Zyrianov and Denisova make it a Gainesville sweep of the Albany Snickers® Marathon

The marathon isn't a race known for photo finishes. Such finish line dramatics are usually reserved for shorter races on the track, not 42.2-kilometer road races. Neverthless, the race at eleventh annual Snickers® Marathon in Albany, Georgia was as close to a dead heat as you'll ever see in athletics. There, on Saturday morning, 4 March 2017, Sergey Zyrianov held off Teferi Regosa to win by less than a tenth of a second, 2:21:32.84 to 2:21:32.91. You'll see 100-meter races that aren't that tight. By contrast, Lyubov Denisova had a much easier time of it on the women's side, winning the women's title by over two kilometers and placing eighth overall in 2:46:31.


For much of the way in the marathon there was no reason to suspect that the men's race would come down to the wire. An athlete based in Gainesville, Florida, Sergey Zyrianov was over a minute ahead of the next runner and was continuing to widen that lead. The next runner, though, was Teferi Regosa from Morristown, New Jersey. During the second half of the race Regosa started to close on Zyrianov. With ten kilometers to go Zyrianov's lead had shrunk to fourteen seconds, and Regosa was still coming. Regosa caught Zyrianov, but still couldn't quite beat him to the finish line. Zyrianov took the title in 2:21:33, with Regosa runner-up with the same time. Ethan Coffey of Knoxville, Tennessee was third in 2:26:18. Matthew Blanton of Orlando, Florida was the first male master and tenth overall in 2:47:08.


Gainesville, Florida's Lyubov Denisova was not only the first woman in the race, at 2:46:31 she was also the fastest master runner in the marathon. Rebecca Nussbuam of Lakeville, Ohio placed second in the women's standings and nineteenth overall in 2:54:58. Roswell, Georgia's Kelly Meyer was the third woman and 23rd overall in 2:57:29. Meyer had won the women's title in the Snickers® Half Marathon a year earlier.


517 athletes finished the eleventh annual Snickers® Marathon.


Top Ten Men, 2017 Albany Marathon

1. 2:21:32.84, Sergey Zyrianov (M, 32) Gainesville, FL
2. 2:21:32.91, Teferi Regosa (M, 30) Morristown, NJ
3. 2:26:17.34, Ethan Coffey (M, 34) Knoxville, TN
4. 2:34:56.27, Matthew Smith (M, 22) Savannah, GA
5. 2:42:23.01, Justin Turner (M, 37) Pensacola, FL
6. 2:42:55.96, Russell Branch (M, 37) Cantonment, FL
7. 2:45:20.95, Jason Holder (M, 33) Atlanta, GA
8. 2:46:36.33, Sebastian O'Dell (M, 23) Savannah, GA
9. 2:47:07.50, Matthew Blanton (M, 46) Orlando, FL
10. 2:47:39.68, Ken Curran (M, 26) Ooltewah, TN

Top Ten Women, 2017 Albany Marathon

1. 2:46:30.62, Lyubov Denisova (F, 45) Gainesville, FL
2. 2:54:57.49, Rebecca Nussbaum (F, 30) Lakeville, OH
3. 2:57:28.69, Kelly Meyer (F, 24) Roswell, GA
4. 2:57:56.20, Alexandra Ellis (F, 26) Pensacola, FL
5. 3:05:26.78, Maxey Hebert (F, 36) McDonough, GA
6. 3:07:52.93, Alison Huppert (F, 39) Conshohockeh, PA
7. 3:14:02.90, Carissa Liebowitz (F, 34) Suwanee, GA
8. 3:16:24.80, Gretchen Loyd (F, 43) Gainesville, FL
9. 3:17:04.54, Rachelle Kuramoto (F, 42) Peachtree Corners, GA
10. 3:23:35.13, Meggie Meyer (F, 30) Waverly Hall, GA

The morning also included a half marathon. Chad Dean of Cleveland, Tennessee overtook early leader Raymond Green during the second half of the shorter race, then went on to win in 75:33. Green, a runner from Las Vegas, Nevada, finished runner-up in 76:25. Cody Rickert of Atlanta, Georgia took third in 78:41. Michael Strickland from nearby Moultrie, Georgia was the first master runner in the half marathon and ninth overall in the 86:11.


Chantalle Schultz-Rathbun of Brush Prairie, Washington was the half marathon women's champ, placing tenth overall in 86:26. Jennifer Stocks of the Silver Comet Trail town of Dallas, Georgia was second in the women's competition and eleventh overall in 88:10. Christina Proctor of Athens, Georgia was the third woman and sixteenth overall in 90:23. Jacqueline Donaldson of Evans, Georgia was the first woman master and sixth female finisher, 25th overall in 97:08.


