Wesley Korir celebrates with a huge win in Los Angeles. © www.photorun.net
Wesley Korir of Kenya and Tatyana Petrova of Russia were the winners of the 24th running of the Los Angeles Marathon on Monday. This year, the race took place at the end of May. Previously, it had been held in March. Korir’s stunning time, 2:08:24 hours, broke the three-year-old course record which had been 2:08:40. He also set a five minute PR along the way. Petrova ran an impressive 2:25:59. This was a great achievement for her since she had previously focused her efforts on the steeplechase event.
In the men’s race, Laban Kipkemboi of Kenya, a member of the KIMbia team, dictated the pace early on, but the front running affected him and he had to back off after 20 miles. Still, he ended up finishing third in 2:10:29. After Kipkemboi dropped back, the race turned into an exciting duel between Korir and the Ethiopian, Tariku Jufar. But Korir countered all Jufar’s surges and, after a few kilometers, Jufar flagged and ended up in second place with 2:09:32.
Besides being crowned in the victor’s laurels, Korir also received a generous reward. It’s been a tradition in Los Angeles for many years that the women’s race begins ahead of the men’s. Whoever is first across the line collects a bonus of $100,000. Wesley Korir secured this bonus when he passed Petrova 5K from the finish.
In the women’s race Tatyana Petrova took the initiative shortly after the half-marathon point. Once she was clear of her closest rival, Amane Gobena (Ethiopia), she was on course for victory. Gobena finished second in 2:26:53. Russian runners also claimed third and fourth places: Silvia Skvortsova (2:28:35) and Lyubov Morgunova (2:29:42). For the Russians athletes, the race was also a qualifying event for the World Championships in August.
Because of her win in Los Angles, Petrova has a strong possibility to be selected for the World Championship marathon team. She had been trying to run repeat marathons under 2:30 hours and has now done that twice.
Mo Farah Makes England Proud
Mo Farah wins one for England. © www.photorun.net
Mo Farah could hardly have chosen a better place to set a British record. The 26-year-old British runner won the “BUPA London 10,000″ which finished in front of Buckingham Palace. He not only won the 10-kilometer race, but also smashed the British record, stopping the clock at 27:50 minutes. The fastest woman was the New Zealander, Kim Smith, who ran 31:38. Overall, the race attracts 9,000 starters.
After the race, Farah, who was the European indoor champion in the 3,000-meter event, had this to say: “My training has been going very well and I knew I was in top form. My aim was to run just under 28 minutes. It’s a great bonus for me that I was able to do even better than that and set a national record.” He had just returned from four weeks altitude training at Font Romeu, the French Pyrenean base also used by Paula Radcliffe. ”
Farah and the Kenyan Samuel Kosgei raced for 7K of the looped course in the city of London. “I knew I could beat Samuel if it came to a sprint finish. But as I wanted to run a fast time, I forced the pace,” said Farah afterwards, who eventually pulled away from Kosgei. At the finish he had improved the old British record held by Mark Scrutton by five seconds. Samuel Kosgei finished second in 28:03 ahead of the European Cross Country champion, Sergey Lebid (Ukraine/28:34). Mo Farah’s next major objective is the World Championships where he hopes to run the 5K.
Kim Smith dominated the women’s race from start to finish. She ended up improving her personal best by 40 seconds. The British runner, Hattie Dean, finished second in 33:52.
Boston Champ Continues his Successful American Tour
Over 30,000 runners stood on the starting line this weekend in Ottowa. © www.photorun.net
As expected, this year’s Boston Marathon champion, Deriba Merga of Ethiopia, provided the outstanding performance of the “Ottawa Race Weekend.” The Canadian organizers hosted seven different races over Saturday and Sunday, bringing a total of 32,873 participants onto the streets. The sporting highlight came on Saturday when Merga won the 10K in 27:24 minutes, continuing his impressive record of success in North America. In January, he won the Houston Marathon with a course record of 2:07:52 hours and five weeks ago, he triumphed again, winning Boston in 2:08:42.
Meriba, who was fourth in the Olympic Marathon and also set a personal best of 2:06:38 in London in 2008, had originally wanted to attack the world 10K record in Ottawa which is held by Micah Kogo. The Kenyan set this in running 27:01 in the Netherlands in March. The race organizers had held out a bonus of $100,000 for a new record. But Merga’s plan didn’t go as expected when the pacemakers couldn’t sustain the goal pace after 2K. This left Deriba Merga on his own at the front far earlier than planned. The 28-year-old reached 5K in 13:31 but then lost speed over the second half. However, only Micah Kogo in setting the world record has run faster than the Ethiopian this year. With just a month since his Boston Marathon triumph, Deriba Merga has no reason to be disappointed. He finished almost a minute ahead of the Kenyan pair of Boaz Cheboiywo (28:17) and Hosea Rutto (28:21).
The women’s race was equally stunning. Teyba Erkesso completed the Ethiopian double, winning in equally dominating fashion to Deriba Merga. She won in 31:51, well clear of her compatriot Emebet Bacha (32:45) and the Kenyan, Jane Murage (33:06).
Kenya also triumphed in Sunday’s marathon: David Cheruiyot hung on to win in 2:13:23 from the Ethiopian Wegayehu Girma (2:13:29) and the Moroccan Ahmed Baday (2:13:56). Asmae Leghzaoui of Morocco set a course record of 2:27:41 to win the women’s title from Lioudmila Kortchaguina (Canada/2:32:10) and Irene Kosgei (Kenya/2:34:28).
Big Day for Ethiopia at the Bolder Boulder 10K
Before the starting gun, the men’s race in the Bolder Boulder 10K looked to be a very competitive one. Last weekend’s second place finisher at the Bay to Breakers, Tilahun Regassa of Ethiopia was one of the pre-race favorites, but so too was KIMbia’s John Yuda who won the Lilac Bloomsday Race earlier this month. However, once the gun went off, it was all Regassa’s race.
Crossing the first mile in a mind-numbing 4:06 minutes, Regassa ran from the front and never looked back. The rest of the pack tried to maintain contact, but only second place finisher Tadese Tola, of Ethiopia and John Yuda of Tanzania could keep up. Regassa pulled away by the second mile and was never challenged. He broke the tape in 28:17 which was the fastest time since 1995. Tola finished second in 28:36. Yuda was third in 29:16.
The women’s race was equally dominated by Ethiopia, but more contested than the men’s event. Mamito Daska broke the tape in 32:48 followed by her compatriot, Teyba Erkesso (33:02). Yurika Nakamura of Japan placed third in 33:28.
Ethiopia won both the men’s and women’s team competitions—the first time a team has done that since 1998. The United States’ men’s team put on a great showing in front of a hometown crowd and placed second. KIMbia’s Kenyan contingent placed third in both the men’s and women’s races.
