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Haile Stayin, an Israeli Marathon runner already
qualified for Beijing 2008 was returning from a training
camp in Ethiopia and arrived in the early hours, only
making it to the start line with 13 minutes to spare. He
was the top Israeli runner through 32km but then had
to retire. Zvadya Vodage won the national title,
clocking 2:18:44, with last year’s winner Assaf Bimro
only a few steps behind in 2:18:46. Nili Abramski won
the women’s race outright and became national
champion. This was her 11th Tiberias Marathon win.
About 5,000 people took part in the various races
during the two days of events.
MEN:
1 Leonard MUCHERA KEN 2:10:32
2 Kenneth Mburu MUGERU KEN 2:10:37
3 Jackson KIPKOECH KEN 2:10:57
4 Samuel MUTURI KEN 2:11:05
5 Etama GELANA ETH 2:11:58
6 Temesgen Yared MEKKONEN ETH 2:17:50
7 Wadage ZEVADIA ISR 2:18:45
8 Asaf BIMRO ISR 2:18:46
9 Maweu Meshack MUTUNGI KEN 2:19:08
10 Benjamin Kipketer BOR KEN 2:20:18
WOMEN:
1 Nili ABRAMSKY ISR 2:39:15
2 Grace Wavuwa KITONGA KEN 2:47:43
3 Ruth KALUNBA KEN 2:52:31
4 Loris MENDELOVICH ISR 2:58:11
5 Orna BLOW ISR 3:07:13
6 Kalkidan BALCHA ETH 3:15:38
7 Lila FRENKEL ISR 3:16:10
8 Dorit SHOBALI ISR 3:18:59
9 Nechama ABRAMOFF ISR 3:19:27
10 Milka GUTEMA ETH 3:19:32
18 JANUARY 2008:
STANDARD CHARTERED DUBAI
MARATHON, UAE
Haile Gebrselassie ran the second fastest marathon in
history, 2:04:53, but a suicidal early tempo ruined any
chance of breaking his own world record writes Pat
Butcher. The weather was perfect for marathoners,
global warming, or in the Gulf, global cooling, kept the
07:00 start temperature down to 11°C, rising to just 14°C
at the finish. Passing 10km in 28:39, Gebrselassie was 45
seconds up on his Berlin record pace, and at halfway
(61:27), that advantage had stretched to a minute. He
maintained his advance on a new world mark until
35km, when he still had 25 seconds in hand. The last
pacemaker, Abel Kirui, had stopped at 30km, and the
pace was dropping inexorably. The promise of a million
dollars for a new record, offered by Dubai Holdings,
evaporated before 40km, and in the end the 34 year
old Ethiopian was 27 seconds shy of his record.
Nevertheless, he consolidated his position as the
world’s best marathoner and won the biggest prize in
marathon history, $250,000. Gebrselassie conceded
that the start was too fast: “I wanted to do 62 minutes
for halfway, and I paid the price in the final stages, but
I’m happy to run this time.”
The women’s race was far more competitive, and
also fast in the early stages, though not in the same
register as Gebrselassie. Seven women were still
together at halfway in 70 minutes, but similarly, class
told in the end. Berhane Adere ran away in the last few
kilometres, to win less than two minutes outside her
national record, and also won $250,000. Bezunesh
Bekele made one of the fastest marathon debuts in
history to finish second and defending champion
Askale Magarsa also set a personal best in third. Lornah
Kiplagat dropped out just after halfway with the
recurrence of a calf problem, and Olivera Jevtic of
Serbia lasted until 30km when stomach problems
forced her out.
MEN:
1 Haile GEBRSELASSIE ETH 2:04:53
2 Isaac MACHARIA KEN 2:07:16
3 Sammy KORIR KEN 2:08:01
4 Gudisa SHENTAMA ETH 2:09:27
5 Tesfaye TOLA ETH 2:09:38
6 Raymond KIPKOECH KEN 2:09:39
7 Deressa CHISMA ETH 2:10:16
8 Asnake FIKADU ETH 2:11:04
9 Gashaw MELESE ETH 2:12:03
10 William Todo ROTICH KEN 2:12:20
WOMEN:
1 Birhane ADERE ETH 2:22:42
2 Bezunesh BEKELE ETH 2:23:09
3 Askale Tafa MAGARSA ETH 2:23:23
4 Rose Jelagat CHERUIYOT KEN 2:25:48
5 Alice CHELANGAT KEN 2:27:29
6 Asha Gigi ROBA ETH 2:28:24
7 Shitaye GEMECHU ETH 2:30:20
8 Roba Guta TOLA ETH 2:33:44
9 Kidst TEKA ETH 2:35:58
10 Lucia KIMANI KEN 2:37:37
19 JANUARY 2008:
CABO HALF MARATHON, MEXICO
MEN:
1 Joseph MUTISYA KEN 1:04:34
2 Sergio Pedraza GONZALEZ MEX 1:04:38
3 Francisco Posadas CRUZ MEX 1:04:46
4 Jose Uribe MARINO MEX 1:05:24
5 Cesar Luis MIRAVETE MEX 1:06:56
6 Francisco Fernandez MIRANDA MEX 1:07:51
7 Alejandro Salvador CRUZ MEX 1:10:15
8 Israel Avila ACOSTA MEX 1:10:26
9 Kiprot KIBET KEN 1:11:36
10 Luis Ceron TORRES MEX 1:13:40
WOMEN:
1 Teresia MBUGUA KEN 1:16:59
2 Sara Cedillo SANCHEZ MEX 1:17:21
3 Truphena JEMELI TARUS MEX 1:23:08
4 Esther JURASEK USA 1:27:41
5 Yesemnia Felix VARELA MEX 1:32:42
6 Martha Arroyo MALDONADO MEX 1:34:10
7 Maria Billar ALCANTARA MEX 1:34:26
8 Josefina Diaz MARTINEZ MEX 1:34:53
9 Teresa Rodriguez SAAVEDRA MEX 1:34:57
10 Cathy ARMSTRONG USA 1:35:06
20 JANUARY 2008:
STANDARD CHARTERED MUMBAI
MARATHON, INDIA
On a morning that was cool by Mumbai standards a
large group set off at an ambitious sub 2:10 pace, with
a sizeable group of women also on schedule to go
under 2:30 writes Ram. Murali Krishnan. Mulu Seboka
went on to set a course record and Indian all-comers
record in winning for the third time, following up on
her 2005 and 2006 victories while John Kelai
successfully defended the men’s crown.
