Jordan Hasay wins TCM women's 10-mile race

Jordan Hasay entered Sunday's Twin Cities 10-mile championship expecting to gain experience, nothing more. The 25-year-old from Beaverton, Ore., placed third in the USA Track and Field 5K last month, and the 10-mile was just another step in her transition from tracks to roads.

It was a big step. Hasay upset the women's favorite, Aliphine Tuliamuk, to win the USATF 10-mile championship with a time of 52 minutes, 49 seconds. Tuliamuk, 27, from Santa Fe, N.M., finished second in 53:01, and St. Paul Olympic triathlete Gwen Jorgensen finished third in 53:13.

"I was in shock. It was such a great field. I'm actually kind of speechless," Hasay said. "I've had kind of a rough year. I didn't make the Olympic team, and so I just kind of put my head down and have been working on finishing and gaining strength and it finally all came together."

Hasay, competing in her first 10-mile race, also held off the men's winner, Sam Chelanga,to win the $10,000 equalizer bonus (women get a five-minute head start on the men) on top of a $12,000 first-place prize.

The 31-year-old Chelanga from Tucson, Ariz., finished in 47:25 to repeat as champion. Noah Droddy of Boulder, Colo., finished second in 47:28 and Timothy Ritchie from New Haven, Conn., was third in 47:33. Abbabiya Simbassa of Minnetonka finished best (13th) among local male runners.

"I wanted to be the champion, and I wanted to make a move at the right time," Chelanga said. "I saved everything for that last move. … Winning a race is a beautiful thing."

Phil Coppess waited 30 years for the news he received Sunday afternoon at his home in Clinton, Iowa. The 2:10:05 record time he ran in the 1985 Twin Cities Marathon finally had been broken. Dominic Ondoro blew by it with 2:08:51.

"Wow, that is awesome," Coppess reacted after hearing the news. "That one might last a long time. That is an awesome time on that course. He must have trained for it."

Ondoro spends six days a week training and now owns both the TCM and Grandma's Marathon course records.

Coppess, 62, gladly passed on the honor to Ondoro.

"I was really surprised it lasted 30-some years. Once it went by 30, then I was ready for someone to break it," he said. "It's good for the race. They needed to get a faster time so they can draw better runners. That [time] is unreal."

Jorgensen never expected to be competitive in Sunday's 10-mile race. The St. Paul resident was running in her first 10-mile competition while training for the New York City Marathon and ended up in third place.

"I'm thrilled. I've never been sore during a race before," Jorgensen joked. "Every [kilometer] past 10K was a new experience for me. … It's great to be in what I consider a hometown and know the streets. The people were really great cheering us on."

Former U.S. Olympic 1992 silver medalist figure skater Paul Wylie represented 26 of Medtronics' global heroes running as their honorary captain.

The individuals from 14 different countries were running with medical technology that improves or saves their lives. Wylie received a defibrillator after experiencing sudden cardiac arrest in April 2015 while on a training run. His running buddies performed CPR until paramedics arrived and he was put in a coma before receiving the defibrillator.

Wylie said finishing the 10-mile in 1:30:21 on Sunday was another great achievement in his life.

"It was like another step," said the 51-year-old Wylie, of Charlotte, N.C. "It was a sense of, 'Wow, I really can do this.' I can get back and maybe be better than I was before."

• Tyler Byers, 34, of Denver won the wheelchair division in back-to-back years for the second time. He won consecutive titles in the Twin Cities in 2007 and 2008, and won again in 2015. He finished Sunday in 2:02:29. Stillwater's David Eckstrom, 61, finished sixth in 3:15:53.

• Tim Hardy, 41, of North Mankato won the Masters men's division and was 21st overall in 2:35:09. Kim Pawelek Brantly, 42, of St. Augustine, Fla., won the Masters women's race and placed 12th overall in 2:56:25.

• Marathon officials reported 70 runners received treatment in the medical tent at the finish line. Two were transported to medical facilities with noncritical conditions. The race had 11,523 entrants and 8,551 finishers. The low temperature during the race was 36 with a high of 56.