Dire Tune has not only successfully defended her title at the 36th edition of the Houston Marathon, but her big personal best has moved her closer to the top echelon of women marathoners. Just 22 years old, the Ethiopian won the race in a course record of 2:24:39, providing the top performance of the event, which also included the U.S. half marathon championships. Kenyan David Cheruiyot won the men’s marathon in 2:12:31.
A year ago, Tune won her marathon debut in Houston in 2:26:52; now she’s improved that by over two minutes. She finished almost 10 minutes ahead of her compatriot Worknesh Tola (2:35:37). Third was the Russian Yulia Vinokurova in 2:38:41. Tune’s time placed her tenth in the overall finishers! Behind Cheruiyot the next finishers were Kasime Adilo (Ethiopia/2:12:53) and Tomas Abyu (Britain/2:13:45).
The national half marathon titles went to James Carney in 62:21 and Kate O’Neill in 71:57. The total number of participants for all competitions in Houston was a record 20,768 finishers. Entries for both main races were fully booked by the end of September. It is estimated that runners raised $1 million for charity.
Bekele Returns With a Win
Kenenisa Bekele lived up to expectations in winning his first race since his marriage in November 2007. The 25-year-old Ethiopian won the prestigious Edinburgh cross country race over 9.3km in 27:42 by just one second from Zersenay Tadesse (Eritrea). The fastest woman over 6.7km was Gelete Burka (Ethiopia) in 19:58.
For Bekele, it was not only a perfect start to the Olympic year, but also revenge and rehearsal. The five-time world cross country champion had surprisingly dropped out last year in Mombasa, Kenya while attempting to become the first to win six world cross country titles. In his place, Tadesse became world champion. Now Bekele has been able to take revenge on the course where this year’s world championships will be held on March 30. Third in Edinburgh on a course iced over in parts was the Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, who was credited with the same time as Tadesse at the finish.
In the women’s race, Burka went clear of her rivals early on. Second was the junior world cross country champion, Linet Masai, in 20:13. The Kenyan traveled to Nairobi with a police escort from Eldoret, currently a center of unrest, to catch her flight to Britain. Third was Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya/20:34) ahead of the European junior cross country champion, Stephanie Twell (Britain), credited with the same time.
Ethiopians Fastest in Egmond
Ethiopians dominated the 36th running of and celebrated a double win at the Egmond Half Marathon. Organizers of the long-established Dutch race, where part of the course runs over sand dunes, had over 10,000 entries, with Mulugeta Wami and Shuru Deriba leading the way.
In somewhat windy conditions, Wami finished in 64:33. That gave him a clear winning margin over the Moroccan Adil Annani (64:47) and the Dutch runner Michel Butter (64:49). The world marathon champion, Luke Kibet, had been scheduled to run in Egmond but he suffered a head wound in the unrest in Kenya and is not allowed to train for two weeks.
Deriba won the women’s race by 8 seconds in 1:13:22 over Hilda Kibet (Kenya/1:13:30), who will run the Dubai Marathon this Friday. Third was Tiruwork Mekonnen (Ethiopia) in 1:13:34. The handicap race between the fastest man and woman was an exciting affair. The best women runners were given a starting advantage of 8 minutes, 46 seconds. Shortly before the end of the race Wami overtook his compatriot Deriba and finished 3 seconds in front.
Zhang Runs World Junior Marathon Record
Kenyan men were also successful at the Xiamen Marathon in China, but it was the women’s winner, Zhang Yingying, who ruled the day. She became the final member of the Chinese women’s marathon squad for the Olympics in Beijing in August. The 18-year-old won the race in a world junior record of 2:22:38 and also broke the course record. Zhou Chunxiu and Zhu Xiaolin were already selected for the Olympic marathon squad.
This should make the Chinese women favorites in the race, along with the defending champion Mizuki Noguchi (Japan), the world champion Catherine Ndereba (Kenya), the World Marathon Majors winner Gete Wami (Ethiopia) and the world record holder Paula Radcliffe. Zhou won the London Marathon last year in a world best time of 2:20:38, and then was second at the World Championships. Zhu won the national title in 2007 in 2:26:08 and was fourth at the World Championships.
Zhang won in Xiamen ahead of two compatriots: Bai Xue, only 23, (2:23:27) and Wie Yanan (2:25:10). The women’s world junior had record had stood at 2:23:37, set by the Chinese Min Liu in Beijing in 2001. Zhou Chunxiu had held the course record with 2:23:38 (2004).
The Kenyan Kiprotich Kenei won the men’s race in 2:09:49, 1 second ahead of his compatriot Elias Kemboi. Third was the Chinese Deng Haiying in 2:10:43. With that performance, Deng won selection for Beijing along with Ren Longyun and Han Gang.
