St. Paul, Minn. – October 6, 2019 – Event record-holder won an unprecedented fourth Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon men’s title with a 2:12:23 victory in the 38th annual race from Minneapolis to St Paul.

Ondoro won comfortably over fellow Kenyan Denis Chirchir, second in 2:13:50, and St. Paul native and current Minneapolis resident Danny Docherty, who clocked 2:15:55.

In the women’s race, Julia Kohnen of Florissant, Mo., won her first Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon title in 2:31:29. She outran Burnsville’s Dakotah Lindwurm, second in 2:32:49, and 2014 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon runner-up Heather Lieberg, third in 2:34:07.

Breaking his own record was on Ondoro’s mind, but his back rebelled. “I was running easily, but around 20K, I felt something in my [lower back], so no record, he said. “I hope next year I can try my best. It’s exciting. I like the way the people here interact with us. They cheer us very well.”

Kohnen was happy with her first Twin Cities race. “It’s a really good feeling to have a fast time under my belt now,” she said. “The weather plays a huge factor, and we couldn’t have gotten luckier today. It’s so fun, the neighborhoods are absolutely gorgeous.”

Push-rim wheel chair defending champion Hermin Garic of Utic, N.Y. won his in 1:44:21.

In the USATF 10 Mile Championships held in conjunction with the Medtronic TC 10 Mile, Sara Hall of Flagstaff, Ariz. won her third consecutive title in 53:11, six seconds faster than Mekena Morley of Boulder, Colo., a student-athlete at Colorado University. Burnsville’s Katy Jermann was third at 53:44.

Futsum Zienasellassie of Flagstaff, Ariz. won the men’s championship in 46:55, edging former Minnesota resident Abbabiya Simbassa of Colorado Springs, Colo., second in 46:57 and Connor McMillan or Provo, Utah, third in 46:58.

Hall and Zienasellassie each won $12,500 for winning their USATF titles, and Zienasellassie earned an additional $10,000 by winning the equalizer bonus in the competition where the women are given a head-start over the men.

Shockingly, Hall’s win came just a week after running a personal best marathon of 2:22:16 in Berlin. “I’ve never raced a week after a marathon, I’ve raced two weeks after, so this is uncharted territory. But since I love this race, I thought I’d give it a shot to try to win again.”

Zienasellassie was elated with his win. “For me, this is a dream come true, so I’m really happy. It took a lot of people’s hard work that brought me here to the point I’m at right now.”

The Medtronic TC 10 Mile saw a record 11,042 finished the 21st running. The marathon saw 6735 complete the 26.2 mile course.

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