Press Release

Distance Rookie Kipsang Conquers Miami In First Marathon

28 Jan, 2019 (Mon)

Kenyan Ezekiel Kipsang had never run a Marathon before Sunday. He discovered the Fitbit Miami Marathon and Half Marathon, one of Life Time’s iconic events, during a search of the internet, and the 22-year-old expressed his interest in running Miami to event organizers via an email.

With only a pair of half-marathons under his belt in a running career that began three years ago, Kipsang still had an impressive enough resume to get a response. He received an invitation as an elite competitor to run in his first marathon.

The slender 125-pound Nairobi native confirmed that lofty status on Sunday, winning the men’s championship in the fastest winning time (2:16:34) at the Fitbit Miami Marathon since 2011.

Veteran women’s marathoner Kate Landau, a single mom who is enjoying a second running career of sorts at age 42, won the women’s title in 2:37:45, nearly eight minutes ahead of second place finisher Mary Akor of Hawthorne, CA (2:45:53).

Kenyans dominated the men’s competition in the race produced by Life Time, the premier healthy lifestyle brand.

Jacob Chemtai finished second behind Kipsang in the marathon (2:19:11) and Isaac Mukundi (1:06:50) edged countryman Dominic Korir in the half marathon by six-tenths of a second in what proved to be the most exciting finish Sunday.

Montreal’s Melanie Myrand won the women’s half-marathon in 1:19:10 with Rachel Schilkowsky of Providence, RI second in 1:21:22 and Margarita Qintero Petris of Guadalajara, Mexico third in 1:22:32. Schilkowsky, originally scheduled to run the marathon, opted during the race to stick to the shorter distance. “I wasn’t feeling well,” she said.

The Fitbit Miami Marathon brought 20,880 runners from all 50 states and more than 100 countries to the start line of the 17th annual event. Temperatures were in the low 70s with clear skies throughout the race, which began shortly after 6 a.m.

The course started at the American Airlines Arena, crossed the MacArthur Causeway with the Port of Miami’s gleaming cruise ships in the background, navigated around South Beach, and then returned to Miami via the historic Venetian Causeway.

Runners tackling the challenge of the full marathon then headed South to Coconut Grove and back to the finish line adjacent to Bayfront Park in downtown Miami.

“We’re really thrilled with today’s event and want to thank all of our participants, sponsors, spectators, volunteers, and city and county partners – including the police and fire personnel -who contributed to another great race,” said race founder Frankie Ruiz. “At Life Time, we champion healthy, happy lives and the stories we were witness to at the finish line are an amazing example of that.”

The soft-spoken Kipsang arrived in Miami from Kenya’s Rift Valley just 24 hours ahead of the start of the race. His inexperience with long distances like the 26.2 Marathon challenge created uncertainty.

When asked if he expected to win, Kipsang shook his head. “No, I am the only runner in my family,” he said. “I started when I was in high school running the 10k and 5k. My family are farmers. They keep animals and plant crops; Maize and vegetables.”

The 5-3 Landau, on the other hand, is an experienced marathoner who ran collegiately at Georgetown, and then stopped running for 15 years while dealing with an eating disorder.

She resumed her running career shortly after her daughter Grace was born. Sunday she hit Mile 17 along the Rickenbacker Causeway and her stomach started acting up. She raced into a Port-A-Potty and went to the bathroom in “20-30 seconds.” Nevertheless she ran her third-best time.

“This is my comeback,” said the Tacoma, WA resident who is relocating to Jacksonville next month to work as a physician’s assistant for Baptist Health’s Cancer Center. “There is a limit to aging. I’m not going to say you can just get faster endlessly, but the limit is not as young as people think. I’m continuing right now to get better and I think people put too much emphasis on age, but if you focus on it then it can definitely negatively affect you.”

Mukundi, a 31-year-old married father of two who was running for the first time in Miami, looked refreshed following his photo-finish win in the half-marathon over Korir.

The two ran together the entire race, until Mukundi edged ahead on the final stretch.

