The closest finish in Grandma’s Marathon history highlighted today’s 35th running of Grandma’s Marathon. Kenya’s Chris Kipyego edged Ethiopian Teklu Deneke by two-tenths of a second to claim the title.
The 37-year-old Kipyego’s winning time of 2 hours, 12 minutes, 16.36 seconds was narrowly better than Deneke’s 2:12:16.56. Sammy Malakwen placed third in 2:12:39. Kipyego earned $10,000 for the victory plus a $1,500 bonus for finishing in under 2:13:00.
The previous closest finish was in 1999 when Kenya’s Andrew Musuva beat Tesfaye Bekele by four seconds.
James Derick, 45, of Big Flats, N.Y., claimed the men’s masters title in 2:27:47.
In the women’s division, Ethiopia’s Yihunlish Delelecha took the crown in 2:30:39, the sixth fastest in race history. Delelecha, 29, topped Kenya’s Everlyne Lagat’s 2:31:32.
Delelecha, making her Grandma’s Marathon debut, claimed the $10,000 winner’s check plus a $2,500 bonus for running sub-2:31:00.
Svetlana Ponomarenko, 41, placed 11th in 2:38:03 to earn the women’s masters crown.
Saul Mendoza won his seventh Grandma’s Marathon men’s wheelchair division title in 1:28:53. Amanda McGrory broke her own course record in the female wheelchair division with a time of 1:39:30.
The 2011 Grandma’s Marathon had 8,319 registrants and of those, 6,444 runners started the race and 6,333 finished. The annual Two Harbors-to-Duluth 26.2-mile race had entrants from 42 countries, 49 states and the District of Columbia.
In the 21st Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon, Ethiopian Derese Deniboba, 28, set a new course record, breaking Ryan Meissen’s 2002 mark by two minutes. Deniboba’s time of 1:02:19 was one of eight faster than Meissen’s 1:04:19.
American Katie McGregor, 33, claimed the women’s title in 1:13:18.
A record number of 7,223 people registered for the 2011 Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon with 6,004 runners starting the race and 5,990 finishing.
For complete results, log on to GrandmasMarathon.com. All results are unofficial.
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