FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kenya's Mungara, Russia's Yulamanova Win Volkswagen Prague Marathon
PRAGUE, May 11, 2008 -- Kenyan male Kenneth Mburu Mungara and Russian
woman Natalya Yulamanova braved warm temperatures on Sunday to claim
the 14th edition of the Volkswagen Prague Marathon.
Yulamanova, last year's winner, defended her title after breaking away
late from a pack of runners that included Kenya's Caroline Kwambai and
compatriot Alina Ivanova, a two-time champion in Prague. Yulamanova,
27, finished in 2:31:43, more than 90 seconds better than her winning
time in 2007.
Kenyans Emily Kimuria (2:35:55) and Caroline Kwambai (2:37:51), who
won the Prague Half Marathon in 2006, were second and third,
respectively.
Despite temperatures that hit 18 C at the end, Mungara finished in
2:11:06 to become the 10th Kenyan since the inaugural race 1995 to win
the men's title in Prague. "The race was fine," he told Czech
Television, which covered the race live, also on the Internet. "The
weather wasn't a problem for me."
Kenyans also grabbed the other two spots on the podium. Eliah Sang
took second with a time of 2:12:15, while Simon Njoroge Kariuki
crossed the finish line at 2:13:24.
But the weather was a problem for others. Several runners from around
the world had hoped to use this year's Volkswagen Prague Marathon to
qualify for the Olympic Games in Beijing. However, none were successful.
The Czech Republic's biggest Olympic hope, Pavel Nov´ak, failed to
finish, dropping out at the 24th kilometer. The top-ranked runner,
Kenya's David Makori Omiti, also dropped out.
The fastest Czech, Robert Stefko, finished 15th with a time of 2:23:53.
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