INDIANAPOLIS -- More than 35,000 people filled the streets of downtown Indianapolis Saturday morning for the official kickoff to the start of May: the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon.

With cool temperatures and overcast skies, it was perfect weather for the 2009 race, 6News' Renee Jameson reported.

But the competition was particularly memorable for the winner of this year's women's race, Janet Cherobon, who took home her third-consecutive victory.

"I'm very excited. This feels great," said Cherobon, a Kenyan native who lives in Rome, Ga. "It was my best time ever. I can't ask for any more than that."

The 30-year-old dominated the women's race, winning with a personal-best time of one hour, 12 minutes and 22 seconds, well below her 2008 winning time of one hour, 14 minutes and 53 seconds.

Fellow Kenyan Festus Langat made the most of his first appearance in the mini-marathon, winning the men’s race in one hour, three minutes and 55 seconds.

"It was just because of my training," said Langat, who lives in West Chester, Pa. "When I train in Kenya, I do a lot of it on speed courses. That made me go a lot faster today. I'm hoping to be back here next year."

Saturday's win was also a repeat for Tony Iniguez, who took home his fourth-straight first place finish in the wheelchair division, beating his 2008 time by more than two minutes.

"I love to race. I love the sport," the Illinois resident said. "It really helps my health and helps me to stay in shape. I would say I'm on the downward slope of my racing career, so it's about staying healthy and staying fit."

Race organizers took precautions to prevent the spread of the H1N1 flu virus among such a large crowd. Runners and volunteers with flu-like symptoms were asked to stay home.

"Some of the things that we did for our volunteers and participants is that we have extra hand sanitizer around the mini-marathon area and extra gloves for our volunteers," said spokeswoman Brandi Davis-Handy.

The 500 Festival Mini-Marathon is the nation's largest half marathon.