Rita Jeptoo © www.photorun.net
Kenyan Rita Jeptoo won the top-class Lisbon half marathon on Sunday and clocked the fastest women’s time at the distance since September 2003. In the Portuguese capital, the 26 year old crossed the finish line in 67:05, improving the world’s season’s best of Japanese Kayoko Fukushi (68:00) by 55 seconds. Jeptoo’s time was a personal best by almost three minutes. She’ll try to defend her title at the Boston Marathon next month.
Jeptoo’s time was the fastest since Paula Radcliffe ran 65:40 in Newcastle, England in 2003. Because that course and the one in Lisbon are slightly downhill, times from these races can’t be listed as records. Therefore, Elana Meyer’s time of 66:44, run in Tokyo 1999, remains the official world record.
Two other women clocked sub-70:00 times in Lisbon: Susan Chepkemei finished second in 68:33, and Salina Kosgei (both Kenya) crossed the finish line in 69:47.
Kenyans also dominated the men’s race, with eight finishing in the top ten in Lisbon. Robert Kipchumba won in 60:31, five seconds ahead of his countryman Robert Cheruiyot. Cheruiyot, winner of the Boston and Chicago Marathons last year 2006, will join Jeptoo for a title defense in Boston. Jaouad Gharib (Morocco), the Marathon world champion from 2003 and 2005, finished third in 60:41. The surprise winner of last fall’s New York Marathon, Marilson dos Santos (Brazil), was fourth with 60:42.
Snow Postpones U.S. Men’s 8K by a Day
Anthony Famiglietti © www.photorun.net
Because of strong snowfall over the weekend, the U.S. men’s 8K championships in New York City had to be postponed from Saturday to Sunday. When the race was run, it was on a hastily measured course in the lower part of Central Park, instead of the planned loop course of the park. Anthony Famiglietti, who lives in New York and does much of his training in Central Park, won in cold and windy weather conditions, clocking 22:35 minutes ahead of Abdi Abdirahman (22:41) and Bolota Asmerom (22:48).
Lee Is Back with a Victory in Seoul
The 1996 Olympic silver medalist Lee Bong-ju (South Korea) came out of nowhere to win the Dong-A Marathon in Seoul on Sunday. The 36-year-old ran 2:08:04, setting a first mark in the new season. In total, 23,000 participants took part, and the women’s winner finished with the fastest marathon time of the year as well: Chinese Wei Yanan won in 2:23:12. Lee won this race 12 years ago at the start of a very successful marathon career, during which he not only won silver at the Olympics but also won gold at the Asian Games twice (1998 and 2002). The national marathon record holder with a personal best of 2:07:20 also won the Boston Marathon in 2001. At that time he ended a Kenyan winning streak of ten consecutive victories in Boston.
Bong-ju Lee © www.photorun.net
In Seoul, Lee beat a number of strong Kenyans. At the end he reached Seoul’s Olympic stadium with a winning margin of 25 seconds to Paul Kiptanui (2:08:29). KIMbia’s Laban Kipkemboi finished third in 2:08:38.
Wie dominated the women’s race, winning with a margin of more than four minutes. Kenyans Rose Cheruiyot (2:27:25) and Hellen Cherono (2:29:33) took the next two places.
Algerian Runner Wins Rome Marathon with Course Record
A runner from Algeria caused a surprise at the Rome Marathon, which had more than 15,000 participants. Souad Ait Salem won the race with a new course record of 2:25:08. In warm weather conditions, she beat Kenyan Hellen Kimutai (2:26:46). Helena Javornik (Slovenia/2:28:53) and Lenah Cheruiyot (Kenya/2:29:43) took the next places.
The 28-year-old pulled away from Kimutai at 35K. “I came here to run 2:25 and break the course record. My dream is to win a world championships medal in Osaka this summer,” said Ait Salem.
The men’s race was won by Kenyan Elias Kemboi in 2:09:36, ahead of Spaniard Jose Manuel Martinez (2:10:12) and Jonathan Kosgei (Kenya/2:10:25). It was the first serious marathon for Kemboi, although he had run a marathon last year in Dubai where he finished third in 2:15:01.
Hendrick Ramaala Takes Stormy Silverstone Half Marathon
South African Hendrick Ramaala braved stormy weather conditions in Silverstone (England) to win the half marathon. However, his result suffered from the weather on the Formula One course. Ramaala intended to run sub-62:00 in preparation for the London Marathon next month, but he had to be content with 66:53. “When I walked out of the hotel I knew that this was not about fast times but about winning,” said Ramaala, who was well ahead of Ethiopian Tomas Abyu. Britain’s Liz Yelling was the fastest woman with 1:14:34.
