Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Grandma's Champ Ngetich Out of Twin Cities

2007 Grandma's Marathon champion Wesly Ngetich has withdrawn from Sunday's Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon, according to TCM race officials. Ngetich, who ran 2:15:55 last June to become the 5th two-time winner of the Duluth race, pulled out of Twin Cities with a calf muscle injury.

Ngetich's withdrawal means that Andrew Musuva's claim to fame as the only male athlete to complete the same-year Grandma's/Twin Cities double will go unchallenged. Musuva turned his "double-play" in 1999. Grandma's 2007 women's champ Mary Akor, however, can become the first woman to complete the same-year sweep. She was the TCM runner-up in 2006.

The men's field still boasts 2004 TCM champ Augustus Kavutu of Kenya who sports a 2:11:39 marathon best. Fellow Kenyans Thomas Omwenga (2:10:44), Jonathon Ndambuki (2:10:58), and Fred Mogaka (2:12:03), Russian Mykola Antonenko (2:13:00), who finished runner-up to Kavutu at TCM in 2004, and Ethiopian Abebe Yimer (2:13:52) will be among those vying for this year's title.

Akor, who has a 2:33:27 PR from last year's race, will face Svetlana Ponomarenko of Russia, the fastest female entrant in the field at 2:29:00, Tatiana Borisova of Kyrgyzstan who has run 2:30:39 and Magdelena Lewy-Boulet of the USA has marathoned 2:30:50.

Our Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Coverage ... Down the Backstretch will offer extensive Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon coverage starting with tomorrow's Medtronic Twin Cities 10 Mile/USA Men's 10 Mile press conference. We'll have the latest news leading up to this weekend's races and finish-line coverage of the TC 5K, the TC-10, and, of course, the marathon itself.

Other than running in a race, there's no better place to experience TCM than with DtB!

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