Both the men's and women's course records were broken at the Lattelecom Riga Marathon

Ayana Tsedat of Ethiopia broke away from Kenyan's Silas Kiprono Too over the final two kilometers en route to his 2:11:00 victory.  The previous men's record of 2:11:45 was set in 2016.  The men's race was a three-man battle between Tsedat, Too and Joseph Kyengo Munyoki, who were all well within race record pace at the halfway point, reached in 1:05:09. They ran together for nearly 14 more kilometers when Munyoki began to drift back as they approached kilometer 35. At that point the leaders forged on nearly stride-for-stride until the 22-year-old Tsedat made his move. Too couldn't respond but held on for second, clocking 2:11:13. Rono, the pre-race favorite on the women's side, had just her pacesetter for company for most of the race, eventually winning in 2:28:22. The previous women's mark, 2:31:22, was set last year by Bekelech Bedada Daba of Ethiopia.Rono, 34, was the clear class of the women's field, building a two-second lead by five kilometers, and extending it to 11 at 10, reached in 33:47. She clocked 1:11:31 at the midway point, nearly a minute-and-a-half clear of her nearest competitor. When she reached the line, she was more than four minutes ahead of runner-up Ethiopian Tigist Teshome. It was Rono's fastest performance since 2014 and the fourth fastest of her career. Teshome clocked 2:32:46 with Pauline Nujeri Kahenya of Kenya third in 2:34:41.

posted Monday May 21st