Nelson Oyugi, 22, of Kenya repeated as the men’s champion in the America’s Finest City Half-Marathon in San Diego, Calif., Sun., Aug. 17, as he ran 1:05:17.

Tesfaye Alemayehu, 30, a transplanted Ethiopian now living in Antioch, Calif., and himself a former winner of this race, was the runner-up in 1:05:40.

Christopher Kipyego, 40, of Kenya rounded out the top three as he ran 1:05:50 to finish third.

Oyugi had won this race last year in a course record 1:01:59 with Alemayehu finishing third in 1:02:06. The times in general this year were much slower because of the heat and humidity the runners had to endure. Alemayehu’s time when he won this race in 2012 had been 1:03:44.

After crossing the finish line on Sunday in San Diego’s most prestigious race, Oyugi knelt down to offer a prayer.

“I just give thanks,” he explained. “I feel good. The heat was tough so I knew that a record was not coming.”

He pulled away from Alemayehu over the last mile after leading all the way with the Ethiopian a step behind.

“Myself, I don’t like to be behind,” said Oyugi, who trains in Santa Fe, N. Mex. “My experience helped. I knew the course and the place to race toward the end.”

The third-place finisher Christopher Kipyego, who, like Oyugi, trains in Santa Fe, N. Mex., turned 40 this year, and at San Diego he finished just 30 seconds off the 32-year-old Masters record for this race despite the tough conditions. Not only that, he stayed with the leaders for the first 10 miles.