Canadian Ellie Greenwood Second at South Africa’s 89km Comrades Marathon

Ultra-marathon specialist Ellie Greenwood, who now lives in North Vancouver, finished second today at the prestigious Comrades Marathon in South Africa.

Greenwood held a narrow lead through the halfway stage of the 89km race, but fell back to eventual winner  Elena Nurgalieva, who strengthened her decade-long grip on the race. Elena Nurgalieva secured her seventh victory in the women’s race, and her third in succession, despite the absence of twin sister Olesya, who skipped the race after giving birth to her first child. Nurgalieva finished in 6:07.12, with Greenwood finishing in 6:08.24.

Greenwood recently won the BMO Vancouver Marathon with a time of 2:42:16, and also won last year’s Western States 100 Mile Endurance Race.

Men’s winner Ludwick Mamabolo broke the foreign stranglehold on the Comrades Marathon to win with a time of 5:31.03.

JUNE 4th UPDATE: Ellie’s race report can be viewed on her blog here.