Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, June 15. Leonid Shvetsov of Russia won the Comrades Marathon, setting a course record for the “up” direction with a time of 5 hours, 24 minutes and 49 seconds. Jaroslaw Janicki of Poland was a distant second. Shvetsov successfully defended his 2007 win, in which he set the “down” course record of 5:20:49.
Elena Nurgalieva of Russia, despite falling twice in the race, edged her twin sister Olesya for the women’s win. The Nurgalieva twins reversed their positions from the 2007 race, where Olesya won and Elena was second. Russian women took the top 5 places.
Men. 1. Leonid Shvetsov, 39, Russia, 5:24:49; 2. Jaroslaw Janicki, 41, Poland, 5:38:30; 3. Stephen Muzhingi, 32, Zimbabwe, 5:39:41; 4. Oleg Kharitonov, 40, Russia, 5:42:05; 5. Grigory Murzin, 38, Russia 5:43:08.
Women. 1. Elena Nurgalieva, 31, Russia, 6:14:38; 2. Olesya Nurgalieva, 31, Russia, 6:15:53; 3. Tatyana Zhirkova, Russia, 37 6:17:46; 4. Marina Myshlyanova, 41, Russia, 6:30:50; 5. Marina Bychkova, 32, Russia, 6:38:03.
