In its 28^th edition, the Berlin Half Marathon once again produced top-class winning times. The defending champion, Patrick Makau Musyoki, won the biggest and most prestigious German half marathon in 1:00:00. Beaten in the tightest of finishes was Eshetu Wondimu (Ethiopia), who crossed the finish line a second behind. The women’s winner Peninah Arusei achieved the third fastest time in the world this year, as well as the third fastest performance in the history of the race, with 68:22. Taking into account all forms of competition, the event had a record number of 24,551 athletes from 86 nations entered - 20,660 of them were in the half marathon. Despite cool weather conditions, over 150,000 spectators lined the streets to support the race.

“We intended to run faster. Myself and my Kenyan colleagues, we worked hard to push the pace, but it was simply too cold today. But I intend to come back to Berlin next year to break my course record,” said Musyoki. The defending champion still clocked the seventh fastest time of the year and the seventh fastest in the history of the race. A year ago, he ran the course record of 58:56, which is still the fourth fastest time ever.

The early split times hinted that the course record would probably be out of reach. While all of the favorites were in the lead group as they passed 5K in 14:07, the pacemaker was not—Charles Ngolepus had dropped back far too early. “This was not as we had planned it,” said race director Mark Milde. The 10K point was reached in 28:22, almost a minute slower than a year ago. After 15K, reached in 42:48, the lead group was down to four. Only in the final few meters was the race for first settled in favor of the defending champion. In all, five runners finished under 61:00.

The top two would likely have broken an hour if not for having to switch sides of the road in the second mile. At that point, there was an accident in conjunction with the inline skater race, which had started 25 minutes earlier. Emergency forces had blocked the right side of the road. Luckily, this occurred on a wide avenue, so there was no problem in using the left side. But the diversion of 10 or so meters was worth a second or two at the finish.

The cold weather also affected the performance of the women’s winner, although Arusei still did better than expected. “In warmer weather I could have run faster. I think in the future a time of 67 minutes is possible for me – this is my goal,” the 29-year-old Kenyan said. In Berlin she improved her previous personal best by 61 seconds. “Early in the race I looked back to check about the others. I was confident that I would win,” she said about her solo race, which she won ahead of Pauline Wangui (Kenya/69:51) and former Kenyan Isabellah Andersson (Sweden/71:24).

For much of the race it looked as if Arusei would be able to improve the world leading time of countrywoman Philes Ongori (67:57). She opened with a fast first 10K of 31:56 minutes, just 14 seconds slower than the personal best she set three weeks ago. But in the end she slightly slowed and missed Ongori’s mark by 25 seconds.

Next month, Arusei will return to Berlin for the traditional Berlin 25K, which she won two years ago. Given her current form, she has a good shot of breaking the 9-year-old course record of 1:24:29, held by Kenya’s Susan Chepkemei.

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Paris Marathon: 30,000 Runners, 12 under 2:10

The Paris Marathon was also a great combination of a large field and excellent performances. In the first big marathon of April, around 30,000 runners went to the start line. The best results came in the men’s race, with 12 men breaking 2:10. Victory went to Tsegaye Kebede (Ethiopia) in the world-class time of 2:06:40 after a thrilling duel with Moses Arusei. The Kenyan finished in 2:06:50. Kebede’s time is the second fastest in the world this year. Only Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) has run faster with his win in 2:04:53 in Dubai in January.

The lead group reached halfway in 63:40, which means the first two finishers ran the second half faster than the first. Josea Rotich (Kenya/2:07:24) in third place and the Ethiopian Gudisa Shentema behind him (2:07:34) also achieved world-class times.

Among the women, the favorite, Worknesh Tola from Ethiopia, who had arrived in Paris with a best time of 2:25:42, had to yield to the Kenyan Martha Komu. The relative novice broke free of Tola in the latter stages of the race, but not by enough to comfortably enjoy her win. Only 4 seconds separated the winner from second place - Komu won in 2:25:33, Tola ran 2:25:37. Lenah Cheruiyot (Kenya) ran 2:26:00 for third. “I thank God for everything he gave me today,” reflected Komu on her surprise achievement. The Kenyan improved her best time by 7 minutes.

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KIMbia’s Chepkurui Wins Cherry Blossom

KIMbia’s Lineth Chepkurui won the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in Washington, D.C. over a field that included Olympic and World Championship marathon medalists Catherine Ndereba and Lidia Simon. The elite women started 10 minutes before the rest of the field, which might partially explain the surprisingly slow opening mile of 5:50. Things got more normal after that, with Lineth breaking away for good in the eighth mile to win comfortably in 54:21.