640 athletes finished Albany, Georgia's 2017 Snickers® Half Marathon.


Top Ten Men, 2017 Albany Half Marathon

1. 1:15:32.05, Chad Dean (M, 36) Cleveland, TN
2. 1:16:24.31, Raymond Green (M, 38) Las Vegas, NV
3. 1:18:40.13, Cody Rickert (M, 33) Atlanta, GA
4. 1:21:39.81, Zach Massey (M, 32) Buckhead, GA
5. 1:21:51.95, Vladimir Volodin (M, 39) Columbus, GA
6. 1:22:52.89, Austin Hardy (M, 38) Eustis, FL
7. 1:23:42.04, Dustin Shinholser (M, 35) Athens, GA
8. 1:25:14.70, Gary Thompson (M, 37) Cumming, GA
9. 1:26:10.95, Michael Strickland (M, 44) Moultrie, GA
10. 1:28:09.98, Lucas Stocks (M, 26) Dallas, GA

Top Ten Women, 2017 Albany Half Marathon

1. 1:26:25.57, Chantalle Schultz-Rathbun (F, 23) Brush Prairie, WA
2. 1:28:09.83, Jennifer Stocks (F, 26) Dallas, GA
3. 1:30:22.89, Christina Proctor (F, 30) Athens, GA
4. 1:32:22.14, Michelle Panneton (F, 32) Atlanta, GA
5. 1:33:23.47, Jennifer Perkins (F, 36) Albany, GA
6. 1:37:07.96, Jacqueline Donaldson (F, 49) Evans, GA
7. 1:37:17.23, Susan Thomas (F, 26) Jefferson, GA
8. 1:37:15.85, Diana Mitchen (F, 33) Atlanta, GA
9. 1:38:38.09, Nicole Moody (F, 27) Buford, GA
10. 1:39:10.57, Melissa Jones (F, 35) Macon, GA

Albany Marathon Champions, 2007 - 2017
Date	Men	Women
3 March 2007	2:30:56, Jared Nyamboki	3:32:41, Wendy Donnan
1 March 2008	2:27:44, Simon Sawe	2:37:26, Janet Cherobon
7 March 2009	2:19:01, James Boitt	2:52:55, Kelly Williamson
6 March 2010	2:20:55, Jynocel Basweti	2:37:57, Janet Cherobon
5 March 2011	2:17:10, Tesfaye Alemayehu	2:43:15, Ludmila Stepanova
3 March 2012	2:23:50, Mutuku P Muas	2:54:32, Mackenzie Howe
2 March 2013	2:21:04, Edward Tabut	2:58:14, Taylor G. Stephens
1 March 2014	2:34:34, Abraham Kogo	2:38:45, Liudmila Stepanova
7 March 2015	2:18:57, Christopher Zablocki	2:44:39, Sara Howe
5 March 2016	2:18:50, Christopher Zablocki	2:50:34, Cynthia Jerop
4 March 2017	2:21:32.84, Sergey Zyrianov	2:46:30.62, Lyubov Denisova

Links

• Complete results of the 2017 Albany Marathon and Half Marathon at RunSignUp.com
  https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/?raceId=8310
  
  
• 2016 story, “Chris Zablocki does it again in Albany”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2016/03/albany-marathon-2016.html
  
  
• 2015 story, “Zablocki returns to the South for an Albany Marathon win”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2015/03/albany-marathon-20158.html
  
  
• 2014 story, “Hebron KY runners Kogo and Stepanova take Albany Marathon titles”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2014/03/albany-marathon-2014.html
  
  
• 2013 story, “Tabut edges Zablocki in Albany Marathon”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/03/albany-marathon-2013.html
  
  
• 2011 story, “The best bar none at the 2011 Snickers Marathon”
  https://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2011/03/albany-marathon-2011.html
  
  
• Albany, Georgia's Edwardian-Era Marathon
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/2013/07/herald-local-marathon.html
  
  
• Albany Snickers® Marathon
  https://albanymarathon.com
  
  
• USATF Course Certification maps for the 2017 Albany Snickers® Marathon and Half Marathon
  
  • Marathon:http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=GA07003WC
    
  • Half: http://www.usatf.org/events/courses/maps/showMap.asp?courseID=GA07002WC
    
  
  
• Marathons and longer and shorter upcoming races on the Trouble Afoot! calendar
  http://troubleafoot.blogspot.com/search/label/calendar?max-results=1
  
  

#1921