Photos: The lively and lovely 2015 Twin Cities Marathon

Showing support for the Black Lives Matter protest
Runners crammed onto Minneapolis' Sixth Street while waiting for the Twin Cities Marathon to begin. Some runners, including Jeff Mason, center, wore T-shirts or headbands to show support for Black Lives Matter. The group's St. Paul chapter demonstrated peacefully during Sunday's marathon.
Judy Griesedieck for MPR News

About 8,500 runners participated in Sunday's Twin Cities Marathon.

Dubbed "The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America" by Runner's World, the 26.2-mile course meanders from downtown Minneapolis to the state Capitol in St. Paul.

Members of the St. Paul-based Black Lives Matter group demonstrated as planned, keeping a promise to stay off the race course but briefly blocked vehicle traffic near the finish line in St. Paul.

Kenyan Dominic Ondoro won Sunday's event with an unofficial time of two hours, 11 minutes, 16 seconds. The 28-year-old won the 2014 Grandma's Marathon in a record 2:09:06. Another Kenyan, Elisha Barno, who edged Ondoro to win this year's Grandma's, finished second at 2:11:39, followed by Jacob Chemtai, also of Kenya, at 2:14:13.

Abraha Serkelam Biset of Ethiopia was the top women's finisher, at 2:31:39, followed by reigning Grandma's women's champion Jane Kibii of Kenya in second at 2:31:44 and Abnet Yeshanbel Simegen, also of Ethiopia, finishing third at 2:32:43.

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