Kenyan claims second Manitoba Marathon title

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This article was published 21/06/2015 (3791 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Thomas Omwenga of Kenya claimed his second Manitoba Marathon win today with a time of 2:34:17.

Omwenga also won in 2012 and is a four-time winner of the Vancouver Marathon.

Heather Magill of Grand Forks, N.D., won the women’s full marathon with a personal best time of 2:54:24

Magill said the event was her first marathon win and her first marathon run in Canada.

For the second year running, Abduselam Yussuf is the winner of the Manitoba half marathon.

Yussuf set a marathon record with a time of 1:05:28. The old mark of 1:07:28 was set 22 years ago in 1993 by Bruce McKay.

Meanwhile, Darolyn Walker won the women’s half marathon with a time of 123:30 

Walker also won the half marathon in 2013, and her husband Brian won the full marathon last year.

Manitoba Marathon organizers say 653 people registered for the full race, while 2910 people registered for the half. There were 10,223 runners altogether, including those from the Super Run, Winnipeg Free Press 10K, the wheelchair and Mini Mite races.

The half marathon continues to grow in popularity and runners said Sunday they preferred the half because it’s an attainable goal that doesn’t require excessive training.

“Teaching gets in the way of training,” said Mike McGovern, a high school English teacher from Winnipeg who completed the half. During the summer, he trains outside for full marathons in the fall, he said.

Blustery -30 C temperatures in the winter don’t exactly encourage full outdoor marathon training either, McGovern joked.

“The half is shorter, but you still have a sense of accomplishment,” he said.

A slight breeze was welcomed by Esther Campbell, an avid cross-fitter who’s running her first half marathon today.

Her husband, Patrick Campbell, opted to run the full race.

“I said I had to do one (full marathon) before I was 40, so this was it,” said 41-year-old Campbell, laughing.

The mini-mites fun run already started and ended.

Six-year-old twins, Joshua and Kaleb Tang, ran that race, where Joshua finished second.

They’ve been talking about the race for months, said their mom.

The half and full marathons began at 7 a.m.

The Manitoba Marathontakes over Pembina Highway and weaves in and around Winnipeg, stretching as far north as Portage Ave.

See marathon results here.