Eliud Kipchoge Shows Why He is King of the Marathon in London

By Adam Kopet of DyeStat

Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei won the Virgin Money London Marathon Sunday, solidifying themselves as the top marathoners in the world.

RESULTS

Kipchoge earned his 10th straight marathon victory and won a record fourth London Marathon title. With his winning time of 2:02:37, Kipchoge lowered his own course record and ran the second fastest record-eligible marathon ever.

However, Kipchoge’s victory was not certain until the very end. At halfway, Kipchoge led eight other men, including Great Britain’s Mo Farah, Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang and Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola. The halfway split for Kipchoge was 1:01:37, just over 2:03 pace.

At 30K, the lead group was down to four. Kipchoge motioned for any one of the Ethiopian trio still in the race, Mosinet Geremew, Mule Washihun and Tola Kitata, to join him at the front, but no one was willing to help Kipchoge set the pace.

The lead group of four remained together, with Kipchoge still leading through 35K, reaching the marker in 1:41:55, 2:02:51 pace. Kipchoge had yet to drop his competitors.

The hot pace eventually took its toll. Daylight finally formed between Kipchoge and his pursuers as he began to pull away. One by one, Kitata, Wasihun and Geremew fell off Kipchoge’s torrid pace.

Kipchoge made the turn in front of Big Ben all alone as he ran around St. James Park toward Buckingham Palace and then into the finishing straight on the Mall.

Geremew finished second, 18 seconds back of Kipchoge. His 2:02:55 makes him the second- fastest man ever in in London. He bettered the previous record by two seconds.

Wasihun finished third, another 21 seconds back of Geremew, in 2:03:16. Kitata faded significantly over the final stage of the race, but held on to fourth in 2:05:01. Farah, who had been hyped before the race as a possible challenger to Kipchoge finished fifth in 2:05:39.

This was the smallest margin of victory for Kipchoge since he won the 2017 Berlin Marathon in rainy conditions over Ethiopia’s Guye Adola by 14 seconds.

The women’s elite runners started the race conservatively, with no one going with the lead pacemakers. The world’s elite women, including Vivian Cheruiyot, Gladys Cherono, Brigid Kosgei and Mary Keitany, all from Kenya, sat back to size each other up and to avoid the windy conditions. They were joined by Ethiopia’s Roza Dereje, who also owns a sub-2:20 personal best.

Kosgei made her bid for the win from more than 12 kilometers out. Only Cheruiyot was able to respond. After passing halfway in 1:1:11:38, which is just over 2:23 pace, Kosgei’s move put her and Cheruiyot on 2:20:18 pace.

Over the final 12 kilometers, it was back and forth between Kosgei, who would push the pace, only to see Cheruiyot come battling back. Kosgei simply kept upping the ante with each surge until Cheruiyot could not respond anymore.

Kosgei went on to win in a personal best 2:18:20, closing the second-half of the race in an impressive 1:06:42. It was one of the fastest, if not the fastest, close in a women’s marathon in history.

Cheruiyot faded in the final two kilometers, but held on for second in 2:20:14. She and Kosgei switched places from where they finished in the 2018 London Marathon.

Dereje finished third in a sprint finish with Cherono, running 2:20:51 to Cherono’s 2:20:52. Keitany was fifth in 2:20:58.

After running with the leaders through the first half of the race, Emily Sisson, running her marathon debut, finished sixth in 2:23:08. That is a women’s-only American record and the second-fastest American debut marathon after Jordan Hasay’s 2:23:00 debut at the 2017 Boston Marathon.

Molly Huddle, who ran much of the early stages of the race with Sisson, struggled late. Still, she finished 12th with an 11-second personal best in 2:26:33.

Fifteen men and 15 women earned the 2020 Olympic marathon standard. Both Sisson and Huddle earned the standard.

UAE Healthy Kidney 10K

Mathew Kimeli of Kenya and Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia won the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K Sunday in Central Park in New York City.

RESULTS | VIDEO

Kimeli improved his finishing place by one spot from 2018, when he finished runner-up to Rhonex Kipruto. Entering the race, Kimeli had his eyes on Kipruto’s course record and the $30,000 bonus for breaking it, however, it was not to be. Kimeli won the race easily in 27:45.

Behind Kimeli, it was Ethiopia’s Girma Bekele Gebre who took home runner-up honors in 28:07. Third went to Kenya’s Edwin Kibichiy in 28:21.

Like Kimeli, Teferi made her bid to break the Central Park record. Her goal was to run under 30:44.The course’s early hills put Teferi behind schedule as she reached the halfway-point in 15:31. She was able to speed up slightly in the second half to finish in 30:59.

