There would be no photo finish at the SunTrust Richmond Marathon this year. Jynocel Basweti made certain of that.

Basweti, a 21-year-old Kenyan, won this morning’s 31st rendition of the local race with a commanding performance on a windy and unseasonably humid day. His time of 2:22:22 was 2½ minutes faster than that of second-place finisher Mohamed Awol of Ethiopia, last year’s champion; and 5½ minutes faster than that of third-place finisher David Cheromei, last year’s runnerup. Awol defeated Cheromei by one-tenth of a second in last year’s sprint to the finish.

Kristin Price, a 26-year-old from Raleigh, N.C., won the women’s marathon in 2:45.02. Price, who once served as an assistant track coach at the University of Richmond, defeated runnerup Hirot Legesse of Ethopia by 82 seconds.

Kenyans and Ethiopians dominated the shorter races, as well. Derese Deniboba and Alemtsehay Misganaw of Ethiopia won the men’s and women’s divisions of the McDonald’s Half Marathon in 1:06:50 and 1:18:34, respectively. Robert Letting and Jane Murage of Kenya won the men’s and women’s divisions of the Ntelos 8K in 22:42 and 25:48, respectively.

More than 14,600 runners participated. More than 4,600 of those ran the half marathon, which was restored to the menu this year after a 10-year absence.

— Vic Dorr Jr.

- Republished from inRich.com

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