2009-07-05 04:00:04 -

GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) - First-time marathoner William Chebor of Kenya won the Gold Coast Marathon on Sunday in a time of 2 hours, 12 minutes, nearly five minutes ahead of second-place finisher Shane Nankervis of Australia.
The women's event was won by Lauren Shelley in 2:42.23, a second ahead of fellow Australian Roxie Schmidt. Japan's Mai Tagami was another five seconds behind in third.
Nankervis finished in 2:16:46 while Matt Smith of New Zealand was third in a time 2:16:51.
Chebor broke away at the halfway mark and was never threatened.
«This is my first marathon event and I am happy with the way I ran,» Chebor said. «After I broke away I could see the second runner was far, far away from me and could not close back up.

More than 23,000 people competed in the marathon, half-marathon and other shorter races.