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Pamela Chepchumba confirmed their form in winning
their races, with Chepchumba smashing her previous
best of 2:29:48 set in the 2006 Paris Marathon.
A seven-man group including three pacemakers passed
15km in 45:46, 45 seconds ahead of the chasing group.
Two pacers dropped out at halfway, reached in 1:04:24,
after which the pace slowed slightly as runners
watched each other. At 30km it was down to four men:
John Birgen, Norman Dlomo, Charles Kamathi and
Cheruiyot. Dlomo tried to break away at 34km.
Kamathi was dropped but Cheruiyot and Birgen
responded quickly and the three passed 35km in 1:47:30.
Cheruiyot and Birgen then went clear. Cheruiyot’s
speed (he ran 59:05 in Udine) proved decisive at 39km
when he pulled away from Birgen to finish in the Arco
della Pace with a five-second advantage
Margaret Okayo, the Milan record holder
with 2:24:59 from 2002, hit the front early on and ran
with Chepchumba, passing 10km in 33:45. She
completed her test, coming back from injury, at
halfway, passed in 1:11:50. In the second half
Chepchumba continued running strongly at course
record pace but showed signs of fatigue at the end, and
the record slipped from her grasp. This was the fourth
Marathon of her career. Bahrain’s Nadia Ejjaffini led
Marcella Mancini by 50 seconds at 30km, but the
Italian overhauled her at 40km to take second.
MEN:
1 Evans CHERUIYOT KEN 2:09:15
2 John BIRGEN KEN 2:09:20
3 Norman MBLOMO RSA 2:10:39
4 Charles KAMATHI KEN 2:11:25
5 Ottavio ANDRIANI ITA 2:11:42
WOMEN:
1 Pamela CHEPCHUMBA KEN 2:25:36
2 Marcella MANCINI ITA 2:34:58
3 Petra TEVELI HUN 2:35:21
2 DECEMBER 2007:
STANDARD CHARTERED
SINGAPORE INT’L MARATHON,
Pacemaker Elijah Mbogo of Kenya ended up going the full
distance and winning his debut marathon writes Pat
Butcher. Two-time winner Amos Matui failed by just two
seconds to catch his 19-year old compatriot. Veteran David
Cheruiyot, who won Istanbul just five weeks ago, made it a
Kenyan clean sweep and also finished under the old
record.
In contrast to his previous marathon start, when he
duly dropped out as planned at 30km, Mbogo said he
every intention of finishing in Singapore if he felt good at
that point.
The earlier start, 5.30am in the city-state meant that
the athletes got the most temperate conditions they are
ever likely to encounter in Singapore - 25C with 40%
humidity at the start - and the men’s group of a dozen
duly attacked Matui’s 2:15:01 record. They were still
together at halfway in 66:55, but when the sun came up
after an hour and half, and temperatures climbed towards
30C the field began to break up. They were on their way
back into town at that point, after the long garden
stretches beside the beach in the East Coast Park.
When the lead car slowed to negotiate a bend Mbogo
shot off into a 100m lead, which he built up to double that
with 2km to go. Even then, as Matui said later, he still
thought he could win. He set out with the same will as in
the last two years, but he just ran out of road.
“I knew he had a good kick, so I tried to build up as big
a lead as possible,” said an exultant Mbogo. I was pacing
until 30k, but I saw that the group was not so strong, so I
decided to attempt it. Personal bests at 10km (28.24) and
the half-marathon (61.40) in Europe two months ago and
nine weeks’ altitude training near Mount Kenya provided
the background for his victory. “I don’t want to rush into
another marathon yet. I want to get better times for 10km
and 59 minutes for the ‘half’,” he said.
The women were always going to be chasing a dream
time, Salina Kosgei’s 2:31:55 from last year. Veteran Edith
Masai of Kenya could not stay with the young Ethiopian,
Alem Ashebier, when she surged away at 35km. Ashebier
won with a personal best by two minutes, despite the
conditions.
MEN:
1 Elijah MBOGO KEN 2:14:23
2 Amos MATUI KEN 2:14:25
3 David CHERUIYOT KEN 2:14:43
4 Francis KIPROP KEN 2:16:43
5 Michael KIMANI KEN 2:17:00
WOMEN
1 Alem ASHEBIER ETH 2:37:08
2 Edith MASAI KEN 2:38:07
3 Caroline KWAMBAI KEN 2:38:46
4 Emma MUTONI KEN 2:39:42
5 Madina BIKTAGIROVA RUS 2:43:28
2 DECEMBER 2007:
LAS VEGAS INT’L MARATHON, USA
The race features a gender challenge, where the elite
women set off a predetermined time ahead of the men
(this year 18 minutes and three seconds) and the first
runner across the finish line receives a $25,000 bonus.
