A native of Uganda, Samuel Kosgei, who is now U.S. Army Specialist Samuel Kosgei, won the 39^th annual Marine Corps Marathon in Arlington, Va., Sun., Oct. 26, in a time of 2:22:12.

U.S. Army Captain Meghan Curran, 28, of Moorestown, N.J., was the women’s winner in 2:51:47. It was the first time she had ever run a marathon.

Often called “The People’s Marathon,” the race had 30,000 runners in it this year, making it one of the biggest running events in the country. It is not limited to military personnel, even though both the male and female winners this year both happen to be in the U.S. Army. The course of the Marine Corps Marathon takes runners from Arlington, Va., to Washington, D.C., past many of the most famous landmarks in the nation’s capital.

Actor-runner Sean Astin, who has starred in such movies as Rudy and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, served as the official starter for the race and he also competed in it, finishing in 4:29:11.

The 30-year-old Kosgei, who’s 5’6 and weighs 121 pounds, is stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., and lives in nearby Junction City with his wife and three-year-old son. A two-time All-American when he attended Lamar State University in Texas, where he set personal bests of 13:35 for the 5000 meters and 28:32 for the 10,000 meters, he finished the Marine Corps Marathon just over 1½ minutes ahead of the second-place finisher, Laban Sialo, 31, of Colorado Springs, Colo., who ran 2:23:48.

Kosgei’s time on Sunday was eight minutes off the course record for this race posted by American Jeff Scuffins way back in 1987 (2:14:01).

Earlier this year Kosgei was the winner of the Overland Park (Kan.) Double 15K (10K + 5K), when he ran the two stages of the race in 32:08 and 15:35 for an aggregate time of 47:44

Justin Turner, 35, of San Diego, Calif., was third in the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday in 2:25:05, and new Masters runner Michael Wardian, who just turned 40, finished fourth in 2:25:42.

The women’s race on Sunday was much closer than the men’s race as Meghan Curran finished only 33 seconds ahead of Arlington runner Lindsay Wilkins, 36, who was clocked in 2:52:20.

Gina Slaby, 33, of Virginia Beach, Va., finished third in 2:52:32.

Curran’s time on Sunday was also well off the women’s course record for this race, which was set back in 1990 by Olga Markova (2:37:00).

Comments