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2018 Broad Street Run: Daniel Kemoi (men), Sophy Jepchirchir (women) take first

Daniel Kemoi, who won the $3,000 handed out to the top men's and women's winners, finished more than a minute ahead of the second place finisher, Geoffrey Ngetich, from Chapel Hill, N.C., who clocked in at 46:57.64. Cyrus Korir, another native of Chapel Hill, came in at third at 47:28.70.

Daniel Kemoi gets water from volunteers as he leads the pack in the 2018 Blue Cross Broad Street Run on May 6, 2018. Kemoi, from Elkton, Md., was the winner of the race in 45 minutes and 43 seconds.
Daniel Kemoi gets water from volunteers as he leads the pack in the 2018 Blue Cross Broad Street Run on May 6, 2018. Kemoi, from Elkton, Md., was the winner of the race in 45 minutes and 43 seconds.Read moreJOSE F. MORENO / Staff Photographer

Temperatures dropped, the rain held off, and Daniel Kemoi, from Elkton, Md., won the 39th annual Broad Street Run on a breezy Sunday morning in 45 minutes, 43.42 seconds.

Kemoi finished more than a minute ahead of the second-place finisher, Geoffrey Ngetich, from Chapel Hill, N.C., who clocked in at 46:57.64. Cyrus Korir, also of Chapel Hill, came in third at 47:28.70.

Kemoi trailed Philadelphia's Michael Gould and Ngetich at the three-mile mark and didn't take the lead until around the halfway point of the race. By the seventh mile, he pulled away. Kemoi exuded plenty of confidence after the race.

"From the start, [I knew I had the race won]," said Kemoi, who won $3,000.

His agent and trainer, Jason Rita, expressed a more cautious view. Asked whether he thought his client would win, Rita, smiling while standing beside Kemoi, replied, "I didn't."

Sunday was Kemoi's first time participating in the Broad Street Run. He was invited by Ross Martinson, the elite athlete coordinator, after Rita reached out to him. He's competed in two half marathons in Africa already this year and plans to run another half marathon, Grandma's Marathon, in Minnesota in June, as well as the Philadelphia Marathon next year.

Sophy Jepchirchir, also from Chapel Hill, claimed the women's title at 55:43.52, also winning a $3,000 prize.

Jepchirchir said she knew she had the race won at the three-mile mark. The overcast and breezy morning made it a more difficult run for her, she said, as she prefers running in a more humid climate.

Duriel Hardy was the first Philadelphia male runner to finish, and said he never hit the proverbial wall.

"I felt pretty good actually," said Hardy, who finished 12th overall. "I went out pretty conservative and just tried to pick off people as I kept going and finished pretty strong. I was happy with how I executed today."

Margaret Vido was the first Philadelphia women's runner to cross the finish line and finished fourth overall for the second straight year. This was her fourth appearance at the Broad Street Run, and built on her 11th-place finish in 2016.  Vido said she runs between 60 to 90 miles a week, has run the Philadelphia Marathon four times, and the ran the Boston Marathon last month for the first time. Vido said her training didn't change for this 10-mile race.

"I was training for the Boston [Marathon this year] and last year I was training for a 5K, so I kind of just meet in the middle with this race," she said. "I just make sure I get long runs in."

Broad Street run officials expected a big turnout, with roughly 45,000 runners competing in Sunday's race, which is the largest 10-mile race in the country.