As part of our Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon coverage this week, Down the Backstretch and the Competitive Image are teaming up to remember recent Twin Cities Marathon champions and the races they won.
Kicking off the series ... the champions of 2003:
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'03 Women's Champ Blake Russell: Russell, in her marathon debut, jumped the 2003 TCM field early -- she led by more than two-and-a-half minutes at 13.1 miles -- and held on to win in 2:30:41 over Irina Safarova. Russell narrowly missed making the U.S. Olympic team the next year -- she was passed for the final qualifying spot in the last mile of the Trials -- but made the 2008 Beijing team, where she finished 27th.
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'03 Men's Champ Eddy Hellebuyck: The 42-year-old Hellebuyck ran the fastest marathon ever for a American master when he came from behind to win the 2003 TCM in 2:12:47. The Belgian-born Hellebuck had fallen to 3rd place after eventual 4th-place finisher Gabriel Muchiri broke the field apart with a bold surge after the race crossed into St. Paul.
The merits of Hellebuyck's victory were called into question the following year, however, when he failed a doping test for EPO.
Find 2003 TCM results HERE.
Photos by Paul Phillips, Competitive Image.
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