Houston Marathon 2017 Results: Men's and Women's Top Finishers
Dominic Ondoro of Kenya and Meskerem Assefa Wondimagegn of Ethiopia won the men's and women's divisions, respectively, at the Houston Marathon on Sunday morning.
"The climate was not good—too humid—but we tried our best," Ondoro said after his victory, per Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle. "I am happy."
Chris Nocera of KTRK-TV in Houston showed Ondoro crossing the finish line:
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Ondoro, 29, won by 28 seconds over second-place finisher Yitayal Atanfu Zerihun of Ethiopia, while Ethiopia's Abayneh Ayele Woldegiorgis finished third. Ethiopia claimed four of the top five finishers. Elkanah Kibet was the top United States finisher on the men's side in sixth place.
It was the first time Ondoro won the race, as his previous best finishes were fourth in 2015 and fifth in 2014. For Atanfu Zerihun, meanwhile, it was the second straight year he finished as the runner-up.
You can see the leaderboard below:
| 1 | Ondoro, Dominic (KEN) | 02:12:05 |
| 2 | Atanfu Zerihun, Yitayal (ETH) | 02:12:33 |
| 3 | Ayele Woldegiorgis, Abayneh (ETH) | 02:12:44 |
| 4 | Shiferaw, Andualem (ETH) | 02:12:54 |
| 5 | Milaw Asefa, Abrha (ETH) | 02:16:16 |
| 6 | Kibet, Elkanah (USA) | 02:17:25 |
| 7 | Young, Tim (USA) | 02:17:29 |
| 8 | Leak, Colin (USA) | 02:18:16 |
| 9 | Cheseret, Robert (USA) | 02:18:59 |
| 10 | Rono, Aron (USA) | 02:21:03 |
Meanwhile, Assefa Wondimagegn, 31, won by 27 seconds over runner-up Biruktayit Degefa of Ethiopia in the women's division, with Becky Wade coming in third place as the top American finisher.
Nocera shared Wondimagegn crossing the finish line as well:
The full women's leaderboard is below:
| 1 | Assefa Wondimagegn, Meskerem (ETH) | 02:30:18 |
| 2 | Degefa, Biruktayit (ETH) | 02:30:44 |
| 3 | Wade, Becky (USA) | 02:35:57 |
| 4 | Abrha, Serkalem (ETH) | 02:36:47 |
| 5 | Crouch, Sarah (USA) | 02:38:37 |
| 6 | Davies, Mary (NZL) | 02:42:57 |
| 7 | Foster, Megan (USA) | 02:47:35 |
| 8 | Cantara, Rocio (PER) | 02:49:51 |
| 9 | Wijayaratne, Hiruni (SRI) | 02:50:12 |
| 10 | Hardcastle, Kath (USA) | 02:50:40 |
The climate indeed seemed to play a factor. Ondoro's winning time was the slowest for the men's division since 2005, per Robertson, while Assefa Wondimagegn's time was the slowest in the women's division since 2006.
Nonetheless, the two winners took home $45,000 for their triumphs.
You can follow Timothy Rapp on Twitter.
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