The ninth annual Albany Marathon, divided into a full 26.2-mile marathon and a 13-mile half-marathon, drew 1,509 runners from around 40 different states and five different countries, on a brisk Saturday morning.

Christopher Zablocki of Essex, Conn., stood as the full marathon overall winner and faced no trouble taking the top slot among the 730 marathoners as he reached the finish line in a brisk 2 hours, 18 minutes and 57 seconds.

After crossing the finish line, Zablocki, 26, said that two years ago he came second in the same marathon but he wanted to come first so he came again. Zablocki, the marathon winner, is a student of medicine at St. Martin in the Netherland Antilles, located some 150 miles east of Puerto Rico.

Albany’s Patrick Whitehead stood at second place with a time of 1:14:36 and Lucas Stocks of Chattanooga, Tenn., earned third place with a time of 1:17:51.

In the day’s half-marathon, an additional 778 runners took part with Wes Hargrove of Columbus posting the fastest time at 1 hour, 14 minutes and 36 seconds.

In the female division of the full marathon, the top honors were won by Sara Howe of Athens with a time of 2:44:39, followed by Lyidmila Stepanova of Hebron, Ky., in second place with a time of 2:48:30. Jessica Marlier of Chattanooga, Tenn., captured third with a time of 2:51:31.

In the female division of the half-marathon, Jan Rogan of Chattanooga, Tenn., posted the fastest time of 1:18:52, followed by Maurya Lacey of Alpharetta with a time of 1:29:47 to earn second place. Albany’s Jennifer Perkins earned third with a time of 1:31:23.

The Albany race boasts comparatively flat terrain, and is considered a fast course within the running community, making it a must-run event for the ones determined to break personal best times and also for those trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon.