Chirlee, Levushinka Beat the Heat to Win Inaugural ING Georgia Marathon

ATLANTA - (March 25, 2007) - Kenyan Joseph Chirlee and Russian Valentina Levushkina bested a top elite field on Sunday to win the inaugural ING Georgia Marathon in 2 hours, 19 minutes, 17 seconds and 2:41:25, respectively. As an inaugural event, the winners' times for the half and full marathon established the event records as a standard for future ING Georgia Marathon hopefuls on the hilly neighborhood Atlanta course.

Despite having switched from the half-marathon to the marathon only 48 hours prior to the event start, Chirlee maintained a pace of 5:19 minutes per mile through the marathon course on an unseasonably warm day.

"I switched to the marathon because I felt like I was strong enough to win," commented Chirlee who earned $5000 as race champion. "But it's not about winning. Everybody that finishes a marathon is a winner."

In the women's race, Levushkina led a trio of Russians to the top spots. Levushkina, who won in her marathon debut, explained: "I chose the ING Georgia Marathon as my first because of ING's reputation in these races. And the hospitality here in Atlanta was amazing."

In the inaugural ING Georgia Half Marathon, a pair of Kenyans took top honors, with Laban Moiben winning the men's race in 1:04:33 and Janet Cherobon pacing the women in 1:16:33. Each pocketed $1500.

The first-ever ING Georgia Marathon & Half Marathon became the state's largest long-distance running event, with all 15,000 spots selling out before the race. Sporting a diverse race field, 38 percent signed up for the marathon and 62 percent signed up for the half-marathon. As a combined group, the racers represented all 50 states and 25 countries, with Ireland, Canada, Kenya and Mexico having the highest representation among the international athletes.

"The ING Georgia Marathon provided an opportunity for everybody to come together and get a sense of the community spirit that we have here in Atlanta," added Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin. "We are glad to share that community spirit with ING and the marathoners. It is an opportunity for all of us to come together, and each of us in our own way can use this to begin our own challenge of physical fitness."

The ING Georgia Marathon offered awards for local racers in both events. The top male and female runners in the marathon who are U.S. citizens and permanent residents of Georgia were awarded an all expenses paid trip for two to the prestigious 2007 ING Amsterdam Marathon in Amsterdam, courtesy of Delta Airlines and Mizuno. Tom Kutter of Loganville punched his ticket to Amsterdam with a 2:30:12 marathon finish, with Miranda Shapiro of Atlanta taking the women's prize in 3:00:27.

The grand prize for the top Georgians in the ING Half Marathon was an all-expense paid trip to the 2007 ING Bay to Breakers 12K race in San Francisco, courtesy of KPMG. Andy Bishop of Cartersville took the prize with a 1:15:02 finish, while Kyla Barbour of Roswell won the women's prize at 1:33:14.

Inaugural ING Georgia Marathon
Atlanta, GA, Sunday, March 25, 2007

MEN
1) Joseph Chirlee, Kenya, 2:19:17, $5000
2) Jospeh Sitienei, Kenya, 2:22:00, $3000
3) Jonathan Ndambuki, Kenya, 2:22:46, $1750
4) Charles Kamindo, Kenya, 2:23:17, $750

WOMEN
1) Valentina Levushkina, Russia, 2:41:25, $5000
2) Victoria Zueva, Russia, 2:45:00, $3000
3) Alena Vinitskaya, Belarus, 2:45:58, $1750
4) Wioletta Kryza, Poland, 2:49:50, $750

Half-Marathon
MEN
1) Laban Moiben, Kenya, 1:04:33, $1500
2) Chris Lundstrom, USA / MN, 1:06:17, $750
3) Dominic Kipkembo Lagat, Kenya, 1:06:57, $250

WOMEN
1) Janet Cherobon, Kenya, 1:16:33, $1500
2) Claudia Colita, USA? / GA, 1:17:17, $750
3) Jill Horst, USA / NM, 1:22:53, $250

Full results at: INGGeorgiaMarathon.com