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Kenyan Wins East Timor Marathon
June 21, 2010

Kenyan athlete Philemon Rotich reacts after crossing the finish line in Dili on Sunday to win the Timor Marathon. Rotich finished with a time of 2:32:57. Some 1,270 runners including 600 foreigners took part in East Timor Kenyan athlete Philemon Rotich reacts after crossing the finish line in Dili on Sunday to win the Timor Marathon. Rotich finished with a time of 2:32:57. Some 1,270 runners including 600 foreigners took part in East Timor's inaugural marathon, touted as the climax of events to mark the fledgling nation's eighth anniversary of independence from Indonesia. (AFP Photo/ Mario Jonny Dos Santos)
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Philemon Rotich pounded through ramshackle villages, along a city beachfront and past a lighthouse under the blazing sun on Sunday to win East Timor’s first marathon.

“I found the course pretty straightforward and didn’t experience too many problems,” the Kenyan said after the race in Dili, which he completed in a time of 2:34:57.

“The biggest challenge was the heat. It got very hot. The race was very well-organized and the Timorese people who supported the race around the course were fantastic.”

Augusto Ramos Soares and Zeferino Guterres Magalhaes, both Timorese, took second and third spots about a minute behind the leader.

Some 1,270 runners, including 600 foreigners, took part in the Timor Marathon, touted as the climax of events to mark the fledgling nation’s eighth anniversary of independence from Indonesia.

The women’s race saw Australian Lucie Hardiman taking top spot in a time of 3:03:32, followed by Timorese Juventina Napoleao about 10 minutes later.

“I’ll make sure that many people know about next year’s marathon. This race will only get bigger and better,” Hardiman said.

National heroine Aguida Amaral took third in a time of 3:22:26. The 36-year-old former refugee is one of only a handful of Timorese athletes to make it to the Olympics, having run in Sydney in 2000 and Athens four years later.

The marathon was President Jose Ramos-Horta’s latest sporting brainchild after last year’s inaugural Tour de Timor cycle race and an international fishing competition. 


Agence France-Presse