The 11th Zelenograd Half Marathon Sprandi, which was held in the city of Zelenograd, 37 km away from Moscow., was won by Sergey Lukin and Alina Ivanova, who respectively took the men’s and women’s titles.
Cool sunny morning with 17 C at the start and flat shady course suggested excellent running conditions. However, head wind did not allow three times winner and course record holder Aleksandr Vasiliev to beat his own record (1:03:50) set in 2004. He crossed third, while Zelenograd city resident Lidia Vasilevskaya, women’s course record holder (1:10:23) since 2000, lost more than 2.5 minutes to the female winner.
Sergey Lukin, winner in Moscow International Half Marathon on May 5, led the lead pack of 9 runners. Four of them had won 8 previous editions of the Zelenograd Half Marathon. However they soon fell behind, leaving Yemelianov and Lukin nip and tuck till the13th km, at which Lukin broke away to claim overall title in 1:04:32.
Alina Ivanova, 1991 World Race Walk champion and winner of 2006 Prague International Marathon (2:29:20), led the female field from the start and finished unchallenged in 1:14:46.
Yelena Kurdyumova and Sergey Porada for IAAF
MEN
1. Sergey Lukin RUS 1:04:32
2. Sergey Yemelianov RUS 1:04:56
3. Aleksandr Vasiliev RUS 1:06:09
WOMEN
1. Alina Ivanova RUS 1:14:46
2. Lidia Vasilevskaya RUS 1:17:22
3. Nadezjda Trilinskaya RUS 1:18:46
