Running News Daily

Kibii leads Kenyan charge at Hengshui Lake Marathon

Fresh from winning the 2024 Stockholm Marathon triumph, Fredrick Kibii will spearhead a formidable Kenyan lineup at the Hengshui Lake Marathon in China on Sunday.

The 28-year-old triumphed at the Stockholm Marathon in June, crossing the line in 2:14:17, leading a Kenyan top-five finish.

Robert Ng'eno (2:14:30) and Benard Kipkorir (2:15:41) completed the podium with Kennedy Kipyeko (2:15:53) and Abednego Cheruiyot (2:16:46) in tow.

In April, Kibii clocked 2:08:56 to finish fourth at the Linz Marathon, trailing Eritrea’s Goitom Kifle (2:08:15), Denis Chirchir (2:08:28) and Ethiopia’s Dejene Debela (2:08:38).

Kibii's impressive resume boasts a third-place finish at the 2023 Hannover Marathon, clocking 2:08:09 behind Germany’s Amanal Petros (2:07:02) and Chirchir (2:07:17).

He finished a solid seventh-place finish at the Frankfurt Marathon later that year (2:09:33).

Joining Kibii in China is Boaz Kipkemei, who finished second at this year’s Hannover Marathon in April in a time of 2:07:06.

Gevin Kerich, who was three seconds (2:06:52) behind last year’s Doha Marathon winner, Morocco's Mohcin Outalha, is also in contention.

Kerich grabbed second place at the 2022 Eindhoven Marathon (2:07:07).

Boniface Kimutai rounds off a strong Kenyan contingent, who face stiff competition from Ethiopian runners, led by 2020 Seville Marathon champion Mekuant Ayenew, Copenhagen Marathon runner-up Gadisa Birhanu and Daegu Marathon third-place finisher Berhane Tsegay.

Hannover Marathon third-place finisher Lilian Jebitok will headline the women’s elite field.

Her resume includes a victory at the 2019 Casablanca Marathon (2:31:31) and a third-place finish at the 2018 Nairobi Standard Chartered Marathon (2:42:23).

She is joined by Tallinn Marathon champion Mercy Kwambai, second at the Copenhagen Marathon in May (2:28:12) and runner-up at the 2022 Bregenz Marathon (2:30:15).

Ethiopia will once again provide the competition with 2021 Stockholm Marathon champion Atalel Anmut leading the charge.

She has Seville Marathon third-place finisher Urge Diro and Xuzhou Marathon champion Derartu Hailu for company.

LEMA BREAKS COURSE RECORD IN HENGSHUI

Ethiopia’s Marta Lema Megra took more than a minute off the course record to secure a convincing victory at the Hengshui Lake International Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label road race, on Sunday (22).

The 28-year-old Lema, who set a PB of 2:22:35 last year in Toronto, enjoyed a comfortable sole lead in the latter half of the race and wrapped up her first victory in China in 2:24:21.

It was Lema’s second appearance in Hengshui; she finished second in 2:25:59 four years ago behind Kenya’s Agnes Kiprop. And Kiprop’s winning mark of 2:25:43 had stood as the course record until Megra renewed it by 1:22.

Lema’s compatriot Askale Alemayehu trimmed nearly one-and-a-half minutes off her career best to finish second in 2:27:32. Her previous PB of 2:29:01 was set three years ago in Shanghai.

Olympian Tirfi Tsegaye finished third in 2:28:30 to complete an Ethiopian sweep of the podium. The 34-year-old, who won the 2016 Dubai Marathon in 2:19:41 and finished fourth at the Olympic Games later that year, was contesting her first marathon in three years having taken a maternity break.

As the fastest entrant in the men’s field, Aychew Bantie of Ethiopia led from gun to finish to claim the victory in 2:08:51.

A leading group of 12 runners paced the race to 10km in 30:37. After passing the 20km water tables in 1:00:10, the group started to wither rapidly as eight runners, including 2015 Hengshui winner Ernest Ngeno of Kenya, dropped off one after another.

Only four men were left in the leading pack after 25km and Ethiopia’s Teshome Girma quit the contest for the title before 40km.

The leading trio – Bantie, Bonsa Dida of Ethiopia and Kenya’s Joel Kemboi Kimurer – remained together until Bantie launched his powerful charge for the win with about 400 metres to go.

Bantie’s winning mark was a couple of minutes shy of the 2:06:23 PB he set four months ago in Prague, but it was his first ever marathon victory.

Dida, 24, bettered 2:10 for the first time as he finished second in 2:09:04. Kimurer, a 2:07:48 performer, trailed one more second behind to take the third place.

Former winners Agnes Kiprop and Aberu Mekuria will both return to the Chinese city of Hengshui to compete for the women’s title at the Hengshui Lake International Marathon

The 36-year-old Ethiopian, Mekuria clocked a course record of 2:26:07, her personal best time at that time, to win in 2013. Two years later Kenyan, Kiprop claimed the tile in 2:25:43, which has stood as the course record until now.

However, the 39-year-old Kenyan, whose PB of 2:23:54 was set in Frankfurt back in 2011, hasn’t come close to 2:26 since her 2015 Hengshui victory. She clocked 2:29:04 to finish fourth at the Dongying Yellow River Marathon in April, which was her fastest time in more than four years.

Mekuria, on the contrary, has been enjoying a second wind in her decade-long career, achieving a PB of 2:24:30 to break the course record at the 2019 Chongqing International Marathon. It will be her third race in Hengshui as she also clocked 2:32:53 to finish eighth in 2015.

The organizers have assembled the deepest women’s field in the eight-year history of the race, as other race favorites also include Marta Megra of Ethiopia, who set her PB of 2:22:35 last year in Toronto, as well as her compatriot Tirfi Tsegaye, the fastest woman toeing the line with a PB of 2:19:41 from her massive victory in Dubai in 2016.

The men’s field also contains a former champion. 24-year-old Ernest Ngeno of Kenya took the top honors in Hengshui four years ago with a winning mark of 2:07:57, which was his PB at the time and 12 seconds shy of the course record set by Markos Geneti in 2014.

Last year, he improved his PB to 2:06:41 when finishing third in Paris, which makes him the second-fastest entrant in the field.

Although Ngeno is keen to end a three-year title drought following his victory in Milan in 2016, he could face a serious threat from Aychew Bantie.

The rising Ethiopian, who turned 24 this month, trimmed more than two minutes off his career best to finish third at the Prague Marathon in 2:06:23 four months ago and is still pursuing his first title since debuting over the classic distance in 2017.

Bantie’s compatriot Fikadu Kebede, who turns 33 on Friday, also arrives in Hengshui in high spirits. He set a PB of 2:08:27 in Dubai in January and came close to that mark three months later with a second-place finish in Dongying in 2:09:38.

The men’s field also includes Kenyan duo Dominic Ruto and Ismael Boshendich Chemtan