Runner wins in only his 2nd marathon

Araya Haregot gave himself an early birthday present Saturday morning by winning the second annual Salt Lake City Marathon.

Haregot, who turned 24 a day after the race, ran a personal-best time of 2 hours, 15 minutes, 14 seconds, in setting the course record in only his second marathon.

"I train harder than my competition," said the Ethiopian, who now resides in Albuquerque.

Elly Rono, of Kenya, finished second, 22 seconds behind Haregot. Michael Kumatai crossed third, one minute behind the winner.

Haregot recently switched to marathons after running 5Ks, 10Ks and half-marathons. He battled foot problems the past two years, but he showed great form in winning his first-ever marathon.

"I will come back," said Haregot, who pockets $25,000.

Haregot bested the winning time of 2:17:21 by Gabriel Muchiri in the inaugural event last year.

Haregot was just one of the pack for the first 21 miles, before he and Rono began to distance themselves from the field. He tried to pull away several times early in the race but wasn't able to build a sizeable lead.

"Everybody was running hard, so I decided to stay (with the group)," he said.

Sisay Bezabeh and David Kemboi round out the top five men's runners.

Dorota Gruca (Poland/Las Cruces, N.M.) topped the women's record for the course by 33 seconds with the winning time of 2:30.08. Lioudmila Kortchaguina had been the record holder, with her winning performance last year.

"I'm happy with my time," said Gruca, who also collects $25,000.

It's the second time Gruca has won a marathon in record time. In 2004, she won the Mazatlan Mexico Marathon with her personal-best time of 2:28:49.

Gruca pulled away from the pack and the seven-mile mark and won the race by more than 4 1/2 minutes over second-place finisher Anna Pitchrotova.

Itina Bogacheva, 43, finished third with a time of 2:37:48.

Becky Sonday (Casper, Wyo.) and Virginia Sanchez-Roman won fourth and fifth places, respectively.

Ogden's Joe Wilson, Weber High's track coach who attended a track meet Saturday afternoon, was the top Utahn in the men's race with an 11th-place finish at 2:28:31. He finished 10th in the event last year.

Two Utah women finished in the top 10 in the marathon: Carol Cabanillas, Salt Lake City, and Kerilyn Hatch, Alpine.

Wilson and Cabanillas each won $1,000 for being the first Utahns to cross the finish line.

Kenyan's Abraham Chebii, Sammy Kipketer and Joseph Mwai went 1-2-3 in the men's 5K, while Asmae Leghazaoui, Tatyana Peterova and Leah Malot were the top three in the women's 5K.

Close to 7,000 runners from nearly a dozen countries competed in the marathon and 5K for $125,000 in total prize money.

Joan Benoit Samuelson, winner of the women's marathon gold medal in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, was the honorary starter.

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E-mail: jhinton@desnews.com