Rock 'N' Roll Runners Take Over the Roads
Khalid Boumlili and Yulia Gromova were the men's and women's winners for the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon
By MICHELLE WAYLAND
Updated 10:42 PM PST, Sun, May 31, 2009
The weather was cool and drizzly Sunday as more than 20,000 runners and thousands of spectators hit the streets for the Rock `N' Roll Marathon.
The event ran through Hillcrest and downtown San Diego, made its way around Mission Bay and concluded at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. For some it’s all about raising money and running for those who cannot.
“We come here in honor of my mother in law that passed away from leukemia a year and a half ago, and my wife is running in her honor,” one spectator said.
Khalid Boumlili of Morocco and Yulia Gromova of Russia were the men's and women's winners. Boumlili completed the course in 2:11:15, outpacing Samuel Mugo's 2:12:36 and Tesfaye Tola's 2:13:02 to lead the men's division. Mugo is from Kenya and Tola is from Ethiopia.
Gromova won her second straight Rock 'N' Roll Marathon by blowing away the women's field with a time of 2:27:36, nearly two minutes ahead of second-place finisher Hellen Kimutai of Kenya, who finished in 2:29:32, and Nuta Olaru of Romania, who came in third with a time of 2:30:40.
There were more than 40 live bands performing on stages set up at each mile along the race course, thousands of cheerleaders, themed water stations and a post-race concert.
First Published: May 30, 2009 9:31 AM PST
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