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Regasa wins half marathon race crown

WHEELING — There were no records smashed and the weather didn’t cooperate. But the 41st annual running of the Ogden Newspapers Half Marathon Classic produced the event’s greatest climax.

The finish was so close, in fact, that Teferi Bacha Regassa mistakenly thought that Hillary Too, who hails from Kenya, had crossed the line first. As it turns out, Regassa (1:14:21), a native of Ethiopia, took home home the overall title, narrowly edging past Too (1:14:22).

”We are friends,” Regassa said as the two shared a laugh and some congratulations just after the race had ended. ”We ran together the whole way.”

Coming down the race’s last hill, however, friendship went out the window. The duo came around the final corner neck-and-neck, but Too eventually pulled ahead. Regassa wasn’t finished though, as he edged past at the last second.

”You race to win,” Too said. ”Everyone wants to be No. 1

”But only one can.”

Too said that he isn’t used to running courses that possess the type of hills the Ogden does, noting that going upward isn’t as difficult as coming down.

”Your knees, they are very stiff,” Too said.

The 31-year-old Regassa, who like Too, 38, and third-place finisher Peter Limo, runs out of Morristown, N.J., said the rain didn’t play much of a factor.

”The weather was cool, which is good for a runner,” he said.

The top local finisher, who just happened to be next in line at fourth, was 26-year-old St. Clairsville resident Kyle Timko, who crossed the line in 1:18:12. James Tarr (1:20:58) was fifth.

Four of the next five finishers were local. Follansbee’s Russell Kocher ended sixth with a time of 1:20:58. He was followed by Wheeling’s Sean Flanagan, who crossed in 1:23:44.

Pittsburgh’s Dan Holland (1:27.26) was followed by ninth-place finisher Jason Bennett (1:28:35) of Wheeling. Martins Ferry’s Cedric Robinson rounded out the top 10, coming home in 1:29:13.

A pair of Wheeling runners — Andrew Giljahn (1:36:04) and Stefan Moray (1:36:14) — along with St. Clairsville’s RJ Nolte, who finished in a time of 1:37: 15) rounded out the top 15.

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