“We were side-by-side and he tried to overtake me at the end, but I was prepared,” said Mukundi, who hails from central Kenya where the climate is similar to Miami.

“It was much warmer and more humid than from where I’m from in Kenya,” said the 26-year-old Korir. " I train at high altitude, roughly 8000 ft in elevation.

“This whole week I was dealing with a painful toothache. The medication made me vomit and it was tough to dig deep and push it because of the pain in my stomach.” Myrand, the women’s half-marathon winner, also found the transition to Miami’s warmth and humidity difficult.

The 33-year old nurse practitioner was using Sunday’s half-marathon race as a warmup for an April marathon in Rotterdam.

“It’s my first time running in Miami and it was hot and really windy,” she said. “On an ideal day if I was in my peak condition I was hoping for 1:14 or under. Through the first couple of kilometers I thought that I might not have it, but I just kept pushing along and tried to stick with the guys in a couple of different packs.”

Myrand is currently ranked No. 6 among Canadian marathoners, after placing ninth in the Chicago Marathon in October.

“The running scene is an exciting challenge in Canada right now,” she said. “The past few years there haven’t been many runners, but it’s getting more and more competitive now which is really motivating and exciting.”

Among the several thousand Latin American runners-including large contingents from Colombia, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru-were legendary Mexican marathoners German Silva and Benjamin Paredes who started out running together during Sunday’s Half Marathon. The pair staged an epic battle at the 1994 New York Marathon when Silva made a wrong turn and then recovered to win the race. Sunday, Parades finished in front of his good friend by about five minutes with a time of 1:25:29. They led a contingent of more than 600 Mexican runners in the race.

While the Fitbit Miami Marathon and Half Marathon is renowned as a test of strength and will, it provided an escape and experience for others.

“I heard from my friends how good this race was, so I told my agent to put me in,” said Mukundi of his first time in Miami.

“I love to meet and interact with people from different cultures. I am in love with this race. I’m coming back next year.”

MEN’S MARATHON

1     Ezekiel Kipsang         Ottawa            2:16:34
2     Jacob Chemtai           Grand Prairie     2:19:11
3     Teklu Deneke            Flagstaff         2:25:25
4     Tyler Andrews           Cambridge         2:32:23
5     Andres Ruiz Malaver     Bogota            2:34:59
6     Thierry Ini             Casablanca        2:35:16
7     Vladimir TestinoLima                      2:38:04
8     Nic Aubert              Chicago           2:41:40
9     Aaron Anderson          Gaithersburg      2:43:38
10    Niklas Sjoblom          Kilchberg         2:43:57
11    Salvador Ruiz Gonzalez  Lima              2:45:14
12    JESUS VALDIVIEZO PIURA                    2:48:38
13    Karl EgloffQuito                          2:49:45
14    Abdulmohsen Al Ali      Boulder           2:49:56
15    Julio Vela              Guatemala         2:51:25
16    Bartosz Warszawa                          2:53:01
17    Kevin Navarro Palmira                     2:53:35
18    Ignacio Mancisidor      Key Biscayne      2:53:41
19    Juan Del Campo          Guayaquil         2:53:56
20    VICTOR LAGARES          Santo Domingo     2:54:55
21    Karl Hebert             MONTREAL          2:54:59
22    Jeremy Cudel            Miami             2:55:15
23    Hector Acosta           Quito             2:55:21
24    Henrik Fredelund        Hvidovre          2:55:34
25    AJ Ricketts             Miami             2:55:55

