FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dominic Ondoro Wins Historic Third-Straight Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
Jane Kibii Repeats for Women, Blanket Finish Highlights USATF 10 Mile
Championships
St. Paul, Minn. - October 1, 2017 - Dominic Ondoro won an unprecedented
third straight Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon title, adding another
accomplishment to his list of marathoning feats on Minnesota soil. The 29
year old Kenyan, who owns the course records at the Medtronic Twin Cities
Marathon and Grandma's Marathon, clocked 2:11:53.
Fellow Kenyan Jane Kibii won her second straight women's' title in 2:30:25.
The pair won $10,000 each for their winning efforts.
Ondoro outran training partner Elisha Barno, runner-up for the third
straight year in 2:12:10, and Nelson Oyugi, third in 2:14:33, leading a
Kenyan sweep of the podium places. Kenya's Hellen Jepkurgat was second in
the women's race in 2:31:50; Ethiopia's Serkalem Abrha, the 2015 champion,
was third in 2:32:35.
"I'm happy to win the race. We were supposed to do teamwork and there was
teamwork, back and forth, back and forth." Ondoro said of his and Barno's
race plan. Asked the secret of his success he replied simply, "I do hard
training."
Kibii, who was fighting a cold, didn't let illness or rain keep her from
another Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon title. "When it started raining, I
said enjoy it and just run."
Matthew Porterfield won the men's wheeler title in 2:04:03; Hannah Babalola
was the women's champion in the division in 2:24:34.
In all, 7518 runners finished the 36th running of the Most Beautiful Urban
Marathon in America.
The Medtronic TC 10 Mile, which again served as the USATF 10 Mile
Championships, saw the closest finish in its 19th year history. Shadrack
Kipchirchir outleaned U.S. Army teammate Leonard Korir at the finish where
the Colorado Springs residents stopped the clock at 47:33.
"I didn't know I'd won, it was a photo-finish," Kipchirchir said. "but I'm
excited to win my first USATF title."
In the women's race, Sara Hall of Redding, Calif. edged Natosha Rodgers of
Littleton, Colo. 53:43 to 53:45. The winners pocketed $12,000 each for
their triummphs.
Additionally, it was only in the closing strides of the race that Kipchicir
and the men's lead pack made up the 6 minutes, 18 second head start the
women were given in the equalizer competition that saw Kipchirchir earn an
additional $10,000 for being the first USATF champion to cross the finish
line.
"I was honestly just focused on the women's, but maybe I should have been
thinking about those guys at the end," said Hall, who missed out on the
bonus by one second. "I don't know if I could have run any faster, those
guys were going hard."
A record 10,406 runners finished the Medtronic TC 10 Mile. All told, more
than 26,000 runners participated in Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon Weekend
events.
"The skies gave us a little rain, but overall it was a wonderful day for
running," Twin Cities In Motion Executive Director Virginia Brophy Achman
said. "We are pleased to organize an event that gives the community an
opportunity to move together."
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