Russians double up at the Comrades Marathon
Posted Friday, 16 June, 2006
Oleg Kharitonov (38) of Russia has won the 81st Comrades Marathon "up run" from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. Kharitonov captured his first Comrades Marathon in a time of five hours, 35 minutes, and 16 seconds.
South Africa's Brian Zondi (31), finished in second place with Vladimir Kotov in third. Russia's Elena Nurgalieva won the women's race in a time of six hours and nine minutes, her third victory. South Africa's Farwa Mentoor crawled over the finish line after her legs gave way to take sixth place in this year's women's race.
Hundreds of Comrades hopefuls have had to abandon their dream of finishing the race at the halfway mark in Drummond. They failed to pass the cut-off point by 11:30. The first person to be cut off by a couple of seconds was a woman from Durban. She says she's very disappointed because she had thoroughly prepared for the race. Other unlucky runners blame it on not being fit enough.
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