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**For results, see related links**Alex Cabrero reporting
Many roads around the Salt Lake Valley were closed this morning for a good reason: Some 13,000 runners hit the streets for the 2008 Salt Lake City Marathon.
Many people think early Saturday mornings are supposed to be for sleeping in. But today a lot of people just didn't get it. Runner Dan Putnam said, "I'm ready. I think it'll be a good time."
No laziness found here.
Larry Winn of Orem said, "I run all year 'round, a couple of times a week, mostly on the weekends. I even run during the wintertime, actually."
All of that, in preparation for the Salt Lake City Marathon. Thirteen thousand people started at the University of Utah's Legacy Bridge. Those doing the full marathon were up against 26 miles of blacktop.
We found Kaysville resident Jeremy Child at Sugar House Park cheering them on. "It's kind of weird standing here on the sidelines saying, 'I can do that,' and then get on the treadmill in the morning and say, 'There's no way I can do that,'" he said.
At the finish line at The Gateway, lots of people were cheering those who aren't lazy. It takes something special to finish the marathon.
Salt Lake City resident Keri Cannon said, "[I] run about four times a week and do longer runs on Saturdays."
Dustin Bateman of Layton said, "Stay in shape. Keep that belly off."
And Michel Montandon of Salt Lake told us, "I'm 53, and I need to keep running to stay healthy."
But runners say when they cross that finish line, with so many people cheering for them, it's worth it.
Marci Bradley of Salt Lake told us, "It was a good course. Lots of fun. It's a good crowd; good spectators." In fact, even the man who came in first place was talking about the spectators. Genna Tufa, of Bronx, N.Y., said, "There's a lot of spectators around. It's very nice. I like them."
Tufa won the men's marathon in 2:23:10. Maria Portilla of Albuquerque, N.M., won the women's marathon in 2:40:24.
Tufa's win is the first of his career at the Salt Lake City Marathon; Portilla's represents her second consecutive win in this race. Portilla's final time also qualified her for the Beijing Olympics in August where she will represent Peru, her home country.
Utahns Shin Nozaki of Orem and Esther Udell of Lindon were the first Utah male and female finishers, with times of 2:27:11 and 3:18:26.
For more results, see the links on this page.
Men's Marathon Top Ten:
1. Genna Tufa, Bronx, NY
2. Richard Kemboi, Santa Fe, NM
3.Joseph Mutinda, Santa Fe, NM
4. Jonathan Ndambuki, Santa Fe, NM
5. Shin Nozaki, Orem, UT
6. Alexander Pachev, Provo, UT
7. Festus Kioko, Loma Bella, Mexico City
8. Adam Wende, Salt Lake City, UT
9. Matt Harmer, Saratoga Springs, UT
10. Bernie Boettcher, Silt, CO
Women's Marathon Top Ten:
1. Maria Portilla, Albuquerque, NM
2. Atalelegh Asfaw, Bronx, NY
3. Alena Vinitskaya, Vitebsk, Belarus
4. Eunice Orwaru, Santa Fe, NM
5. Autumn Ray, Galveston, TX
6. Margarita Conde, Guatemala
7. Rachel Best, Memphis, TN
8. Esther Udall, Lindon, UT
9. Cathy Bowles, Murray, UT
10.Lauren Astle, Rexburg, ID
Men's Half Marathon Top Ten:
1. Teren Jameson, Taylorsville, UT
2. Matt Dewald, Yankron, SD
3. BJ Christensen, North Salt Lake, UT
4. Nathan Hornok, Salt Lake City, UT
5. Domingo Altamirano, Draper, UT
6. Gray Augustus, Salt Lake City, UT
7. Dewey Peacock, Bozeman, MT
8. Grant Rotunda, Salt Lake City, UT
9. Ryan Ehelfe, Redding, CA
10. Ralph Price, Lehi, UT
Women's Half Marathon Top Ten:
1. Tomas Zuzana, Salt Lake City, UT
2. Christina Gingras, Cotton Heights, UT
3. Jennifer Valentine, Broomfield, CO
4. Heather Penrod, Springville, UT
5. Jessica Winters, Riverton, UT
6.Charity Vernon, Salt Lake City, UT
7. Lisa Madsen, Salt Lake City, UT
8.Erin Butler, Salt Lake City, UT
9. Carrie Althoff, Yankton, SD
10. Kali Taylor, Bountiful, UT
Men's 5K Top Ten:
1. Brian Sunners, Draper, UT
2. Ed Christenson, North Salt Lake, UT
3. Nate Lloyd, Salt Lake City, UT
4. Mike Evans, Salt Lake City, UT
5. Nathan Pollard, Layton, UT
6. Matthew Wright, North Salt Lake, UT
7. George Katz, South Jordan, UT
8. Jose E. Martinez, St. George, UT
9. Mackenzie Morrison, Pleasant Grove, UT
10. Joshua Croft, Salt Lake City, UT
Women's 5K Top Ten:
1. Emily Jameson, Taylorsville, UT
2. Nicole Prause, Pocatello, ID
3. Malaika Homo, Salt Lake City, UT
4. Beth Drees, Salt Lake City, UT
5. Cathy Amundson, Carlsbad, CA
6. Amanda Theobald, Salt Lake City, UT
7. Stacie Orme, Sandy, UT
8. Zara Bachman, Salt Lake City, UT
9. Karen Whitaker, Salt Lake City, UT
10. Myriah Stockman, Sandy, UT
E-mail: acabrero@ksl.com
