second place position. Karnatsevich held on to first and won with a time of 2:33:39, earning $8,000 in prize money and $1,250 in bonus money for running under 2:34:00. Nekhorosh was second in 2:37:33 followed by Portilla in third in 2:38:20. Akor finished fourth for the second year in a row with a time of 2:39:42.

2002 champion, Zinaida Semenova, 44, of Russia was the first female age 40 and over to cross the finish line. She was 9th overall in 2:44:54 and earned $2,500 total in prize money.

Jeremy Polson, 28, of Duluth and Katie Koski, 33, of Two Harbors. were the first local finishers in the marathon. Polson finished in 2:39:25 and Koski in 2:54:28.

For the second year in a row, Krige Schabort, Jacob Heilveil, and Alan Bergman finished first, second and third respectively. Schabort, 42, of Cedartown, Ga. Wheeled the fourth fastest time in Grandma's Marathon history with a winning time of 1:27:15. Heilveil, 36, of Longmont, Colo. was second in 1:32:40 with Alan Bergman just two seconds behind him in 1:32:42.

According to women's wheelchair division champion, Amanda McGrory, 20, she and Miriam Ladner, 28, worked together until the end to set the 4th and 5th fastest times in the Grandma's Marathon women's wheelchair division. McGrory set a new personal record with her winning time of 1:46:51. Ladner was close behind in 1:46:57. The women, who are both from Champaign, Ill., were the only two female wheelers in the field.

Nine thousand seven hundred fifty eight people registered for the 30th annual running of Grandma's Marathon, with 49 states and 34 countries represented. Out of 7,206 starters there were 6,909 finishers (2,606 women; 4,303 men)

In the Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, course record holder and six-time champion, Ryan Meissen, 28, of River Falls,Wis. took the lead right from the start. Matt Hooley, 23, of Madison, Wis. and Chris Lundstrom, 30, of Minneapolis, Minn. were close behind and eventually took over the lead running one and two the remainder of the race. Hooley finished first in 1:06:40, which ranks the eighth fastest time in the history of the race. Lundstrom was second in 1:07:00 and Meissen finished third with a time of 1:08:12.

In the women's race Desiree Budd of Mankato ran to a solo victory in 1:15:33, a personal best. Gina Morgan of Lincoln, Nebr. (1:20:42) and Heather May of Indianapolis, Ind. (1:20:48) rounded out the top three.

A record number of 6,166 people registered for the 16th annual Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, and of those 5,120 runners started the race and 5,041 finished (2,890 women; 2,146 men).

Top ten results, overall wheelchair results and age division results are listed below.. For complete results log onto www.grandmasmarathon.com

The date of the 2007 Grandma's Marathon weekend is June 14 through June 17 - we hope you can join us!

