Kenya's Elly Rono (photo left) pulled away at Mile 17 and cruised to a race record in winning the 25th SunTrust Richmond Marathon in a time of 2 hours, 16 minutes and 2 seconds. His time smashed the old race record of 2:17:29 set by countryman Reuben Chesang last year. On the women's side, American Maggie Chan-Roper distanced herself from the field early and easily won in a time of 2:37:53, more than two and a half minutes in front of Alena Vinitskaya from Belarus.

Rono spent the first 17 and one-half miles running with second place finisher James Mutuse (also of Kenya). It was at that point that Mutuse began to fall off Rono's steady pace. Mutuse crossed the line in 2:20:19, ahead of Abel Gisemba (2:22:26), Evans Dichoe (2:24:43) and Dzmitry Sivou (2:26:44).

Along with pocketing $2,500 for his first-place finish, Rono's course record meant he was also awarded a one-year lease on a brand-new Volkswagen Beetle as part of the race's New Beetle Chase. This was not Rono's first taste of victory in Richmond as he also won the 2001 Ukrop's Monument Avenue 10K.

In the NTELOS 8K, 18-year-old Kenyan Shadrack Kosgei defended the title he won last year and nearly matched his course record (22:26) in cruising to victory in a time of 22 minutes, 39 seconds, which was 45 seconds ahead of countryman Michael Kamau (23:24). On the women's side, Russia's Lyupmila Biktrsheva won in a time of 26:44, 15 seconds ahead of countrywoman Tatyana Mashova (26:59).

A total of 3,432 runners registered for this year's SunTrust Richmond Marathon, breaking last year's record of 2,657. Another 2,790 athletes registered for the NTELOS 8k, breaking last year's race record of 2,550 entries.

SunTrust Richmond Marathon Top Open and Masters Finishers

	Div 	    	            Race 	    Place    Gendr	 Half   20 Mile Clock 	Chip  	  
	Place	Name	             Num       Age	     Place	Split	 Split	Time	Time 	Hometown


MEN--OPEN
	1	ELLY  RONO	       10	32	1	1	1:07:21	1:43:34	2:16:02	2:16:01	DURHAM, NC
	2	JAMES  MUTUSE	        4	25	2	2	1:07:20	1:44:11	2:20:19	2:20:17	LOUISVILLE, KY
	3	ABEL  GISEMBA	        3	31	3	3	1:07:43	1:45:47	2:22:26	2:22:25	CHAPEL HILL, NC
	4	EVANS  DICHOE	        13	29	4	4	1:08:06	1:47:28	2:24:43	2:24:41	TUCSON, AZ
	5	DZMITRY  SIVOU	        7	29	5	5	1:10:00	1:49:09	2:26:44	2:26:43	LIBERTYVILLE, IL


WOMEN--OPEN
	1	MAGGIE  CHAN-ROPER	5	27	12	1	1:18:27	1:59:31	2:37:53	2:37:52	PROVO, UT
	2	ALENA  VINITSKAYA	11	30	14	2	1:21:05	2:03:01	2:40:26	2:40:25	RALEIGH, NC
	3	IRINA  SUVOROVA	        1	31	23	3	1:22:21	2:06:18	2:47:29	2:47:28	GAITHERSBURG, MD
	4	ELVIRA  KOLPAKOVA	6	29	25	4	1:23:12	2:08:11	2:49:40	2:49:39	GAITHERSBURG, MD
	5	TAMMY  SLUSSER	        9	37	41	6	1:23:12	2:09:00	2:56:37	2:56:37	MONROEVILLE, PA


MEN--MASTERS
	1	RICK  J  VENTURA	3219	48	17	15	1:20:41	2:03:56	2:44:30	2:44:26	AVON, OH
	2	TODD  FLITTON	        1703	40	19	17	1:19:39	2:03:43	2:45:37	2:45:36	KAYSVILLE, UT
	3	HENRY  GLEISBERG	2053	46	26	22	1:24:16	2:08:20	2:49:51	2:49:48	YORKTOWN, VA


WOMEN--MASTERS
	1	LORRAINE  JASPER	19	41	95	11	1:30:15	2:19:17	3:09:41	3:09:38	ORLANDO, FL
	2	LEAH  L  WHIPPLE	2644	51	131	14	1:36:15	2:27:13	3:14:36	3:14:26	KIMBERTON, PA
	3	LESLIE  RIDEOUT	        2362	42	135	15	1:33:25	2:24:40	3:14:47	3:14:45	MALDEN, MA

NTELOS 8K Top Overall and Masters Finishers

	Age 	   Name	               Race 	Age	 Place	Gender	Official Net  	 Hometown
	Place	                       Num		         Place	Time     Time


MEN--OPEN
	1	SHADRACK  KOSGEI	5001	18	1	1	22:39	22:38	WEST CHESTER, PA
	2	MICHAEL  KAMAU	        5008	22	2	2	23:24	23:22	TUCSON, AZ
	3	DANIEL  CHERULYOT	5010	27	3	3	23:27	23:25	WEST CHESTER, PA
	4	CHRIS  SEATON	        5009	23	4	4	23:45	23:44	RICHMOND, VA
	5	FRED  GETANGE	        5013	25	5	5	23:57	23:56	CHAPEL HILL, NC


WOMEN--OPEN
	1	LYUPMILA  BIKTRSHEVA	5007	28	13	1	26:44	26:44	GAITHERSBURG, MD
	2	TATYANA  MASHOVA	5014	36	14	2	26:59	26:58	GAITHERSBURG, MD
	3	NORAH  NYABICHA	        5016	22	17	3	27:20	27:19	TUCSON, AZ
	4	STEPHANIE  DUERINGER	5006	27	20	4	27:27	27:26	INDIANAPOLIS, IN
	5	HEATHER  C  LEE	        6971	21	21	5	27:29	27:27	BUIES CREEK, NC


MEN--MASTERS
	1	JOHN  HINTON	        5005	40	9	9	25:36	25:35	CHAPEL HILL, NC
	2	BILL  BUSTIN	        7344	44	22	17	27:36	27:35	YORKTOWN, VA
	3	DENNIS  CONTOIS	        6027	41	26	20	28:03	28:01	LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ


WOMEN--MASTERS
	1	JOAN NESBIT  MABE	5002	40	32	8	28:43	28:42	CHAPEL HILL, NC
	2	VELDA  R  KANNEWURF	6324	40	63	12	31:09	31:06	MECHANICSVILLE, VA
	3	BARBARA  A  KUHLEMEIER	5706	44	71	13	31:37	31:32	SCOTT DEPOT, WV

See complete results of the SunTrust Richmond Marathon and NTELOS 8K.

See our Photo Gallery.