Close finish sets stage for 2018 Snickers Marathon

ALBANY — Marathons don’t get much closer than the finish of last year’s Snickers Marathon.

Sergey Zyrianov, from Gainesville, Florida, and Teferi Regosa, from Morristown, New Jersey, ran neck-and-neck for much of the second half of last year’s marathon in Albany, with Regosa making up a one-minute gap between the 13-mile and 23-mile marks to set up a sprint to the finish.

Zyrianov prevailed, edging Regosa by seven-hundreths of a second after finishing second in 2016.

Dry, cool conditions are expected to greet participants for this year’s marathon and half-marathon, scheduled for a 7 a.m. start Saturday (6:45 a.m. start for the wheelchair race) on Front Street next to the Albany James H. Gray Sr. Civic Center.

The Weather Channel’s forecast posted Thursday morning projected a start-time temperature of 41 degrees, warming up to 48 by 9 a.m.

For the top runners in the field, a spot in next month’s Boston Marathon is at stake, as is some prize money. The course meets the USA Track and Field qualifying standard, meaning the Boston Athletic Association accepts times from this race for its qualification procedure.

Last year, 29 men finished the Snickers Marathon in less than three hours and five minutes, the qualifying standard for the 18-34 age group. Thirty women finished under the 3:35 qualifying mark for the 18-34 group.

Low elevation with a maximum elevation change of 100 feet makes the Albany course a fast one. According to the Snickers Marathon website, roughly 20 percent of the field finishes with an age group qualifying time.

Zyrianov won last year’s race in 2:21.32. The women’s winner, Lyubov Denisova, also of Gainesville, Florida, finished in 2:46:29.

The overall male and female winners receive $3,000 in prize money. Second-place finishers get $2,000, while third-place finishers take home $1,000.

The course winds its way through Albany State’s East Campus before turning westward, heading down Gillionville Road and working its way through Albany State’s West Campus before turning north at Weymouth Drive.

After going around Doublegate Country Club, the marathon works its way back toward downtown via neighborhood streets, crossing Westover Boulevard at Westgate Drive, Dawson Road at Greenwood Drive and Slappey Boulevard at Whispering Pines Road before coming down Washington Street and a finish on the RiverWalk behind the Albany Welcome Center.

The course map can be found at http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/add_to_website/922486445.