FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Elite Racing, Inc.
Audra Fleming
(c) 858/518-2923
Susan Reid
(c) 858/864-2090
Cheboiboch and Wami Capture Coca-Cola Zero Rock 'N' Roll Marathon Titles
SAN DIEGO, Calif. (June 5, 2005) – The third time was a charm for Kenyan
Christopher Cheboibich as he captured the 2005 Coca-Cola Zero Rock ‘n’ Roll
Marathon title in near perfect running conditions Sunday in San Diego.
Cheboibich, who finished second here in 1998 and fifth in 2000, won the
26.2-mile race in a time of 2:09:17. Three-time Olympic medalist Gete Wami
of Ethiopia won the women’s race in 2:30:55.
Both champions took home $20,000 and a new vehicle for their victory.
After the pack of 17 men reeled off five consecutive sub-5 minute miles,
from the halfway point to 17, the group finally separated. It was
Cheboiboch, 28, in front, along with countrymen Stephen Kiogora, Benson
Cherono and Simon Bor. Two miles later, Bor had dropped back and by mile 20
it was Cheboiboch and Kiogora and the race had begun.
The two Kenyans jockeyed back and forth before Cheboiboch slowly started
pulling away. He opened up a 100- yard lead at mile 23 and ran the final
two miles by himself. It was a race for second place from there, with
Kiogora crossing at 2:09:51 and Benson Cherono at 2:10:01.
“I knew I had to persist and stay behind the rabbit,” said Cheboiboch, who
had battled the flu since his arrival in the United States last week. “I
feel lucky I ran this time. Today was my day. You have to be patient. You
have to be proud of the runners from your country. You cannot win all the
time. I’m proud of my countrymen, but even with the flu, today was my day.”
It was a tactical race on the women’s side as the group ran very
conservatively thru the first 25km, and went thru the halfway mark at
1:16:51. There were still seven women together at the 30km mark. After
dropping a 5:18 mile from 20 to 21, Ethiopian Elfenesh Alemu strung out the
pack, taking along Wami and Kenyan Hellen Kimutai.
Wami and Alemu ran side-by-side to the 26-mile marker. It was a short
distance battle at that point with Wami, an Olympic silver (10,000m) and
bronze (5,000m) medalist, versus the true marathoner who finished fourth in
the distance event at the 2004 Olympic Games. The track speed played to
Wami’s advantage as she was able to out-kick Alemu with just about a
quarter mile to go. Alemu finished in 2:31:08 and Kimutai was third at
2:31:15.
“The pace was very slow today, everyone was watching each other,” said
Wami, who also won a bronze medal in the ’96 Olympics. “I expected somebody
to take action, but nobody did. It was difficult to do at that pace. I was
expecting Elfenesh to take action, and she didn’t go, so I did.”
Over 20,000 participants from all 50 states and numerous foreign countries
competed in the original musical marathon.
Among them were more than 3500 Team In Training runners, who raised an
astounding $12.5 million (net) for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society,
bringing the eight-year total to $97.1 million (net).
- Results Follow –
2005 COCA-COLA ZERO ROCK ‘N’ ROLL MARATHON
San Diego, CA
Sunday, June 5, 2005
*MARATHON
Top 10 Men
1, Christopher Cheboiboch, 28, Kenya, 2:09:17, $20,000, plus vehicle
2, Stephen Kiogora, 30, Kenya, 2:09:51, $20,000
3, Benson Cherono, 21, Kenya, 2:10:01, $10,000
4, Simon Bor, 36, Kenya, 2:12:38, $7,500
5, Tekeste Kebede, 25, Ethiopia, 2:13:16, $5,000
6, Philip Tarus, 30, Kenya, 2:13:42, $2,000
7, Ondoro Osoro, 37, Kenya, 2:13:56, $1,300
8, Laban Chege, 35, Kenya, 2:15:46, $1,200
9, Nelson Njeru, 27, New Jersey, 2:17:04, $1,100
10, Michael Rotich, 22, Kenya, 2:18:03, $1,000
Top 10 Women
1, Gete Wami, 30, Ethiopia, 2:30:55, $20,000, plus vehicle
2, Elfenesh Alemu, 29, Ethiopia, 2:31:08, $20,000
3, Hellen Kimutai, 27, Kenya, 2:31:15, $10,000
4, Kerryn McCann, 38, Australia, 2:32:29, $7,500
5, Joyce Chepchumba, 34, Kenya, 2:32:49, $5,000
6, Malgorzata Sobanska, 36, Poland, 2:33:16, $2,000
7, Margaret Atodonyang, 25, Kenya, 2:33:33, $1,300
8, Lina Usmanova, 23, Russia, 2:40:14, $1,200
9, Tatiana Titova, 39, Russia, 2:40:34, $1,100
10, Elena Burykina, 33, Russia, 2:44:34, $1,000
*WHEELCHAIR
1, Scot Hollonbeck, 35, Atlanta, GA, 1:42:53, $500
2, Chad Johnson, 29, Indianapolis, IN, 1:47:04, $300
3, Edwin Figueroa, 33, Los Angeles, CA, 1:55:12, $200
*MASTERS
Men
Salvador Rodriquez, 44, San Diego, CA, 2:42:01, $1,000
Women
Lourdes Cruz-Torres, 41, 2:46:46, Portugal, $1,000
*FIRST AMERICAN
Men
David Kloz, 30, Carlsbad, CA, 2:29:12 (16th Overall)
Women
Hilary Corno, 29, San Diego, CA, 3:05:36 (12th Overall)
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