Kenyans runners dominate at Va

Kenyans runners dominate at Vancouver marathon

VANCOUVER, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan runners bagged both titles of the 39th Vancouver marathon on Sunday as Thomas Omwenga and Emmah Muthoni led from the start to win the men's and women's races respectively under wet conditions in the Canadian city.

The victory was especially sweet for Omwenga as the 30-year-old won the race for the third time in the past four years to take home the 2,000 Canadian dollars first ed hardy wholesale prize, plus a 10,000 dollars bonus from his sponsor Adidas.

The diminutive distance runner covered the 42.195 kilometers course that starts in the Vancouver downtown, Stanley Park and reaches as far out as Spanish Banks to the west, in 2:16:55, well ahead of runner-up and top Canadian Jason Loutitt at 2:25:46.

"From the beginning the weather was not good, there was a lot of rainfall," said the Nairobi-based Omwenga who went into the race looking to post a time under 2:15:00. "The last half starting from 30 kilometers the weather had changed and it was a little bit warmer so it gave me an energy boost," he told Xinhua.

"I' m very happy, very excited. I was trying to see if could run under 2:15, but it' s a tough course, not easy," he said. "The rain made the conditions difficult and I was cold."

Louitt, who lives in nearby Squamish, demonstrated his all-round athletic prowess with a strong finish to claim the runner-up. The 35- year-old won the Canadian Snowshoe Running Championship in March and has represented the country four times in World Mountain Running Championships.

"For the first half (of the race) I was fourth by quite a distance. Then I noticed I started gapping on the third guy and catching him, so I just focused on him and caught him. When I caught up to the second guy I passed him pretty strong to try to make sure he wouldn' t hang on to me."

With his 36th birthday Bulgari Watch Replica tomorrow, Louitt, who runs 50 to 60 miles a week, said he wasn' t feeling his age and his ultimate goal remained to earn a spot on the Canadian Olympic team

"Last year I ran 2:24:00 off of a 140 mile week, so I' ve just been playing with it, see what works for me and I know that I' ll build up gradually."

Muthoni, winner of the 2008 high-altitude Nairobi marathon, went into the Vancouver race looking to post a time in the low 2:30s, but finished at 2:37:18.

"I' m happy with my time because it was too cold," said the 28- year-old Nairobi native. "I was comfortable (leading from the start) Replica Bally Handbags but the weather was too cold. The wind made it difficult."

The Vancouver marathon attracted a field of just over 14,000 runners competing in a 21.1 km half marathon, a wheelchair marathon and an eight km marathon. The field included about 1,600 children competing in a 1.6 km run.

Alberta-based Kenyan Kip Kangogo won the men' s half marathon in 1:06.39 and Ontario native Krista Duchene the women' s race in 1:16:39.

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