FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
KIYA DANDENA AND STEPHANIE BRUCE TRIUMPH AT SYNCHRONY
FINANCIAL ROCK 'N' ROLL ARIZONA HALF MARATHON
Roosevelt Cook and Kate Landau take top spots in the marathon
Rock band Everclear headlined the post-race Toyota Rock 'n' Roll
Concert Series
PHOENIX, Ariz. (January 15, 2017) - With most of the country in the throes
of winter, nearly 18,000 runners took to the streets of Phoenix, Scottsdale
and Tempe this weekend to participate in the 15th year running of the
Synchrony Financial Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Marathon & ½ Marathon. Runners
were introduced to the all-new Rock 'n' Roll Experience where the focus in
2018 is offering the best-in-class running events with music at the core.
Kiya Dandena of Flagstaff, Arizona was the first runner to cross the half
marathon finish line at Rio Salado Parkway in Tempe. Dandana's winning time
of 1:04:54 was a commanding one as he broke away around mile 2 and ran by
himself the rest of the way. The second-place finisher, Ahmed Osman, who
also trains in Flagstaff, finished in 1:06:05 with Fermin Villagran taking
third in 1:09:25.
"I wanted to run hard the first 5K then finish off with another hard
effort, and kind of relax in the middle," said Dandena of his game plan. "I
left the guys at mile 2 and had to do it all by myself so I went at a
comfortable pace."
In a sprint to the finish, a former champion for the half marathon,
Stephanie Bruce, took another victory in a time of 1:12:31 while Elvin
Kibet was right behind finishing one second after in 1:12:32. Maggie
Callahan rounded out the podium with her third-place time of 1:17:22.
"We had a pretty conservative race plan coming into this because I just ran
New York a couple months ago," said Bruce. "I could feel though Elvin
(Kibet) was right on my shoulder and I didn't think she was going to let me
ease up. I was supposed to make a move around 9 or 10 miles and she was
right on me. I've been working on kicking and I wanted to commit that last
400 (meters)."
In the marathon, last year's runner up, Roosevelt Cook, finally came out
victorious with a final time of 2:31:36. Cook dominated the rest of the
competition with Denis Patrick coming in second at 2:35:45 and Jordan Chip
coming in third at 2:35:37.
41-year-old, Kate Landau of Tacoma, WA finished first for the women in
2:42:04. Tanaya Gallagher took second in 2:44:53 with Ailsa McDonald of
Canada in third finishing in 2:48:02.
Elite runners and fast times aside, Sunday's races were all about the
party. Rock band Everclear took to the stage as the headliner for the
Toyota Rock 'n' Roll Concert Series, getting runners and their families to
their feet to celebrate the days accomplishments. The weekend kicked off on
Friday with the inaugural 1 Mile race followed by the Synchrony Financial
Rock 'n' Roll Arizona 5K presented by Brooks and KiDS ROCK races on
Saturday morning.
For complete results visit RunRocknRoll.com/Arizona.
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