Despite the pre-event publicity the challenge brings,
the life went out of the men’s race as soon as they,
including several 2:09 performers, realized that they
would be unable to catch Silvia Skortsova, who duly
pocketed a total of $45000.
MEN:
1 Christoper CHEBOIBOCH KEN 2:16:49
2 Jynocel BASWETI 2:17:41
3 Philip TANUI KEN 2:20:26
4 Joseph KAHUGU KEN 2:21:13
5 Moses TAYE KEN 2:22:39
WOMEN:
1 Sylvia SKVORTSOVA RUS 2:29:01
2 Irene MOGAKA KEN 2:36:15
3 Tegla LORUPE KEN 2:41:37
4 Viktoria ZUEVA RUS 2:42:29
5 Margaret NAKINTU KEN 2:48:11
HALF MARATHON
MEN:
1 Peter HESSLER USA 1:18:31
WOMEN:
1 Sarah RAITTER USA 1:23:51
2 DECEMBER 2007:
26TH MACAU GALAXY
ENTERTAINMENY INT’L
MARATHON
Almost 3000 participants registered for the marathon,
half and mini marathon and 2356 of them completed
the races. The warm and dry weather offered great
conditions to the runners gathered cheerfully in Macau
Stadium.
LAS VEGAS
Defending female champion Phyo Un Suk, from the
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, retained the
title while the new men’s winner also came from North
Korea.
MEN:
1 Kum Song RI DPK 2:17:39
2 Joseph Kadon EPETET KEN 2:17:56
3 Reuben CHERUIYOT KEN 2:18:35
4 Mikhail IVERUK UKR 2:18:38
5 Hyon U RI DPK 2:18:55
WOMEN:
1 Un Suk PHYO DPK 2:38:26
2 Chol Sun KIM DPK 2:40:00
3 Natalya VOLGINA RUS 2:42:42
4 Edyta LEANDOWSKA POL 2:43:27
5 Kristyna LOONEN NED 2:49:01
HALF MARATHON:
MEN:
1 Kar Lun LEE HKG 1:18:32
WOMEN:
1 Kit Ching YIU HKG 1:27:46
2 DECEMBER 2007:
RUN BARBADOS MARATHON,
HALF & 10KM
Victor Ledger, from the neighbouring Caribbean island
of St Lucia, retained his marathon title in the Run
Barbados Festival by floating away from his rivals
before even reaching the halfway point on the new
out-and-back course along the west coast of Barbados.
Amy Chalk had even less difficulty in distancing the
opposition to retain the women’s title. The half and
full marathon runners started off together at 05.15
from the bandstand on the Esplanade outside the
Prime Minister’s office, and most of the front runners
in the half marathon had also run the 10km race
around Bridgetown the previous afternoon. The
convincing winners of the 10km, Kenyans Philip Lagat
and Janet Cheberon, repeated their wins, with Lagat
setting a new event record despite it being generally
acknowledged that the new course is slightly more
difficult than that previously run.
MEN:
1 Victor LEDGER STL 2:26:27
2 Richard JONES TRI 2:33:16
3 Samuel NJUNGA KEN 2:35:03
4 Curtis COX TRI 2:38:24
5 Pamenos BALLANTYNE VIN 2:38:50
W0MEN:
1 Amy CHALK GBR 3:02:15
2 Kim GOFF USA 3:31:23
3 Elinor CROCK IRL 3:35:40
4 Helen ORIORDAN IRL 3:37:01
5 Irene GAYNOR IRL 3:44:29
HALF MARATHON
MEN:
1 Philip LAGAT KEN 1:05:24
WOMEN:
1 Janet CHEBERON KEN 1:17:22
1 DECEMBER 2007:
10KM
MEN:
1 Philip LAGAT KEN 29:46
WOMEN:
1 Janet CHEBERON KEN 34:03
2 DECEMBER 2007:
LISBON INTERNATIONAL
MARATHON, PORTUGAL
MEN:
1 Vasco AZVEDO POR 2:19:55
66 Distance Running January – March 2008