WOMEN’S MARATHON

1     Kate Landau             Tacoma            2:37:45
2     MARY Akor               Hawthorne         2:45:53
3     Shannon Bain            Muskegon          2:54:52
4     Tania Canterbury        Fort Myers        2:57:39
5     Paola Fierro            Bogota            3:01:11
6     Lana GobertNoord                          3:06:55
7     Elyshia Oracki          Washington        3:10:25
8     Allie Whitelaw          Loxahatchee       3:11:56
9     Mari K. Finnerud        Drammen           3:13:21
10    Brogan Abernethy        Miami             3:13:31
11    Gabriela Castaneda      Guatemala         3:13:59
12    Jennifer Castro         Palm Bch Gardens  3:15:25
13    Claire LongNorth        Miami Beach       3:15:46
14    Grace Dawson            Miami             3:18:33
15    Marlene Persson         Deerfield Beach   3:18:35
16    Alex Menendez           Jersey City       3:21:58
17    Laureen Sarah Burian    Heredia           3:22:00
18    Chelsea Factor          Miami             3:22:56
19    Jazmin Abraham          Saddle River      3:24:08
20    Olga Pogoreltseva      Gainesville        3:24:16
21    Tiffany Chandler        Fort Lauderdale   3:24:18
22    Lisa Cannella           Tampa             3:26:24
23    Clarisse Jeckelmann     Echandens         3:27:13
24    Kelli Jaco              Sarasota          3:29:33
25    Rachel Mittel           Passaic           3:29:37

MEN’S HALF MARATHON

 
1     ISAAC MUKUNDI           Grand Prairie     1:06:50
2     Dominic Korir           Colorado Springs  1:06:51
3     Fernando Cabada         Denver            1:08:11
4     Luis Ortiz Torres       Villalba          1:08:24
5     Abu Diriba              New York          1:08:52
6     Flávio Guimarães        Brasilia          1:09:55
7     Hugo Lombana            Bogotá            1:09:58
8     John Hinkle             Miami             1:10:17
9     Nacho Hernando Angulo   Miami             1:11:18
10    Victor Delgado          Bucaramanga       1:11:48
11    Luis Carlos Rivero      San Marcos        1:11:52
12    Sean Grossman           Deer Park         1:12:23
13    Francois Jarry          Montreal          1:12:34
14    Nathan Kuck             Miami             1:13:09
15    Dominik Notz            Regensburg        1:13:10
16    César Díaz Hernández    Santiago          1:13:41
17    Petrus Cesarion         Arcahaie          1:14:08
18    CRISTIAN COLLAZO        Orocovis          1:14:12
19    Nicolas Santos          Bogota            1:14:36
20    Daniel Kirwa            Gibsonton         1:14:53
21    Dmytro Molchanov        Brooklyn          1:14:54
22    Recio Alvarez           Santiago          1:15:03
23    Alberto Cruz            Mexico            1:15:09
24    Miguel Cifuentes        Bogota            1:15:15
25    Alvaro Gonzalez         Miami             1:16:03

WOMEN’S HALF MARATHON

1     Melanie Myrand          Montreal          1:19:10
2     Rachel Schilkowsky      Providence        1:21:22
3     Margarita Petris        Mexico City       1:22:32
4     Paola Bonilla Tello     Cuenca            1:22:32
5     Monica Passu                              1:23:02
6     Ashley Laureano-Rosado  Toa Baja          1:24:39
7     Jo Butler               Miami             1:25:34
8     Yahaira Ayala           Lares             1:27:52
9     Alice Henley            Fort Lauderdale   1:28:15
10    Alissa Lurie            Philadelphia      1:28:35
11    Melissa Perlman         Delray Beach      1:28:39
12    LAUREN LUDKA            Boca Raton        1:28:42
13    Leandra Munson          Miami             1:28:42
14    PAULINA PLASENCIA CRUZ  Ciudad De Mexico  1:28:54
15    MARIA JOSE SILVESTRE    Ezeiza            1:29:14
16    Kristen Galligan        Gaithersburg      1:29:23
17    Ruby Riativa Salinas    Bogota DC         1:30:19
18    Audrey Carroll          New York          1:30:20
19    Rebekah Mayer           Eden Prairie      1:30:31
20    Seidy Granados Solis    Santa Ana         1:30:32
21    Kaitlyn Kelly           Palm Bch Gardens  1:30:49
22    CARLA MORENO            Fort Lauderdale   1:31:14
23    Barbara Rabanales       Quetzaltenango    1:31:47
24    Juanita Acevedo         Longmont          1:31:47
25    Maria F Cabrera         Miami             1:31:51
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