RUNNING NEWS ITEM

More Than 9,000 Runner Compete In Miami Marathon

MONDAY, 29 JANUARY 2007

Rainy conditions greeted the runners at the start of the race in front of the American Airlines Arena, but the clouds soon cleared and the runners celebrated South Florida's premier road race with temperatures in the high 60s to low 70s.

The elite field of men in the marathon consisted of several African runners. Teshome Gelana, 23, won the race on the men’s side, finishing in 2 hours 17 minutes and 54 seconds and collecting $5,000 for first place. Columbian Juan Carlos Cardona followed behind with a time of 2 hours 18 minutes and 29 seconds. Third place runner Charles Kamindo, from Kenya, took his shoes off at mile 16 and finished the race with only socks in a time of 2 hours 23 minutes and 7 seconds.

On the women’s side, Ramila Burangulova of Russia took the title with a time of 2 hours 40 minutes and 25 seconds, followed by Rima Dubovic at 2 hours 43 minutes and Caroline McIlroy with a time of 2 hours 51 minutes and 14 seconds.

Miami has proven itself to be a major destination for runners from around the world, with nearly 70 percent of runners coming from outside Miami-Dade County and 10 percent of the field as international entrants.

In the half marathon, Jared Nyamboki of Kenya set a new race record, finishing in 1 hour 7 minutes and 11 second. The previous record was 1 hour 7 minutes and 56 seconds by Johnny Loria-Solano at the inaugural race in 2003.

The women's half marathon was won by South Florida's world class runner, Sonja Friend Uhl of West Palm Beach. Friend Uhl, a former Olympics trial competitor, finished at 1 hour 19 minutes and 29 seconds.

The morning included 1,800 middle school students who ran along Congressman Kendrick Meek, participating in the Final Mile of the ING Run for Something Better, a program that promotes youth running through Miami Dade County Schools. Children were finishing a 15-week program in which they completed a marathon by running every day in school, more than a mile and a half a week. In addition to the kids, more than 50 athletes with disabilities led out the race, including the Avis Achilles Freedom Team, soldiers from the Walter Reed Medical Center who were recently injured in Iraq.

Check cbs4.com

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