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An Ethiopian woman and a Kenyan man won
$15,000 apiece on Sunday after their victories in the Twin Cities
Marathon.


      Sammy Malakwen, a 33-year-old Kenya native who lives and trains
for part of the year in Two Harbors, finished in 2 hours, 13
minutes and 11 seconds in his first Twin Cities Marathon, just
ahead of fellow Kenyans Joseph Mutinda, 37, in 2:13:24, and Weldon
Kirui, 22, in 2:13:31.


      Yeshimebet Tadesse-Bifa, 23, of Ethiopia, won the women's race
in 2:28:24.


      Malakwen had to fight through cramping in the thighs at about
the halfway point of the 26.2-mile race, while Bifa said she was
slowed by headwinds and the hills along the last 10 miles, the St.
Paul Pioneer Press reported.


      Malakwen said he started running on his toes, which seemed to
help stretch his muscles and relieve the cramping. He said about 20
men were in the lead pack up to about mile 19. With about two miles
to go, Malakwen said, he made his move on his competitors.


      "They resisted for one mile. The last mile, they didn't resist,
and I was on my own," he said.


      Bifa's time was more than 4 minutes faster than the women's
runners up, Russian Nadezdha Leonteva, 27, at 2:32:52, and Emily
Harrison, 25, of Flagstaff, Ariz., at 2:32:55. Bifa had trained to
have a shot at the 2:26:51 women's course record, but she said she
slowed down because she didn't have any competition to push her
during the last 10 miles of the race.


      "I'm incredibly excited to have won the race," she said
through an interpreter. "God has really helped me along the way. I
owe my victory to God."


      There were 8,530 finishers in the marathon and 7,546 finishers
in its 10-mile race. The weather was close to ideal, with sunny
skies and temperatures in the mid-40s at the start and the high 50s
when the winners crossed the finish line.


      The marathon course began at the Metrodome in downtown
Minneapolis. It wound past the chain of lakes on the west side of
Minneapolis, then headed east along Minnehaha Creek, crossed the
Mississippi River into St. Paul and finished at the Capitol. The
10-mile race took a more direct route from the Metrodome to the
Capitol.

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Kenyan native Sammy Malakwen has won the Twin Cities Marathon in the men's division. The top female finisher was Yeshimebet Tadesse-Bifa, 23, of Ethiopia.

Ethiopian, Kenyan win Twin Cities Marathon

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