Grandma's Past: The 2007 Champions

Continuing our amble down memory lane, Down the Backstretch highlights the recent Grandma's champions and the races they won.

Today, the champions of 2007:

Wesly Ngetich -- Ngetich, the Grandma's winner in 2005, eschewed the break-away front-running that cost him the '06 title, becoming the race's 4th two-time men's champ in 2:15:55 in '07. The Kenyan waited until the 17-mile mark to break from the lead pack. Sadly, seven months later, Ngetich would be slain in Kenya during the tribal clashes that followed the country's disputed presidential election.

Mary Akor -- Third in the race a year before, in 2007 Akor battled New Zealand's Liza Hunter-Galvan for 19 miles before heat and a hamstring injury forced the Kiwi to abandon the race. Akor then cruised to the finish line in 2:35:40. The Nigerian-born Akor became the first American to win the Grandma's women's title in 11 years.

Results of the 2007 Grandma's Marathon are HERE.

Photos by Jeff Frey & Associates, courtesy of Grandma’s Marathon.