Varna, on the Black Sea, May 12 (BTA/GNA) – Kenyan athletes dominated the classic 42-km course at the Varna marathon on Sunday.
Shadrack Kimaiyo took victory, scoring 2:24.02 hrs in the men’s event, аnd in the women’s event, Sheila Chebet with 2:40.35 hrs.
Second came Kennedy Rono (Kenya) with 2:24.20 hrs, and third Nikolay Kaufman (Bulgaria) with 2:38.12 hrs.
Ruth Mbatha from Kenya came second in the women’s marathon with 2:40.16 hrs. Last year’s winner, Bulgarian athlete Marinela Nineva, finished third with 2:49.29 hrs.
A total of 179 athletes started in the classic marathon event. The winner receives a prize of EUR 1,500, and the runners-up EUR 1,000 and EUR 500 respectively.
Some 418 contestants entered the half marathon and 532 the 10.5 course. In total, 1,200 entrants from 33 countries took part in the marathon.
Mohamed Chaaboud from Morocco won the half marathon among men with 1:07.50 hrs, and among women Valeria Dimitrova with 1:33.13 hrs.
The youngest contestant was 9-year old Dimiter Georgiev, and the oldest – 77-year old Remzi Narli from Turkiye. Both took part in the 10.5 km course.
BTA/GNA