Svetlana Ponomarenko is the winner of Twin Cities Marathon Women’s Race and had been leading from the start.
After leading the pack from the start, Mykola Antonenko increased the overall pack pace by mile two. Ed Eyestone called the race for the elite men in the lead vehicle ahead of the pack.
According to Eyestone, Augustus Kavutu Mbusya put on the heat between miles 5 and 6, but Antonenko broke away at mile 7. By the half-marathon mark, race officials say he maintained at least a minute lead ahead of the rest of the pack, finishing with a time of 2:13:54.
Antonenko said he was happy with his race, but didn’t achieve his goal today. “Psychologically it’s hard to do your goal time by yourself. If I had a group of people pulling me, I could have reached my 2:11 goal,” he said.
“It was a gutsy, courageous effort on his part to go for it on day that was a bit warm,” said Eyestone. Joseph Mutinda finished second with a time of 2:20:12 and Mbusya was third with a time of 2:21:13.
Temperatures were warm at the start, which didn’t seem to slow the women’s race. Carrie Tollefson called the women’s race and said Svetlana Ponomarenko took the lead from the horn, with Sharon Cherop battling for first through the ½ marathon mark.
Alena Vinitskaya pulled into 2nd place at about mile 25, according to Tollefson. But it wasn’t enough to go ahead, and Ponomarenko crossed the finish line with a time of 2:34:09.
Vinitskaya told race officials she tends to start her race a little slow, but was able to pull ahead. “Overall, I felt pretty good. This was my first time running the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon and I loved the course.
I closed in at mile 25 and was happily surprised to finish second,” she said of her 2:38:23 finish. Cherop finished third with a time of 2:38:45.
USATF Masters Women’s Champion Susan Loken made it a “three-peat” today. After finishing first as master’s champion in 2005 and 2006, she returned to the Twin Cities with the goal of a 3rd straight title.
And that she did. The 44-year old finished with a 2:48:36 and told race officials the humidity affected her race a bit, but today’s warmer temperatures weren’t a problem as she trains in her home town of Phoenix, Arizona.
Loken maintained a solid lead against her masters competition. 2nd Place finisher Dorren, came in a full sixminutes behind at 2:54:39 and course regular Meghan Arbogast finished 3rd.
Tracy Lokken picked up the USATF Master’s Men’s Championship title today with a winning time of 2:29:00. Danny Martinez finished 2nd at 2:30:56 and Dennis Simonaitis was third with a finish of 2:35:31.
In the wheelchair race, Tyler Byers of Sterling, Virginia finished with a 1:45:59 and Tricia Downing picked up the win for the women with a first place time of 2:30:15.
Minnesota winners finished strong today. Josh Metcalf, 32, of Glencoe, Minn. finished in 2:28:26 and Angie Voight, of Minneapolis, came in with a 2:54:53 finishing time. For a complete list of results, visit mtcmarathon.org.
Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
The Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon is recognized as one of the top marathons and great road races of our time. Join us as the tradition continues October 5-7, 2007.
The three-day weekend celebration of fitness includes a 5K run/walk, children’s fun runs, pasta dinner, health and fitness expo and Medtronic TC 10 Mile, in addition to the marathon.
Major media sponsors include Clear Channel Radio, KARE 11 and the Pioneer Press. Twin Cities Marathon, Inc. is the non-profit organization that directs high quality running events as a community service for the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. Visit
www.mtcmarathon.org for more information.
