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Ndereba, Mukunzi shatter NTELOS 8K course records as race boasts record field
From Scott Schricker
RICHMOND, Va. - (November 11, 2006) - Ethiopian Asnake Fekadu was alone by mile one and breezed to a runaway win in Saturday's 29th running of the SunTrust Richmond Marathon in 2 hours, 20 minutes and 23 seconds. Enduring warm weather that saw afternoon temperatures approach 80 degrees, the 26-year-old Fekadu was unchallenged the entire race and beat Ukrainian Andrii Toptun by over 7 minutes. Twenty-one year-old Richmonder Ryan Deak was third (2:36:46).
On the women's side, Richmonder Maureen Ackerly captured her first marathon title with a gritty win over Russian Elvira Kolpakova. Ackerly trailed by over a minute early in the race before finally taking the lead past the halfway point. Her winning time of 2:53:14 was almost three minutes faster that Kolpakova, who was hampered by a knee injury.
For the third year in a row, the NTELOS 8K provided special excitement for the thousands of spectators on hand at the finish. The top 5 men's finishers all beat the 5-year-old race record, led by Kenyan Samuel Ndereba's winning mark of 22 minutes and 20 seconds. That was 2 seconds ahead of countryman Valentine Orare and 5 ahead of Emmanuel Chamer. Joseph Chirlee and American Fasil Bizuneh finished fourth and fifth. All five broke the race record of 22:36 set by Shadrack Kosgei set in 2001.
The 8K race record also was bested multiple times on the women's side. Kenyan Madgdalene Mukunzi set the new standard of 25:24, two seconds ahead of Asmae Leghzaoui of Morocco and 5 better than Emily Chebet. All three broke the old mark of 25:36 set by Svetlana Zakharova in 2000.
A total of 5,393 runners registered for this year's NTELOS 8K, smashing last year's record of 4,698. There were a total of 10,059 combined registrants in the SunTrust Richmond Marathon, NTELOS 8K and Richmond Times-Dispatch Kids Run, the second straight year the event has attracted over 10,000 participants.
29th SunTrust Richmond Marathon - Richmond, VA, Saturday, November 11, 2006
MEN
1) Asnake Fekadu, ETH, 2:20:23, $2500
2) Andrii Toptun, UKR, 2:27:37, $1500
3) Ryan Deak, VA, 2:36:46, $750
4) Chris Toepfer, IL, 2:38:26, $500
5) Josh Irwin, VA, 2:42:35, $250
MASTERS Men (40+)
1) Keith Winn, 49, VA, 2:43:15, $250
WOMEN
1) Maureen Ackerly, VA, 2:53:14, $2500
2) Elvira Kolpakova, RUS, 2:56:03, $1500
3) Johanna Allen, VA, 2:56:14, $750
4) Michelle Mudge-Riley, VA, 3:00:31, $500
5) Tammy Slusser, 41, PA, 3:02:38, $500 (also Masters champion)
NTELOS 8K
MEN
1) Samuel Ndereba, KEN, 22:20*, $1000
2) Valentine Orare, KEN, 22:22, $500
3) Emmanuel Chamer, KEN, 22:25, $250
4) Joseph Chirlee, KEN, 22:29, $150
5) Fasil Bizuneh, VA, 22:32, $100
*course record (previous record, 22:36, Shadrack Kosgei, 2001)
MASTERS Men (40+)
1) Albert Okemwa, 40, KEN, 25:05, $250
WOMEN
1) Madgdalene Mukunzi, KEN, 25:24*, $1000
2) Asmae Leghzaoui, MAR, 25:26, $500
3) Emily Chebet, KEN, 25:29, $250
4) Florence Jepkosgei, KEN, 26:20, $150
5) Caroline Cretti, NC, 26:32, $100
*course record (previous record, 25:36, Svetlana Zakharova, 2000)
MASTERS Women (40+)
1) Anna Catanese, 40, VA, 30:27, $250
Complete results at: RichmondMarathon.com
Ryan Lamppa, Running USA Media Director
(805) 696-6232; Fax = (805) 659-0016
Ryan@RunningUSA.org
www.RunningUSA.org.
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