Chepkwony and Allam smash PBs to win at Rome Marathon

Betty Chepkwony and Taoufik Allam were the victors at the Acea Run Rome the Marathon, smashing their PBs by seven and four minutes respectively to win at the World Athletics Elite Label road race on Sunday (19).

Chepkwony took the women’s title in 2:23:02, while Allam triumphed in 2:07:43.

Ethiopia’s Zinash Getachew, Mulugojam Ambi, Jemila Shure, Fozya Amid and Kenya’s Brenda Kiprono went to the front in the early stages, reaching 10km in 33:28 while Chepkwony was 27 seconds behind.

Ambi, Getachew and Shure reached halfway in 1:11:07, inside course record pace (2:22:52), while Chepkwony had reduced the gap on the leading group to 17 seconds.

After going through 30km in 1:41:32, Ambi and Shure struggled in the final 10km. Chepkowny, meanwhile, reeled in the leaders and soon started to pull away. She crossed the finish line in 2:23:02, smashing her previous PB (2:30:28) with the third-fastest winning time ever in Rome.

Amid finished second in 2:25:08, improving her previous PB by three minutes.

“I am very happy with the win,” said Chepkwony. “I really enjoyed running in this beautiful city. I ran a smart race in the first half. I know that I can run faster, but I am happy with my performance on a difficult course.”

In the men’s race, a ten-man pack went through 5km in 15:00, 10km in 29:56, and 15km in 44:58. Five of those – Allam, Wilfred Kigen, Rogers Keror, Felix Kirui and Berhanu Heye – stuck with the pacemakers through the half-way mark (1:03:28), which was just outside course record pace.

Kigen, Heye, Keror and Allam reached 30km in 1:30:51 as the pace started to drop. Just a couple of kilometres later, Kigen and Allam pulled away from the rest of the field and had opened up a gap of 19 seconds on Keror by 35km.

Allam finally broke away from Kigen at 39km and went on to win in 2:07:43, becoming the first Moroccan winner of the Rome Marathon. Wilfred Kigen finished second, improving his PB to 2:08:45.

“I was determined to win the race,” said the 33-year-old, who set his previous PB of 2:11:30 in Dublin last year. “The pacemakers did a good job in the first half of the race. The final part was challenging because of the cobblestones.

In the days leading up to the race, World Athletics delivered a Race Emergency Medicine Course.

Diego Sampaolo for World Athletics

Leading results

Women

1 Betty Chepkwony (KEN) 2:23:02

2 Fozya Amid (ETH) 2:25:09

3 Zinash Debebe Getachew (ETH) 2:25:59

Men

1 Taoufik Allam (MAR) 2:07:43

2 Wilfred Kigen (KEN) 2:08:45

3 Rogers Keror (KEN) 2:10:50.

posted Tuesday March 21st
by World Athletics