With Teferi out front on her own, the remaining podium places were a battle between Kenya’s Monicah Ngige and the defending champion Buze Diriba of Ethiopia. Ngige, who finished third the previous two years finished one spot better in 31:52. Diriba was third in 32:20.

You can read more about the UAE Healthy Kidney 10K on DyeStat from Rich Sands of Race Results Weekly.

Rock ’n’ Roll Madrid Marathon

Kenya’s Reuben Kerio and Ethiopia’s Shasho Insermu broke the course records in winning the Rock ‘n’ Roll Madrid Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label race, Saturday in Spain’s capital.

RESULTS

Kerio ran 2:08:18 to lead a Kenyan sweep of top four places. An initial lead group of 16 men slowly shrunk over the course of the race until Kerio was running on his own for the final six kilometers.

Kipkemoi Kipsang finished second to Kerio, 30 seconds back in 2:08:48. Kiprotich Kirui was third in 2:09:05 and Edwin Kiptoo was fourth in 2:10:17. The first non-Kenyan finisher was Spain’s Javier Guerra, who ran 2:10:19 for fifth.

Like Kerio, Insermu led an Ethiopian sweep of the top-four places in the women’s race that saw two women go under the previous event record of 2:30:40. Insermu gained her advantage over her compatriots before the first-half of the race was complete, before going on to win in 2:26:24.

Fetale Dejen Tsegaye finished second, 42 seconds back, in 2:27:06. Completing the Ethiopian podium sweep was Beshadu Bekele in 2:32:16

Despite the slower women’s race, the top five men and women each earned the 2020 Olympic marathon standard by IAAF rule.

Haspa Hamburg Marathon

Competing on the rainy streets of Hamburg, Germany, the Ethiopian duo of Tadu Abate and Dibabe Kuma recorded victories in the men’s and women’s races at the Haspa Hamburg Marathon.

RESULTS

Pre-race favorite Abel Kirui found himself limping after the first 10 kilometers, leaving the men’s race wide open. Among the early leaders was two-time Olympic steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi of Kenya, making his marathon debut, however, he dropped out sometime after 25K.

In the end, the race came down to four men in the final stages, including the Ethiopian trio of Tadu Abate, Ayele Abshero and Jiksa Tolosa, as well as the 2012 Olympic marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda.

At several points in the final kilometers, Kiprotich found himself falling behind, only to find the will to work his way back to the lead pack. His effort was not enough. Abate came away the winner in 2:08:25, one second ahead of Abshero. Kiprotich completed the podium in 2:08:31. Tolosa finished fourth  in 2:08:51.

The women’s race had originally been set to feature the marathon debut of the half marathon world record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei. However, after deciding to instead pace the London Marathon, the women’s race was dominated by Kuma, who broke away from the other lead women in the second-half of the race. She won in 2:21:41.

Magdalyne Masai of Kenya finished second, running 2:26:02. Tanzania’s Failuna Matanga finished third in 2:27:55.

Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon

Ruth Chepngetich and Amos Kurgat, both of Kenya, won the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label race in Japan.

RESULTS

Chepngetich has been on a tear since she won the Istanbul Marathon last fall in 2:18:35. Since then she won the Dubai Marathon in 2:17:08, which ranks her third on the all-time list. She has also won two of her three half marathon races this spring, finishing second at the Bahrain Night Half Marathon and then winning the Istanbul Half Marathon and now the Gifu Seiryu Half Marathon.

Chepngetich’s time of 1:06:06 is the fastest women’s half marathon ever run in Japan. She earned the overwhelming victory, taking 98 seconds off the course record, which was set by Jepkosgei in 2017, the same year she twice broke the half marathon world record.

It was a Kenyan sweep of the women’s podium, with Joan Melly Chelimo finishing second in 1:08:01 and Evaline Chirchir finishing third in 1:08:07.

In the men’s race, a pack of 10 men led the race through the first 5K until course record holder Bedan Karoki of Kenya took up the pace after 20 minutes.

However, the big move of the race happened after 37 minutes of running when Nicholas Kosimbei surged into the lead. Karoki and Kurgat were the only men able to cover the move.

Kosimbei’s time at the front would prove to be short lived as Kurgat finally made his move with about seven kilometers remaining. Karoki tried to cover the move, but he was unable to stay on the fierce pace set down by Kurgat.

Kurgat went on to win in 1:00:34. Karoki finished in the runner-up position in 1:01:07. Abraham Kipyatich completed the Kenyan sweep in 1:01:30, winning a tight battle with fellow Kenyans Silas Kingori and Kosimbei and Japan’s Yuta Shitara.