ATHENS, Greece (AP)—Abdelkrim Boubker of Morocco won the Athens Classic Marathon Sunday while Melaku Elfneshe of Ethiopia won the women’s race.
Boubker won in 2 hours, 11 minutes 40 seconds. Kenya’s Sammy Kipkosgei Chumba and Daniel Nderitu Gatheru were second and third in 2:13:27 and 2:16:12, respectively.
In the women’s race, Elfneshe won in 2:35:25, beating Russia’s Kamila Khanipova by six seconds. Amira Ben Amor of Tunisia was third in 2:42:15.
The race was run in cold, blustery conditions, with light rain falling most of the way. Boubker’s time was 45 seconds slower than the course record of 2:10:55 set by Italy’s Stefano Baldini at the 2004 Olympics. The course’s long hilly stretches prevent runners from clocking marathon record-challenging times.
About 18,000 people took part in the marathon and two shorter races of 5K and 10K.
The Athens Classic Marathon is run over the route said to have been taken by a messenger to announce the Athenians’ victory over a Persian army near the village of Marathon in 490 B.C.
