By Clay Shaw

PHILADELPHIA, PA—The second event of the Philadelphia Marathon weekend was the Rothman 8K, held November 17, 2018.  It’s more of a regional All-Star game of road racing than the other two events.  However, Internationals took the top two spots of each gender.

Charles Kamau an 18-year-old Kenyan living in Boulder, CO won it in 23:14.  Kamau was in a three-man race with Diriba Yigezu of Ethiopia (23:16), and John Ranieri of New Fairfield, CT (23:20).  Yigezu, who lives in New York City, would place third overall in the marathon the next day.  Julius Kiptoo (Kenya) of Grand Prairie, TX was the top Masters in 25:33, and 18^th overall.  Mike DiGennaro of Delaware was just nine seconds back in 25:42.

Brenda Flores of Mexico City had a pretty easy victory with a 26:36.  Elgay Nalyanya of Kenya was second in 26:50.  Alyssa Rudawsky of Garnet Valley, PA was third in 27:52.  Christy Peterson of North Wales, PA was top Masters and tenth overall in 29:29.  Brenda Hodge of York, PA was second Masters in 30:50.

With a large amount of time to allow the half-marathon participants to clear the course and finish, we took the opportunity to have breakfast.  Note all the photos are across from Boathouse Row along the Schuylkill River.  A scenic spot indeed, especially for the marathon (without the out-and-back traffic).   That said, we missed the start (LOL).

Top 20 Men

1. 23:14 Charles Kamau  KENYA
2. 23:16 Diriba Yigezu ETHIOPIA
3. 23:20 John Raneri CT
4. 23:51 Chris Hatler
5. 24:04 Nicholas Filippazzo NY
6. 24:11 Charlie Marquardt
7. 24:22 Girma Gebre ETHIOPIA
8. 24:46 Zachary Barker
9. 24:47 JR Creekmore DE
10. 24:49 Jeffrey Seelaus MA
11. 25:05 Kieran Sutton
12. 25:11 Fitch Henry NJ
13. 25:14 Christopher Naimoli
14. 25:22 Donny Glavin NJ
15. 25:24 Matthew Lutcza
16. 25:33 Sean Stetler CO
17. 25:33 Julius Kiptoo (41) KENYA
18. 25:34 Douglas Maisey
19. 25:42 Mike DiGennaro (40) DE
20. 25:44 Sean Clark

Top 20 Women

1. 26:36 Brenda Flores  MEXICO
2. 26:50 Eglay Nalyamya KENYA
3. 27:52 Alyssa Rudawsky
4. 27:56 Bose Asefa  ETHIOPIA
5. 28:18 Sarah MacKay CANADA
6. 28:25 Nuhamin Bogale  ETHIOPIA
7. 29:07 Samantha Snukis
8. 29:20 Katarina Smiljanec DE
9. 29:21 Stephanie Herrick NY
10. 29:29 Christy Peterson (44)
11. 29:57 Lauren Opachinski MA
12. 30:21 Kimberly Cary
13. 30:27 Katie O’Regan
14. 30:42 Jessica Fragola
15. 30:50 Brenda Hodge (47)
16. 30:51 Tracey Sawyer
17. 31:09 Sharon Warner DC
18. 31:16 Jeanelle Ackerman MA
19. 31:19 Cheryl Keller-Capone
20. 31:42 Michelle Brangan NJ

Categories: Race Coverage