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July 22, 2010 |
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Course record broken in Wine Country Half Marathon
Tesfaye Sendeku of Ethiopia won the Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon on Sunday, breaking the course record with a time of 1:03:58. Sendeku broke Fernando Cabada’s course record of 1:04:56, set in 2007, winning $1,000, a Ball Watch and magnum of wine. Kenyan Paul Ngeny, now training in Auburn, ran with Sendeku for the first 10 miles before Sendeku took charge. Ngeny finished in second in 1:04:58 while Kenyan, Edward Kiptum finished third in 1:07:24.
In the women’s field, Shaluinn Follove of Palo Alto defeated second place finisher Lindsey Gardina by 24 seconds with a time of 1:22:38. Ashley Carroll of Menlo Park finished third. Second and third place finishers receive a magnum of wine and $300 and $200 respectively. Parmakids, a San Francisco base running club, won the team competition. Sergio Reyes, winner of the last two Wine Country Half Marathons, in Santa Barbara and Healdsburg finished in fifth place with a time of 1:08:27.
Overcast skies helped keep temperatures cool during most the race, as almost 3,000 runners completed the winding course through the Carneros wine region from Napa to Sonoma. The race finished in the Plaza where the Wine and Music Festival kept participants, family and friends gathered for the post-race party.
Of the runners, 600 participants competed for the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Team Challenge program, raising over $2.2 million.
The event is produced by Destination Races of Sonoma, California. The Wine Country Half Marathon series includes the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon in May, the upcoming Healdsburg Wine Country Half Marathon on October 30, and the new Oregon Wine Country Half Marathon, to be held in the Willamette Valley on Labor Day weekend, September 5. For more information visit www.destinationraces.com. For complete results of the Napa-to-Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon go tonapa2sonoma.com.
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