Mohamed Awol and Casey Smith followed different paths to victory in yesterday's 30th running of the SunTrust Richmond Marathon.

Awol, a 29-year-old Ethiopian, won the most dramatic race in the event's history by surviving an 80-yard sprint to the finish and defeating David Cheromei of Kenya by one-tenth of a second. The clock showed identical finishing times for both men: 2:20:20.

Smith, a 28-year-old from Richmond, posted a commanding victory in the women's marathon. She finished in 2:44:58, nearly four minutes better than 2006 champion Maureen Ackerly. Smith earned a berth in next spring's U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Boston.

Rod Koborsi became the first American to win the nTelos 8K since 2001, pulling ahead late to finish the race in 22 minutes, 40 seconds. The Georgetown running coach was one of three Americans in the top five.

The women's 8K was dominated by two runners. Caroline Chepkorir finished 33 seconds ahead of Julie Culley, who in turn was 36 seconds faster than the pack of elite runners. Chepkorir is Kenyan, and Culley is a coach at Loyola University in Maryland.

A record number of runners braved cold, blustery conditions as the temperature hovered in the 40s. Both races set registration records as 6,006 runners signed up to run the 8K and 5,109 for the marathon. The Richmond Times-Dispatch Kids Run drew 627 runners.

Race organizers estimated the race drew 15,000 spectators.

Contact Vic Dorr Jr. at (804) 649-6442 or vdorr@timesdispatch.com. Contact Michael Phillips at mphillips@timesdispatch.com.