In easily the most exciting Minneapolis Marathon in the event's four-year history, Ted Lillie powered past three-time champion Thomas Tisell down the final stretch to take the men's title in stunning fashion on Sunday morning.
The women's race, which proved to be just as close as the men's for much of the 26.2-mile stretch, saw Pam Nielsen edge 23-year-old former champ Jessica Lovering by slightly more than a minute, 3:06:17 to 3:07:22. Lovering won the women's title in 2011 with a 3:07:26 time, but could not slide past Nielsen despite running a faster race than she did the previous year.
Lillie's impressive surge past race favorite Tisell, however, proved to be the biggest story of the morning. The 27-year-old Lillie turned in a 2:40:22 time to Tisell's 2:40:30, as the new champion posted the second-fastest race in Minneapolis Marathon history. Despite the loss, Tisell, who is 17 years older than Lillie, managed his second-best time in four career events.
In total there were 891 finishers in this year's race, of which 503 were men. The average time for those who crossed the finish line was 4:20:09, nearly two hours longer than Lillie's race-winning pace.
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