LA Marathon 2017 Results: Men's and Women's Top Finishers | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
Michael King The African nation of Kenya swept the Los Angeles Marathon for the second time in three years Saturday, as Elisha Barno and Hellen Jepkurgat placed first in the men's and women's events, respectively.
Barno finished in a time of two hours, 11 minutes and 52 seconds, while Jepkurgat crossed the finish line after two hours, 34 minutes and 23 seconds, according to the official L.A. Marathon tracker.
As seen in the following rundown of the top 10 men's finishers, Barno beat out three Kenyan countrymen in 2015 winner Daniel Limo, Willy Koitile and 2016 Los Angeles Marathon champion Weldon Kirui:
| 2017 L.A. Marathon Top Men's Finishers | |||
| 1 | Elisha Barno | Kenya | 2:11:52 |
| 2 | Daniel Limo | Kenya | 2:12:16 |
| 3 | Willy Koitile | Kenya | 2:12:47 |
| 4 | Weldon Kirui | Kenya | 2:13:23 |
| 5 | Willy Canchanya | Peru | 2:14:52 |
| 6 | Pius Nyantika | Kenya | 2:15:42 |
| 7 | Elkana Kibet | Kenya | 2:17:24 |
| 8 | Raul Pacheco | Peru | 2:17:25 |
| 9 | Pedro Nimo | Spain | 2:18:12 |
| 10 | John Pickhaver | United States | 2:23:27 |
| RTRT.me | |||
The City of Santa Monica provided the following photo of Barno's victorious moment:
City of Santa Monica @santamonicacityA huge CONGRATS to our first #lamarathon finisher for the men's elite runners group, Elisha Barno! What an accomplishment!
Chris Schauble of KTLA also tweeted video of Barno continuing Kenya's streak of L.A. Marathon winners in the men's division:
Chris Schauble @ChrisKTLA.#Barno of #Kenya wins @lamarathon!
Barno received stiff competition from his fellow Kenyans, as two former winners were among those who finished in the top four.
Despite the fact that they raced as individuals, Barno, Limo and Koitile embraced following the competition, as seen in this photo courtesy of KTLA:
KTLA @KTLAKenyans Elisa Barno, Daniel Limo and Willy Koitile sweep top three spots in 2017 @lamarathon
While Kenya dominated the top of the leaderboard, one American did manage to sneak into the top 10, as John Pickhaver earned a 10th-place result.
Like the men's event, Kenya dominated the women's division as well with Jepkurgat and Jane Kibii taking the top two spots.
Here is a look at the top 10 women's finishers, which featured a race-high five Americans:
| 2017 L.A. Marathon Top Women's Finishers | |||
| 1 | Hellen Jepkurgat | Kenya | 2:34:23 |
| 2 | Jane Kibii | Kenya | 2:36:14 |
| 3 | Angela Orjuela | Colombia | 2:36:20 |
| 4 | Joanna Reyes | United States | 2:37:55 |
| 5 | Biruktayit Degefa | Ethiopia | 2:43:23 |
| 6 | Heather Lieberg | United States | 2:43:43 |
| 7 | Erin Menefee | United States | 2:51:31 |
| 8 | Annmarie Kirkpatrick | United States | 2:55:41 |
| 9 | Gabriela Trana | Costa Rica | 3:03:06 |
| 10 | Ingrid Walters | United States | 3:03:30 |
| RTRT.me | |||
KTLA tweeted a photo of Jepkurgat obliterating the field by nearly two minutes:
KTLA @KTLAKenya’s Hellen Jepkurgat is first woman finisher @lamarathon, making it a clean sweep for the African nation so far
Jepkurgat's win marked the second in three years for Kenyan women in the L.A. Marathon and the fifth of all time.
The Americans were far more competitive on the women's side, including Joanna Reyes, who shattered her personal-best time to finish fourth, per RunBlogRun:
RunBlogRun @RunBlogRunJoanna Reyes, USA, just ran race of her life! Joanna took fourth in 2:37:55 PB (formerly 2:50:58)!! Joanna is...
Despite Reyes' showing, the United States' drought extended to 23 years, as no American has won either the men's or women's competition since Paul Pilkington and Olga Appell swept in 1994.
Per the Los Angeles Times, Barno and Jepkurgat beat out an estimated 24,000 runners to join the exclusive club of L.A. Marathon winners.