Seboka improved her own course reord from 2006 by
over three minutes. Helped by an untypically cool
20°C at the start of the race she was led out by
pacemaker Hellen Nzembi as Seboka remained in the
bunch at 10km with 35:36. She went ahead after 15km
and registered 1:14:30 at halfway but was still being
hotly pursued by the fast-improving Irene Mogaka.
Daniel Rono, the 2006 winner at Mumbai, acted as
a pacemaker, leading through the first half in 64:51. It
increased the high expectation among the fans,
thousands of whom assembled on the roadside, as well
as millions of television viewers who watched it live
from their homes across the country on national
television. Five runners led on the return journey after
the turnaround point at 23km. The most signficant rise
on the course comes at 35km, and on the descent a
kilometre later defending champion John Kelai led with
Philemon Boit and Tariku Jifar tracking him. The trio
stayed together for the long exposed stretch along
Marine Drive before turning away from the sea towards
the finish with less than 2km to run. Kelai had not
shied away from leading and his strength told in the
final kilometre as he took a small but decisive lead
from Jifar. He finished with a time four seconds faster
than last year, and only 20 seconds outside the course
record set by Daniel Rono in 2006.
In a strong run Ram Singh Yadav, the first Indian
finisher, broke 2:20 and made the top ten but just
missed the Olympic qualifying “B” standard of 2:18.
Indian runners held centre-stage in the Half-Marathon
as Surendra Singh overpowered Jutsi Utrianen of
Finland. Kavita Raut got the better of compatriot
Preeja Sreedharan in the women’s race.
The number of participants grows each year. Apart
from the marathon and half-marathon, a 6km Dream
Run, a 4.3km Senior Citizens’ Run and a 2.5km
wheelchair event were also conducted. Prizes were
also given to Best Costumed participants. The
organisers, Procam International, had to restrict entries
even though a record 33,000 ran this year. Apart from
its competitive side a festive atmosphere prevailed as
industrialists, film personalities, politicians, journalists
and players from various sports joined together with
commoners to keep the spirit alive year after year.
MEN:
1 John KELAI KEN 2:12:23
2 Tariku JIFAR ETH 2:12:28
3 Philemon BOIT KEN 2:12:35
4 Amersisa KETEMA ETH 2:13:37
5 Elijah NYAMBUTI KEN 2:14:28
6 Enoch MITEI KEN 2:16:13
7 Evans RUTO KEN 2:17:06
8 John Maluni KATIO KEN 2:17:35
9 Zachary KIHARA KEN 2:18:19
10 Ram Singh YADAV IND 2:18:24
WOMEN:
1 Mulu SEBOKA ETH 2:30:04
2 Irene MOGAKA KEN 2:32:51
3 Margaret TOROITICH KEN 2:33:56
4 Winifrida KWAMBOKA KEN 2:37:35
5 Kebebush HAILLE ETH 2:37:36
6 Moges ZEBENAY ETH 2:37:36
7 Nailya YOULANONOVA RUS 2:37:39
8 Letay NEGASH ETH 2:39:53
9 Marashet JIMMA ETH 2:40:42
10 Katerina STETSENKO UKR 2:43:10
20 JANUARY 2008:
CHINA COAST MARATHON,
HONG KONG
Gunnar Rethfeldt claimed his third victory in Hong
Kong’s longest running marathon. He won comfortably
but had looked set for a faster time before the heat
seemed to take its toll in the second half. Veteran John
Lane, 71, continued his streak of having competed in
every China Coast Marathon since its inception.
MEN:
1 Gunnar RETHFELDT HKG 2:47:19
2 Ping Chuen WONG HKG 2:52:23
3 Ming Fai LAI HKG 2:56:05
Distance Running April – June 2008
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