2006 Grandma's Marathon - June 17, 2006 - Duluth, Minn.
MEN - Overall
Place	Name	Hometown	Age	Time	Prize $
1	Sergei Lukin	Russia	31	2:14:30	$8,000 + Incentives
2	Pavel Andreev	Russia	36	2:16:46	$6,500 + Incentives
3	Jae Hyung	South Korea	35	2:18:22	$5,000 + Incentives
4	Laban Moiben	Kenya	22	2:18:34	$4,000 + Incentives
5	David Kirui	Kenya	28	2:20:12	$3,500
6	Wesly Ngetich	Kenya	28	2:20:13	$3,000
7	Andrey Karpin	Russia	24	2:20:20	$2,500
8	Michael Reneau	Houlton, Wisc.	28	2:20:28	$2,000
9	Oleg Strijakov	Russia	42	2:20:37	$1,000
10	Jynocel Basweti	Kenya	19	2:21:40	$500
MEN - Masters
Place	Name	Hometown	Age	Time	Prize $
1	Oleg Strijakov	Russia	42	2:20:37	$1,500
2	John Mirth	Platteville, Wisc.	44	2:29:08	$1,000
3	Russell Boore	Hampton, Ill.	44	2:39:48	$500
MEN - Age Division Winners
Division	Name	Hometown	Age	Time
Open	Sergei Lukin	Russia	31	2:14:30
12 to 18	Nathan Peters	Rosecommon, Mich	16	2:52:09
35 TO 39	Pavel Andreev	Russia	36	2:16:46
40 TO 44	Oleg Strijakov	Russia	42	2:20:37
45 TO 49	Wieslaw Perszke	Poland	46	2:35:38
50 TO 54	Brent Smith	Esko, Minn.	50	2:45:07
55 TO 59	Terry McCluskey	Vienna, OH	57	2:49:23
60 TO 64	Jared Mondry	Minneapolis, Minn	64	3:04:22
65 TO 69	Don Wright	Lake Elmo, Minn.	65	3:43:08
70 TO 74	Jim Schleisman	Jefferson, Iowa	73	3:29:48
75 TO 79	William Hollihan	Beaver Dam, Wisc.	76	4:59:32
80 & OVER	none
MEN - Wheelchair
Name		Hometown	Age	Time	Prize $
Krige Schabort		Cedartown, GA	42	1:27:15	$2,000
Jacob Heilveil		Longmont, Colo.	36	1:32:40	$1,250
Alan Bergman		Cobble Hill, BC	32	1:32:42	$800
Rafael Jimenez		Spain	27	1:34:05	$600
Tony Iniquez		Bolingbrook, Ill	35	1:42:15	$350
WOMEN - Overall
Place	Name	Hometown	Age	Time	Prize $
1	Halina Karnatsevich	Belarus	37	2:33:39	$8,000 + Incentives
2	Svetlana Nekhorosh	Russia	32	2:37:33	$6,500 + Incentives
3	Maria Portilla	Peru	33	2:38:20	$5,000 + Incentives
4	Mary Akor	Gardena, Calif.	29	2:39:42	$4,000 + Incentives
5	Elena Orlova	Russia	36	2:40:25	$3,500
6	Veena Reddy	Philadelphia, Penn.	27	2:41:30	$3,000
7	Kasie Enman	Huntington, Virg.	26	2:44:07	$2,500
8	Jenna Darcy	Philadelphia, Penn.	23	2:44:16	$2,000
9	Zinaida Semenova	Russia	44	2:44:54	$1,000
10	Cassandra Henkiel	Austin, Tex.	36	2:44:56	$500
WOMEN - Masters
Place	Name	Hometown	Age	Time	Prize $
1	Zinaida Semenova	Russia	44	2:44:54	$1,500
2	Rochelle Wirth	Duluth, Minn.	44	3:01:07	$1,000
3	Laurie Hanscom	Eden Prairie, Minn.	42	3:06:31	$500
WOMEN - Age Division Winners
Division	Name	Hometown	Age	Time
Open	Halina Karnatsevich	Belarus	37	2:33:39
12 to 18	Mary Palmer	Anoka, Minn.	18	3:59:51
35 TO 39	Halina Karnatsevich	Belarus	37	2:33:39
40 TO 44	Zinaida Semenova	Russia	44	2:44:54
45 TO 49	Fira Sultanova-Zhdanova	Russia	45	2:50:03
50 TO 54	Sharon Vos	Riverside, Conn.	51	3:11:59
55 TO 59	Gloria Jansen	White Bear Lake, Minn.	59	3:33:10
60 TO 64	Gael Jones	Thunder Bay, Ontario	60	3:54:10
65 TO 69	Bonnie McElwee	Urbana, Flor.	66	4:26:45
70 TO 74	Patricia Amidon	St. Paul, Minn.	71	5:39:34
75 TO 79	none
80 & OVER	none
WOMEN - Wheelchair
Name		Hometown	Age	Time	Prize $
Amanda McGrory		Champain, Ill	20	1:46:51	$2,000
Miriam Ladner		Champain, Ill	28	1:46:57	$1,250

