PARKERSBURG - As has become the tradition with the News and Sentinel Half Marathon, Kenyan men and Russian women dominated the 2005 race on Saturday.

In the men's race, Kenyans took seven of the first eight places, with only runnerup Alene Reta of Ethiopia able to break their dominance. Reta finished in 1 hour, 4 minutes and 48 seconds, just six seconds in back of 2005 champion Francis Bowen, who set a pace of four minutes and 56 seconds per mile over the rugged and humid 13.1-mile that took its toll on many competitors.

Placing third through eighth, respectively, were Kenyans Douglas Momanyi, Albert Kiplagat, Daniel Cheruiyot, Mike Korir, Wilson Komen and Sammy Nyamongo.

Wheeling's Ricky Moore wound up 11th, 16 seconds behind Ordway, who seemed in shock he had become a national champion.
The women's race was a virtual sprint to the finish between Russians Tatyana Chulakh and Alevtina Ivanova. In one of the closest finishes in half marathon history, Chulakh beat her compatriot to the finish line by a single second, winning in 1 hour, 15 minutes and 34 seconds.

The top five finishers were foreigners as Jemima Sumgong of Kenya was third, Ramilia Burangulova of Russia placed fourth and Ruth Biwott of Kenya was fifth.

That left the American championship to sixth place finisher Casey Owens of Springfield, Mo. She was running due to one of the Road Runners Club of America's Roads Scholarships. Now she is the RRCA national champion.

Among Masters runners -those 40 and over -Tammy Slusser of Monroeville, Pa., captured the championship in her first year of being eligible for that designation. Another Pennsylvanian, Mike McGee of Latrobe, won the men's Masters title.

Perhaps the most impressive performance of the day came in the walk division as Eastern High School and Rio Grande University graduate Matt Boyles set a new course record of 1 hour, 42 minutes and 43 seconds. That time was more than 24 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor, West Virginian Jeff Seaman.

Boyles wasn't the only Mid-Ohio Valley resident to win as Brenda Pomrenke of Williamstown captured the women's walk championship in a time of 2 hours, 26 minutes and 28 seconds, exactly three minutes better than runnerup Debbie Spears of Parkersburg.

Two special awards were announced on Saturday. Winning the Norma Phillips Awards as the first West Virginians to cross the finish line were Moore and Kimberly Dorman of Parkersburg.

Winning the Ogden Grand Prix Awards as the top combined finishers in the Ogden 20K Classic in Wheeling and the News and Sentinel Half Marathon were Moore and Susan Graham-Grey of Greencastle, Pa..

Numbers for both the half marathon and the 2-miler were up, thanks to a more aggressive marketing campaign. The half marathon witnessed 709 running finishers and 92 walking finishers. The 2-Miler witnessed 448 persons cross the finish line.

At the post-race awards ceremony at the Smoot Theater, race director John Huelse praised his group of more than 2,000 volunteers. He presented the Director's Award -his choice as the top volunteer -to Donna Kramer, who handles the pre-race registration.