KIMbia’s John Yuda was part of a three-man pack sharing the lead with less than a mile to go, but then stopped briefly to tend to a thigh cramp. When he resumed running, the chase pack had caught him. In a sprint finish among that pack, Yuda and Charles Munyeki were almost the fastest–they finished together in 46:22, tied for fourth overall. Three-time Cherry Blossom champ John Korir was seventh in 46:30. Moroccan Ridouane Harroufi outsprinted Kenyan Nicholas Kamakya for the win, 46:14 to 46:15.

50,000 Runners in Stramilano

The Stramilano is traditionally one of the biggest and most illustrious races in the world. On Sunday 50,000 athletes were on the start line for the 12K people’s race and the world-class half marathon. However, this year’s Stramilano, where in the 90s the Kenyans Moses Tanui and Paul Tergat set world records over 13.1 miles, was let down by the pacemakers, and the winning times weren’t as fast as usual. In the end the Kenyan Philemon Kisang Kipchumba won in 62:14 over Wilson Businei (Uganda/62:18) and John Korir Cheruiyot (Kenya/62:24). The victorious Kipchumba will now run the Vienna Marathon on April 27, while the fastest woman in the Stramilano, Maria Zeferina Baldaia, will run the Hamburg Marathon on the same day. The Brazilian finished in 1:13:50, well ahead of Hafida Gadi Richard (France/1:14:21) and Ornella Ferrara (Italy/1:15:00).

Zewdie Edges Farah in Carlsbad

The Carlsbad 5K in California saw a dramatic finish in the men’s race. Ethiopia’s Terefe Maregu Zewdie clocked 13:34 to beat Britain’s Mo Farah by just 1 second. The next three runners were given the same time of 13:36 Haron Lagat (Kenya) was third, while Collis Birmingham (Australia) and Josphat Boit (Kenya) took the next places.

American mile record holder Alan Webb had his second bad road race in as many months. In March, he finished 16th at the U.S. 8K road championships while feeling the effects of food poisoning. He came to Carlsbad for some redemption, and had talked of going for Marc Davis’ national road record of 13:21. Instead, he dropped out with half a mile to go. “I was hurting,” Webb said. “I was putting in surges just to stay up where I was. As soon as we turned around that second time I was done. It’s the only time I’ve dropped out of a race for no other reason than I was hurting.”

There was a Kenyan triumph in the women’s race: Vivian Cheruiyot, who placed second in the 5,000m at last year’s World Championships, won in 15:14. Rose Kosgei (15:21) and Genoveva Kigen (15:41) were second and third. Sara Slattery (USA) took fourth with 15:59. Eight years ago Kenya’s Sammy Kipketer broke the world record in Carlsbad, which since then has remained at 13:00.

Chebii, Changeywo Take Great Ireland Run

The Great Ireland Run in Dublin also attracted a high-class field. The race was won by the former world-class track runner Abraham Chebii. The Kenyan finished in 28:48 ahead of his former compatriot Abdullah Ahmad Hassan (Qatar/28:51). “I had to work hard for the entire race if I was going to win. I sprinted the last 300 meters,” said Chebii, who won this race last year. Third was the European Cross Country champion Sergey Lebid (Ukraine/28:59).

In the women’s race, Jo Pavey had to yield to the Kenyan Doris Changeywo, who won in 32:15. The Briton finished the undulating course 7 seconds behind. Third was Aniko Kalovics (Hungary) in 32:45. “Doris was in very good form, but my result shows that I’m on the right track for the summer,” explained Pavey. In seventh place was Benita Johnson in 33:36. The Australian announced that she would not be running the London Marathon next Sunday as planned because she doesn’t feel fit enough.

Sri Lanka Marathon Overshadowed by Bomb Attack

A weekend of many big international races, where top runners, fitness enthusiasts and spectators joined in the kind of lively atmosphere that gave ample proof of the success of running as a sport, also produced a grim scenario: 13 people died in a bomb blast just before the start of the Sri Lanka Marathon. Over 90 runners were injured. The bombs exploded as a government minister arrived at the start to set the race underway. The minister was killed, as well as a national coach and the runner Kuruppe A. Karunaratne, who ran the marathon at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Karunaratne also competed in the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart. At the 1991 South-East Asian Games, he won the 10,000m and the marathon.