2006 Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon - June 17, 2006 - Duluth, Minn.
MEN - Overall
Place	Name	Hometown	Age	Time
1	Matt Hooley	Madison, Wisc	23	1:06:40
2	Chris Lundstrom	Minneapolis, Minn	30	1:07:00
3	Ryan Meissen	River Falls, Wisc.	28	1:08:12
4	Pete Gilman	Rochester, Minn.	31	1:08:57
5	Chris Wehrman	Chicago, Ill.	30	1:09:43
6	Kelly Mortenson	Minneapolis, Minn	35	1:10:42
7	Eric Loeffler	Fargo, ND	29	1:10:57
8	Dan Greeno	St. Michael, Minn.	18	1:11:15
9	Kenny Miller	Park Rapids, Minn.	29	1:11:49
10	Jeremy Essler	La Crosse, Wisc.	26	1:11:59
MEN - Age Division Winners
Division	Name	Hometown	Age	Time
Open	Matt Hooley	Madison, Wisc.	23	1:06:40
12 to 18	Dan Greeno	St. Michael, Minn.	18	1:11:15
35 TO 39	Kelly Mortenson	Minneapolis, Minn.	35	1:10:42
40 TO 44	Patrick Billig	Roseville, Minn.	44	1:12:09
45 TO 49	Bobby Paxton	Minneapolis, Minn.	49	1:17:08
50 TO 54	Jeffrey Boyle	Stoddard, Wisc.	52	1:24:39
55 TO 59	Steven Kohorst	Cohasset, Minn.	55	1:24:51
60 TO 64	Jim Graupner	Lake Elmo, Minn.	61	1:28:05
65 TO 69	Winston Rasmussen	Warrenville, Ill.	65	1:47:19
70 TO 74	Roger Hauge	Excelsior, Minn.	74	2:15:57
75-79	Orin Scandrett	Lake Nebagamon, Wisc.	80	2:25:40
80 & OVER	Cliff Baldrige	Stone Lake, Wisc.	80	2:27:37
WOMEN - Overall
Place	Name	Hometown	Age	Time
1	Desiree Budd	Mankato, Minn.	26	1:15:33
2	Gina Morgan	Lincoln, Nebr.	24	1:20:42
3	Heather May	Indianapolis, IN	36	1:20:48
4	Lihong Zhao	China	22	1:22:20
5	Erin Ward	St. Paul, Minn.	31	1:22:23
6	Shelly Larson	Lakeville, Minn.	36	1:23:43
7	Melissa Gacek	White Bear Lake, Minn.	30	1:23:54
8	Sarah Anderson	River Falls, Wisc.	29	1:24:07
9	Kara Krumenauer	River Falls, Wisc.	27	1:24:14
10	Angie Voight	Minneapolis, Minn.	29	1:24:14
WOMEN - Age Division Winners
Division	Name	Hometown	Age	Time
Open	Desiree Budd	Mankato, Minn.	26	1:15:33
12 to 18	Ericka Sell	Duuth, Minn.	17	1:31:09
35 TO 39	Heather May	Indianapolis, IN	36	1:20:48
40 TO 44	Kate Davis	Woodbury, Minn.	40	1:24:55
45 TO 49	Ann Ringlein	Lincoln, Nebr	49	1:28:25
50 TO 54	Janet Rosen	Cloquet, Minn.	52	1:30:45
55 TO 59	Barbara Jacobson	White Bear Lake, Minn.	56	1:40:03
60 TO 64	Lola Ackerman	Longmont, Colo.	61	1:49:18
65 TO 69	Judy Cronen	Lakeville, Minn.	65	1:55:45
70 TO 74	Wen-Shi Yu	Kew Gardens	71	2:19:14
75 TO 79	Toshiko Delia	Ridgewood, NJ	76	2:03:33
80 & OVER	none

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