Jason Mbote, shown here pacemaking in Berlin, won in Seoul. © Victah Sailer
The Athens Marathon is far and away the classic race over 26.2 miles. Yet the Greeks don’t seem to make the most of the unique position of their race—in international terms, the Athens Marathon has no particular significance, and the elite field is of medium quality. Nor is the choice of date exactly ideal: the race took place on the same day as last Sunday’s New York Marathon. In contrast to New York, the winners in Athens came from countries traditionally strong in running. A Brazilian and a Latvian triumphed in Manhattan, while a Kenyan and a Japanese won in Greece. Henry Tarus crossed the line in the old Olympic stadium in Athens in 2:17:45 hours. His compatriot Paul Lopio was second in 2:18:08, and third place was taken by Habtamu Bekele (Ethiopia) in 2:20:34. The fastest woman on the demanding course from Marathon to Athens was the Japanese Chikako Ogushi in 2:40:47. She was involved in an exciting duel with the Ethiopian Letay Hadish. Ogushi only broke free of her opponent in the home straight, as her rival finished in 2:40:53. Third was Zinash Alemu (Ethiopia) in 2:42:02.
Jason Mbote Runs a Course Record in Seoul
A few weeks ago, Jason Mbote was just one of Haile Gebrselassie’s pacemakers for the Berlin Marathon. Now the Kenyan has won his first race over 26.2 miles, and improved his personal best into the bargain with 2:08:13 hours. That time also gave him the course record for the Seoul Marathon, and was faster than the winning time in New York on Sunday. Kenyans took the first four places, and all of them finished under 2:10. Paul Kirui was second in 2:09:05, Philip Manyim followed in 2:09:35 and Wilson Onsare ran 2:09:47 for fourth. In contrast to the men’s, the women’s race was not of a high standard and lacked international competitors. The Korean Kim Hye-kyong was first in 2:40:36.
The women’s race at the Istanbul Marathon was better. The Russian Madina Biktagirova won in 2:28:21. The fastest man in Turkey was Mindaugas Puktstas from Lithuania in 2:12:52.
