Ethiopians sweep Macao Marathon

MACAO, Dec. 2 — Ethiopia’s Heile Haja Gemeda and Ehitu Kiros Reda became the winners of Macao Galaxy Entertainment International Marathon  on Sunday.

Gemeda sailed past the finish line in two hours 23 minutes and 56 seconds in chilly drizzles to lift the men’s title. Kenyan Duncan Cheruiyot Koech follwed at heel in 2:24:00.

Gemeda’s compatriot Gezahegn Alemayehu Abebe was third in 2:24.11.

In the women’s event, Ethiopia had a one-two finish as Reda set the winning pace in 2:50:11 before Tsega Gelaw Reta on 2:51.04.. Irene Kemunto Mogaka of Kenya took bronze 1:21 off the pace.

Each winner can bag 20,000 U.S. dollars of prize money.

Organizers also offer bouns to encourage good results. In addition to the winners’ prize, the first three male athletes running within 2:16:00 and female runners, 2:35:00, will be given a bonus of 5,000 dollars each.

If participants can shave the 2011 record time by less than one minute, they will be rewarded with 10,000 dollars and the amount will rise to 15,000 if they can run more than one minute less than the record time.

There were over 6,000 people from 57 countries and regions participating in the Macao event which included marathon, half-marathon and mini marathon.

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