Abebayahu and Kipchumba win in Xiamen

Ethiopia’s Meseret Alemu Abebayahu and Kenya’s Philemon Kipchumba were the winners at the Xiamen Marathon on Sunday (2).

Abebayahu won by more than a minute in 2:24:42, coming within 12 seconds of the PB she set when winning in Riyadh in February. Kenya’s Gladys Chesir was a distant runner-up in 2:51:51, finishing just ahead of Ethiopia’s Guteni Shone (2:25:58).

Kipchumba timed his race well to emerge as the leader in the second half, going on to win in 2:08:04. Ethiopia’s Lencho Tesfaye Anbesa was second (2:08:29), exactly half a minute ahead of Morocco’s Omar Ait Chitachen.

“I kept my pace in the early stages of the race, and started to speed up at the end,” said Kipchumba.

posted Sunday April 2nd