Grandma's winner early, but not too late

DULUTH - With his superior sprinting ability, Chris Kipyego felt certain he would win Grandma's Marathon, even as Teklu Deneke stuck stubbornly by his side. The two raced neck and neck through the final mile of Saturday's race, with neither giving an inch as they charged down Canal Park Drive.

Kipyego began to raise his hands in victory as they crossed what he thought was the finish line. Then he saw the tape was still 20 meters away, surrounded by people waving frantically at him to keep going. Though he immediately accelerated again, Kipyego hit the tape together with Deneke, and he thought his mistake might have cost him the race.

He didn't know he had won until race director Scott Keenan rushed to congratulate him. Kipyego, 37, earned his first marathon victory in the United States in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 16.36 seconds, only .2 seconds ahead of Deneke. It was the closest finish in the race's 35-year history, eclipsing Andrew Musuva's 4-second margin of victory in 1999.

Friday, Kipyego worried that the cold, damp weather would not be conducive to his best effort. But the early-morning rain stopped before the race, the easterly breeze provided a bit of tailwind and the 50-degree temperatures didn't hamper any of the top runners, including Kipyego and women's champion Yihunlish Delelecha.

"I saw the chip timer, and I thought that was the finish," said Kipyego, a Kenyan who finished second at Grandma's last year. "I was about to celebrate, then I saw the finish line in front of me, and I said, 'Ohhhh, now I am dead.'

"I just said, 'If [Deneke] is not ready to win, then I am ready to go with him again.' I gave one more push, and I'm very happy to win."

Kipyego's time was a personal record and the fastest at Grandma's since Joseph Kamau won in 2:11:22 in 2003. Sammy Malakwen, who hung with the leaders until they broke away with a mile to go, finished third in 2:12:38. Jeff Eggleston of Flagstaff, Ariz., and Matt Gabrielson of St. Louis Park led the Americans, with Eggleston fifth in 2:13:12 and Gabrielson sixth in 2:13:28.

Kipyego never had met Deneke until Friday night. The two were staying in the same hotel and struck up a conversation in the lobby, chatting about their careers and their sport.

Both of them wondered Saturday morning whether the raw weather would affect them. Once they got rolling, though, both realized they could handle it. Early in the race, Kipyego stayed just behind the leaders, whose pace was a little faster than he wanted to go.

He moved up to join a lead pack that included Malekwen, Deneke, fourth-place finisher John Njoroge and Eggleston, who made a big move to engage the others at mile 18. With several runners taking turns pushing the pace, Kipyego knew there was no room to relax, and he went to the front at mile 20. Around the 22-mile mark, Eggleston dropped back; as Deneke led the group down Superior Street, Njoroge began to tire, leaving three men to battle it out.

Malekwen was done with a mile to go. That left Deneke, who was forced to quit the race last year when his hamstrings tightened after 23 miles, and Kipyego, who ached to win an American marathon after two second-place and one third-place finish in three tries.

"You have to be very strong mentally," Kipyego said. "If you think of losing, then you're finished."

When Kipyego began raising his arms early, Deneke thought he had his opening.

"I was thinking I was going to win," he said. "I was trying to go before him. But he figured it out and ran faster."

Kipyego, who splits his time between his training base in Mexico and his family's home in Kenya, earned $11,500 for the victory. Deneke, 31, earned $9,000. With such a thrilling finish, Kipyego said he could have accepted it if he had lost -- but he was glad it didn't come to that.

"The weather was not good for me," he said. "I had to fight, fight, fight. But I was ready to win."