Les Friesen of Steinbach and Steffan Reimer of Blumenort finished second and third respectively in the 38th annual Manitoba Marathon Sunday in Winnipeg.

"It was tough conditions," said Friesen who finished just 31 seconds behind 2016 champion Bradley Keefe of Winnipeg. "I just wanted to go under 2:45. I wasn't expecting some of the leaders to fall back but I mean it was so humid and I was hurting. If I wouldn't have caught up to the leaders in the last six miles, I would have really struggled if I had been running on my own. It helped that I caught the leaders - that I had someone to run with."

Friesen, who ran the 26.2 mile course in 2:44:03, had the lead at mile 24 and then the showdown with Keefe began.

"It was definitely a new experience and I definitely wasn't expecting it," said Friesen. “I knew he was hurting and I had a chance to win so I put on a surge when we turned on to Pembina Highway with a couple of miles to go. For about half-a-mile he stuck with me and caught up to me and I was just done. I took a risk doing that. I had nothing left. He put on a surge and I could never recover."

"I wasn't disappointed that Brad outkicked me. I wasn't disappointed at all. To finish second – I'm very happy."

Reimer, who competed in the 120th running of the Boston Marathon back in April, finished in third spot with a time of 2:50:35.

"I wasn't going for placings today," Reimer said. "I only found out I was in third literally when they announced it on the backstretch. I thought I would be fifth, sixth or seventh but I had no idea where I was. To finish third – that's special."

"Thank God for cloud cover," added Reimer. "It was muggy out there. It was hot. Just trying to keep the body nice and cool. We were against wind for most of the back half so that definitely helped."

2015 champion Thomas Omwenga of Kenya had the lead until the 20-mile mark and shortly after pulled out of the race with a leg injury.

Heather Magill of Calgary, who lives in East Grand Forks, won her second straight women's full marathon title in a time of 2:55:55. That was 16 minutes and 40 seconds ahead of Alice Sherwin of Winnipeg.

Winnipeg's Abduselam Yussuf and Nicole Walker finished first in the half marathon.

 

2016 Manitoba Marathon results