SACRAMENTO (California), Dec 8: Michael Bartoszak, of Poland, beat out 5,000 other competitors to win the 50,000 dollar California International Marathon here on Sunday.

The 31-year-old Bartoszak finished almost four minutes ahead of Kenyan Jonah Rono in a time of 2hrs 16.21secs. Rono ran a 2:20.28 while American Erik Kean was third in 2:20.38.

The top female finisher was Russia’s Tatiana Titova who completed the 26-mile course in 2:33.31.

Iraqi athlete Ali Al-Bahadly finished in 293rd place with a time of 3:18.55.

Al-Bahadly is expected to represent Iraq at the Olympics next year in Athens.

This year’s Sacramento race attracted runners from 16 countries and serves as a qualifying event for the Boston Marathon and the 2004 Olympics.

Organizers claim Al-Bahadly is the first Iraqi to compete internationally since US invaded Iraq eight months ago. —AFP