Kenyan man, Russian woman win marathon

This was Chebii’s first time running this race on this course, and he was just off the course record of 2:12:55 set by Kenyan Luke Kibet in 2000. Christopher Torotich of Kenya was third.

The men broke loose with their fastest mile of 4:53 through mile 19, and Chebii took control as Ketema Nigusse of Ethiopia faded.

‘It was a tough race, but I felt confident I could win in the final miles,’ said Chebii.

Svetlana Ponomarenko, a 38-year-old from Russia, also was running this marathon for the first time. She finished with a time of 2:30:33, which was well off the record of 2:28:06 run by Irina Bogacheva of Kyrgyzstan in 2003. Ponomarenko easily beat defending champion Olena Shurkhno of the Ukraine, who finished in 2:33:37, and Anzhelika Averkova of Ukraine was third.

Ponomarenko ran a steady pace and built an 18-second lead by the 10k mark. She led by more than a minute at the halfway point and just pushed that lead to more than three minutes by the finish. She averaged 5:40 minutes per mile on a cloudy and cool morning.

‘It was a perfect day, and I really took advantage of it,’ Ponomarenko said through an interpreter.

Some finishing times for local participants in yesterday’s Music City Marathon in Nashville:

Full marathon

Hershel Wells ‘ 3:45:13

Bobby Kirby ‘ 3:51:18

Phillip Miller ‘ 4:43:35

Bill Martin ‘ 4:46:42

Brent Jacobs ‘ 4:46:43

Half marathon

Freddie Hoover ‘ 1:34:59

Bryan Chastain ‘ 2:09:31

Trey Kirby ‘ 2:12:02

Melanie Zahn ‘ 2:29:04

Lisa Miller ‘ 2:53:49

Melanie Brock ‘ 3:21:00