Jynocel Basweti won the SunTrust Richmond Marathon in 2 hours 22 minutes and claimed the marathoner’s hat trick, three marathon victories in three months.

“This is my first year training like this,” said Basweti, who beat last year’s SunTrust Richmond Marathon winner Mohamed Awol (2:24:51) by two and a half minutes. Basweti, who won the Quad Cities Marathon in September and the Denver Marathon in October and trains in Albuquerque, had won the Quad Cities Marathon in 2006.

“I’m tired from New York City,” said Awol, a New Yorker who was 14th at the New York City Marathon this year. “I ran 40 days ago.” Lynchburg, Virginia’s David Cheromei, second in a dramatic photo finish with Awol at last year’s SunTrust Richmond Marathon, again finished behind him for third place at 2:28:04.

Kristin Price, of Raleigh, North Carolina, won the women’s division with a time of 2:45:02. Price, a former Richmond resident, found her familiarity with the course helpful on a blustery day. “I really like the course,” she said. “Well, I think I like it except for the wind.” Price had lived in Richmond for a few months in 2004 to train with University of Richmond cross country coaches Steve and Lori Taylor. Hirot Legesse, of the Bronx, was second in 2:26:24 and Phebe Ko, of Baltimore, was third at 2:46:57.

In the inaugural McDonald’s Half Marathon Derese Deniboba, of the New York’s Westchester Track Club won the day’s closest race, eking out a 1 second victory over Elijah Kitur with a time of 1:06:50. Tasfaye Girma, also of the Westchester Track Club, was third at 1:06:54. “Yes, he’s a friend,” Deniboba said of Girma, “But that’s running.”

The women’s division was won by New Yorker Alemtsehay Misganaw with a time of 1:18:34. Maria Busienei, of Charleston, W.V., was second at 1:20:51, and Malika Mejdoub, of Baltimore, was third at 1:21:40.

The day’s largest event by registration with 5,111 participants was the NTELOS 8k. Albuquerque’s Robert Letting claimed first place in the men’s race with a time of 22:42. Julius Kiptoo was second (22:59) and Nicholas Kurgat (23:06) was third. Jane Murage, of Boyersford, Pa., won the women’s division in 25:48. New Yorkers Salome Kosgei (26:04) and Buzunesh Deba (26:35) were second and third respectively.

Overall the three events – the NTELOS 8k, the McDonald’s Half Marathon and the SunTrust Richmond Marathon – had 14,046 entrants, while the Richmond Times-Dispatch Kids Run drew 555 registrants to Sports Backers Stadium ht on a drizzly Friday evening for a one-mile fun run. Entries for all weekend events totaled 14,601. Full results at www.richmondmarathon.com.