Salina Kosgei wins in a course record.
Salina Kosgei of Kenya was the star of the show at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon early Sunday morning. Kosgei, 29, was favored to win the women’s race, and the elegant Kenyan delivered the goods in style, breaking the course record by almost three minutes, in 2:31:55 hours, an exceptional time in the conditions—80° Fahrenheit heat and close to 100% humidity right from the 6:00 a.m. start. For the third year in a row, there was a course record in the men’s race, and for the first time, a repeat winner. Amos Matui of Kenya again beat Ashebir Demissu of Ethiopia in the final stages, to win in 2:15:01. Overall entries for the full and half marathon and 10 kilometers were up 30% this year, with more than 30,000 runners.
Whereas Matui and Demissu made it a race right to the final kilometer, Kosgei’s was nearly a solo run to victory. She stayed with the lead group, including last year’s winner, Irina Timofeyeva of Russia, over the first seven kilometers before making a break. “I was feeling quite easy, and I realized the weather conditions were good for here, so I decided to take the lead. But I still made sure I drank lots of water,” Kosgei said at the finish, where she was so untroubled that she was able to chat with fans and pose for pictures. All around her, athletes were prostrate from heat exhaustion. Yet, as Kosgei indicated, it was relatively cool and overcast by Singaporean standards, compared to last year, for example, when temperatures reached close to 90° in bright sunshine. “I think I could have been under 2:30 in ‘normal’ conditions,” she said, a reserved observation, given that she finished second in Berlin just ten weeks ago in a personal best of 2:23:22. Timofeyeva suffered from foot problems in the final stage, and limped across the line in 2:34:35. Emily Kimuria of Kenya was third in 2:38:37. The men’s race was nearly a carbon copy of last year, except that Demissu never went clear, as he did with 10K to run in 2005. Matui caught him in the last 200 meters then. But the Kenyan decided to make absolutely sure this year, and took off at 41K. “I wasn’t confident I would win, but I decided to stay with the Ethiopian after 25K this year. I was really trying in the last kilometer,” said Matui. “I’m going to go back home, sit down and have a think, then decide what my plans are. But I’d like to run in Boston or London next year.” Demissu was philosophical about his successive second place here, in 2:15:08. “He beat me last year, he beat me this year,” he said shrugging, as if to say, “What can I say?” Abel Kirui (Kenya) was third in 2:15:22. All three beat Matui’s course record of 2:15:57 from last year.
Amsterdam Champion Bushendich Takes Lagos Half Marathon
Little more than six weeks ago, Solomon Bushendich won the Amsterdam Marathon. This weekend, he returned to competition with a 63:18 minutes clocking and win at the Lagos Half Marathon. As in Amsterdam, his tremendous speed at the end of the race was the decisive factor. After sprinting for the finish, Bushendich was just one second ahead of Francis Kibiwott (Kenya). Dieudonne Disi (Rwanda) was third in 66:17. In the women’s race, Millicent Doadi (Ghana) defended her title in 76:50. More than 48,000 runners registered for the race, but they had to battle with car traffic during part of the race.
Peaceful Beirut Marathon
Despite the critical situation in Lebanon, the Beirut Marathon took place on Sunday. “Nothing went wrong, it was very peaceful and the ‘marathon truce’ was kept,” said Sara Nasser, a member of the race organization. Officials had negotiated with Hezbullah on Friday to prevent the race being disrupted. Owing to the ongoing demonstrations in Beirut, the route of the marathon was slightly changed.
Originally the race had been scheduled to take place one week earlier. But after the assassination of Lebanon’s minister for industry, Pierre Gemayel, five days before the event, organizers decided to postpone the marathon for a week.
There were two Kenyan winners on Sunday in Beirut. Moses Kemboi clocked 2:17:28 and was well ahead of his countryman Eric Kiptoon (2:19:55). Eunice Korir took the women’s race in 2:49:25, with her countrywoman not far behind in 2:49:33. Because of the political situation, there were much fewer spectators lining the streets than in the past.
Qatar Without World Record Holder Shaheen at Asian Games
Qatar’s team at the Asian Games, which are currently taking place on home ground in Doha, will line up without their star, Saif Saaeed Shaheen. As “Track Profile” reports, the world record for the 3,000-meter steeplechase is struggling with an Achilles tendon injury and has had to withdraw. The injury is an even greater blow for Qatar. Hosting the Asian Games was clearly one of the reasons why they gave citizenship to a series of high-class Kenyan runners. Stephen Cherono was one of the first, switching nationality (and name) well over three years ago, and he turned out to be the most successful of those who left Kenya. Still only 24, the steeplechase world record holder (7:53.63) also wanted to compete in the 5,000m in Doha.
The runner made a rapid change of nationality just before the 2003 World championships in Paris. Straightaway, Shaheen became world champion in the steeplechase, an event that the Kenyans have dominated for years. The only explanation as to why the Kenyan federation cooperated in the deal at the time was that Qatar offered a suitable sum in compensation. It wasn’t a case of big sums for the runner himself—the Qataris had promised the best Kenyan steeplechaser and 5,000m runner a monthly stipend of $1,000 for life. Cherono put his name forward, and since then has been winning for Qatar instead of Kenya. But in Doha, he’ll have to be a spectator.
