FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
KIPSANG, DEBA CAPTURE OVERALL TITLES AT QUAD CITIES MARATHON
MOLINE, IL – Two up and coming distance runners took top honors at today's
12th Annual THE Quad Cities Marathon, presented by THE National Bank. The
race was run under a sunny sky, with light wind, and a race-time
temperature of 58-degrees F.
Twenty-year old Henry Kipsang (Kenya), a newcomer to the American road
racing scene, was the overall men's winner in 2:19:15 – the seventh fastest
time ever at Quad Cities. Kipsang charged into the lead on Arsenal Island,
after breaking from a pack of five that ran together through the
half-marathon point. He then held off a hard-charging Jynocel Basweti
(Kenya) who placed second in 2:19:44.
Twenty-one-year-old Buzunesh Deba (Ethiopia), running her first-ever full
marathon, took top honors in the overall women's race in 2:44:24 – the
fifth best time ever at Quad Cities. Deba ran stride-for-stride with
Nadezhda Tuptova (Russia) for the first 20 miles, before pulling away with
a strong finish in the final 10k. Tuptova's second-place time was 2:49:31.
In the men's race an early group of nine runners was thinned down to five
by the half marathon mark. Kipsang then pulled away from Wilson Chepkwony
(Kenya), who was second as late as mile 20, and Basweti. Kipsang had a
lead of a few seconds at mile 23, but managed to pull away during the final
3.2 to post the 29-second win. Following Kipsang and Basweti to the finish
line was third-place runner Geoffrey Birgen (Kenya) in 2:20:50. All three
collected the time bonus money for breaking 2:22:00.
The overall top-five was rounded out by Demesse Tefera (Ethiopia) in
2:23:08 and Jerry Faulkner (Edmond, OK), top American on the day, in
2:25:15. The top master's finisher was Greg Skopec (Coralville, IA) in
2:58:06 – his first win at QC's. Rounding out the top-3 master's was
Christian Evans (Glen Ellyn, IL) in 2:59:20 and Matt Simpson (Wheaton, IL)
in 3:00:17.
In the women's race Deba and Tuptova ran together through 20 miles before
the break was made by Deba. The chase pack was led by third-place finisher
and master's winner Michelle Didion (LaPorte, IN) in 3:00:02. The master's
win was Didion's second-straight at the QCM. Deba was the lone woman to
collect the time bonus dollars by running under 2:48:00.
Fourth-place overall went to Jessica Hruska (Dubuque, IA) in 3:06:58.
Elena Shemyakina (Geneva, IL) clocked a 3:11:56 to place fifth overall and
second in the master's. The third-place master's runner was Stacey Nordeen
(Moline, IL) in 3:37:16.
Individual event winners were also crowned in the Half Marathon and 5k. In
the Half Marathon, Bryan Glass (Geneseo, IL) beat a talented field to the
line in 1:09:50, while Michelle McMurray (Rock Island, IL) won the women's
race in 1:28:08. In the 5k, Tauwon Taylor (Moline, IL) posted a 21-second
win in 16:09, while Christian Freund (Blue Grass, IA) recorded a 10-second
win in 19:24.
No course records were registered in any of the individual events today.
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