Luke Kibet triumphs in warm weather in Vienna. © www.photorun.net
Two Kenyans produced top results in two major European marathon races on Sunday: Rodgers Rop won the Hamburg Marathon by in 2:07:32, and his countryman Luke Kibet clocked 2:10:07 in warm weather conditions in Vienna.
Rop took Germany’s biggest spring marathon by one second, edging out Wilfred Kigen, also of Kenya. Another Kenyan, Kiprotich Kinei, finished third, also with a sub-2:08 performance (2:07:42). For Rop, who won the Boston and New York City Marathons in 2002, this was a personal best by two seconds. The Kenyan had only been added to the start list last week.
The leading women’s times weren’t as scintillating. Ethiopian Ayelech Worku won in 2:29:14. She was followed by two Kenyans: Rose Nyangacha, second in 2:29:22, and Beatrice Omwanza, third in 2:30:46. Weather conditions were almost ideal with a temperature of just under 60°, but there was wind in parts of the race. Organizers registered a total of 23,027 runners for their race.
While the defending champion and course record holder Julio Rey (Spain/2:06:52) had opted to run the Paris Marathon this spring, pacemakers guided the favorites through the first half in 63:20. Samuel Muturi, making his debut, and Rop then broke away. They were followed by a group of four, including Kigen and Kinei. While Rop decisively broke away at about 35K, Muturi struggled in the final seven kilometers and finally finished a distant 12th in 2:12:46.
With three kilometers to go, Rop looked fully in control with a lead of 34 seconds. But behind him Kigen and Kinei picked up the pace. And it was Kigen, the two-time winner of the Frankfurt Marathon (2:08:29 in 2005), who closed the gap. He overtook a tiring Rop, but did not expect Rop to produce a counterattack in the last few meters. Finally Rop was one second ahead of Kigen, who also produced a personal best.
“I am very satisfied with this win, it was a fantastic race. I intended to break my personal best, so I pushed the pace from the beginning. In the end my energy was fading, but I won. The weather was perfect,” said Rop, who might well be nominated for the World Championships by his federation.
In the women’s race the chase was on for the course record (2:23:35) as well in the first part of the race. Lithuania’s Zivile Balciunaite passed the halfway point in 72:54. She was ahead of a chasing group by more than a minute, but then started fading, and wound up finishing fourth in 2:31:13.
Worku, Nyangacha and Omwanza had first dropped Edith Masai (Kenya), who once again could not produce a world-class marathon result. The three-time World Cross Country champion, who had won her debut in Hamburg two years ago in 2:27:06, which remains her personal best, this time finished sixth in 2:32:10. The three Africans went on to catch and overtake Balciunaite after 35K. Finally, Worku increased the pace, leaving behind the two Kenyans. “I came here to run a good time, but I didn’t expect to win,” said Worku. So that is fantastic for me. When I passed 40K, I knew that I may have a chance of taking the race.”
Luke Kibet Battles the Heat in Vienna
Luke Kibet battled rising temperatures and took the Vienna City Marathon in 2:10:07 on Sunday. The 24-year-old Kenyan celebrated the biggest triumph of his career in the Austrian capital. In his marathon debut James Mwangi clocked 2:10:27 for second, while another Kenyan, Abel Kirui, was third in 2:10:41. In all, Kenyans took eight of the top ten places, with Portugal’s Luis Feiteira the best non-Kenyan in eighth place in 2:13:37.
Luminita Talpos (Romania) took the women’s race in 2:32:21 in temperatures close to 70° at the finish. She was ahead of Martha Markos (Ethiopia), who improved her personal best by almost five minutes to 2:35:45. Susanne Pumper (Austria) made the home crowd celebrate by taking third place with 2:37:55.
Organizers of the Vienna City Marathon registered a record number of 26,279 runners from 80 nations; that total includes shorter races included in the day’s events. About 250,000 spectators lined the streets of Vienna to cheer on the runners.
In the men’s race the favorites did not pick up the pace of the pacemakers right from the start, which was probably lucky—there was a locked gate on the course near the 5K mark. At the last moment, a policeman was able to unlock and open the barrier just seconds before the leading runners came by.
The pace remained conservative, with the leaders passing 10K in 31:10 and halfway in 65:37, more than 90 seconds slower than scheduled. At breakfast runners had still been talking of running the first half in 64:00.
“It was getting too warm. And additionally we watched each other,” Kibet later explained. In contrast to Kibet, another favorite could not live up to the expectations: Bernard Barmasai was starting to lose ground already by 24K, when the pace finally picked up a bit. The former steeplechase world record holder was hoping for his first marathon victory, but he dropped out at 35K.
At that point, Kibet and his training partner Kirui decided to make a move. “We talked and agreed to go,” Kibet said. Off they went, but at 37K Kibet was all on his own. “Three kilometers from the finish I knew that I would win the race,” said Kibet, who has a marathon best of 2:08:52 from Eindhoven in 2005. “I think in good conditions I could have run faster. And it remains my goal to run a marathon in 2:06 to 2:07.” Kibet’s training in Kenya was far from ideal. “For a long time I had stomach problems during long runs,” Kibet said. “So I could only do proper marathon training for three weeks.” That indicates that Kibet, who is employed by the Kenyan prisons in Nairobi but does not have to work, is capable of more. He has a half marathon personal best of 60:00, and his 1:12:52 for 25K, which he ran in 2004, is the second fastest time ever at that distance.
In his first proper marathon race, Falk Cierpinski, the 28-year-old son of the German double Olympic marathon champion Waldemar Cierpinski, came in 18th with 2:21:26. He clearly missed his goal of a sub-2:17 after running well until the last 10K.
In contrast to the men’s race, the women’s event was a one-person affair: Luminita Talpos took the lead right from the start and was never really challenged on her way to her first marathon victory. It was after the withdrawal of the defending champion Tomo Morimoto (Japan) due to an injury that the Romanian appeared to be the clear favorite.
The 34-year-old passed half way in 1:14:23 and was already more than a minute ahead of Martha Markos. “I am happy to have finally won a big marathon, though I did not quite reach the time I wanted to run. Judging the organization of the race, this is the best one I have ever run in,” said. She will now prepare for the World Championships marathon in Osaka.
“We are happy with our event, though we did not quite reach the winning times we hoped to get. But there was a superb atmosphere on the course,” said race director Wolfgang Konrad.
Top Track Times in California
The 10,000m races are always the highlight of the Payton Jordan Invitational at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, and that was the case this year. Late on Sunday night, Galen Rupp of the University of Oregon ran 27:33.48 to beat an international field in the men’s race. His time makes him the 7th-fastest American ever, and is the fastest an American collegian has run during track season.
Rupp outsprinted Mexico’s David Galvan, who ran 27:33.96. New KIMbia runner Simon Ndirangu, who won road races in California and Texas earlier this month over Galvan, was third in 27:38.56. In all, 15 runners broke 28:00, a fitting display of quality in an event named in honor of the late Kim McDonald.
Olympian Jen Rhines won the women’s race in 31:17.31; the time makes her the 3rd-fastest American ever. New Zealand’s Kim Smith was next in 31:20.63. The first eight women broke 32:00.
