FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Laura Wright
Public Relations Director
(218) 727-0947
Grandma's Marathon – 30 years and Running Strong!
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
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
included in the attached documents. 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!
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