Running News Daily

Kipkorir and Cherono retain Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon titles

With the dazzling city skyline as his backdrop, Joshua Kipkorir of Kenya stormed home to successfully defend his Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM) title on Saturday (Nov 30) night, in the first evening edition of the annual running event.

The 25-year-old breasted the tape at The Float @ Marina Bay in 2hr 19min 13sec, ahead of Munyo Solomon Mutai of Uganda (2:19:46) and Benson Seurei of Bahrain (2:20:25).

Fellow Kenyan Priscah Cherono also retained her title in the women's race, winning in 2:28:53 to set a new SCSM record - the previous mark was 2:31:55 set by her compatriot Salina Kosgei in 2006.

Another Kenyan, Stella Jepng'Etich Barsosio, was second in 2:30:18 while Alemnesh Guta of Australia (2:37:03) rounded off the podium places.

Both Kipkorir and Cherono won US$50,000 (S$68,390) in prize money and ensured Kenya's dominance at the SCSM for a fifth straight year.

The marathon attracted over 15,000 participants with the overall event - which includes a kids' dash, and distances of 21km, 10km, 5km as well as a wheelchair category - seeing over 50,000 entrants.

Unlike the previous editions when the marathon began before dawn - last year's start time was 4.30am - this year's 42.195km marathon flagged off at 6.05pm at the F1 Pit Building.

The switch is part of the effort to fulfil various criteria in the organisers' bid to get the SCSM listed among the Abbott World Marathon Majors (WMM), a series of the most prestigious marathons in the world.

None of the six WMM races - Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York and Tokyo - are held at night.

This year's course took runners from the F1 Pit Building through the Central Business District to places such as West Coast Highway, Marina Barrage, Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands, before ending at The Float.

Meanwhile, national record holder Soh Rui Yong was the top local male finisher for the third year in a row, crossing the finish line in 2:45:52. He earned $10,000 for his efforts.

Sharon Tan celebrated a first title as the fastest Singapore woman, finishing in 3:12:49.

(11/30/2019) Views: 1,652 ⚡AMP

A deep field is targeting the men’s course record at the Lanzhou International Marathon this weekend

Eight runners toeing the line have career bests faster than the 2:10:10 course record set by Abayneh Ayele of Ethiopia in 2015, with Ethiopia’s Limenih Getachew the fastest thanks to his personal best of 2:06:49 set at the 2014 Paris Marathon.

The 29-year-old came close to that mark last October when he registered a winning mark of 2:07:34 to break the Portuguese all-comers’ record at the Lisbon Marathon. He achieved his second career best time of 2:07:30 in March with a fifth finish in Barcelona.

It will be Getachew’s second race in China following his fourth place finish at the Hengshui Lake Marathon in 2016.

Bahrain’s Benson Seurei is another man to watch. The 35-year-old, who used to compete mainly in middle distance events and grabbed a 1500m silver medal at the Asian Indoor Championships in 2016, only debuted over the classic distance in 2017 but progressed rapidly with his PB of 2:07:37 set last December in Valencia.

Seurei clocked 2:08:08 to finish fourth at the Lake Biwa Marathon in March and is yet to gain his first title after five marathon races.

Shumet Akalnew of Ethiopia is also chasing his first marathon title in Lanzhou. The 31-year-old clocked a life-time best of 2:08:50 to finish third in Kosice last year and achieved another third place finish in Mumbai four months ago with a 2:10:24 clocking.

The Ethiopian contingent also include Bira Seboka, a 2:08:51 performer, and Afewerk Mesfin, who improved his PB to 2:09:28 in Xiamen this year. The other sub-2:10 runners in the field are Bahraini Zelalem Bacha with a PB of 2:09:16, Kenya’s Mike Kiprotich Mutai, whose PB of 2:09:18 dates back to 2012, and Motlokoa Nkhabutlane of Lesotho.

(05/31/2019) Views: 2,310 ⚡AMP
by IAAF

Wesley Korir won the 2012 Boston Marathon and wants to win this year's BLOM Bank Beirut Marathon

Wesley Korir won the 2012 Boston Marathon and has not raced since April 2017 but after taking time out from his political career, the 35-year-old is planning to get back to winning ways at next month’s race in the Lebanese capital. “Everything is going well, I’m trying to get in shape after politics and run full-time again,” said Korir. “Getting a win in Beirut will give me a boost for me as I get back to the top level.” To succeed he will have to be at his best, with Ethiopia’s Bazu Worku, who has a best of 2:05:25 and was a winner at the Houston Marathon this year, also in the field. Kenyans Ezekial Omullo and Andrew Ben Kimutai, who have both run below 2:09, are also sure to run well. Omullo is a three-time winner of the Warsaw Marathon, his most dominant win coming in 2016 when he set his current PB of 2:08:55, while in April this year he cruised to victory at the same race in 2:11:17. Kimutai is also a formidable performer, the 29-year-old finishing third at the Seville Marathon earlier this year where he set his current PB of 2:08:32. There will also be a duo of exciting prospects in Uganda’s Felix Chemonges and Morocco’s Mohamed Ahmami, who bring impressive pedigree at the shorter distances. An interesting debutant at the distance is Kenya’s Kalipus Lomwai, who was a pacemaker at the race last year but carries a classy half marathon best of 1:01:22, which he ran to win in Hamburg in July. Others of note include Bahrain’s Benson Seurei, who brings the best track pedigree to this test of endurance, the 34-year-old boasting an 800m personal best of 1:45.67. Since moving to the marathon he has proved himself a capable performer, finishing seventh in Barcelona earlier this year in 2:11:27.  Wesley will have to be really on November 11 to pull off the win against this elite group of runners.  (10/11/2018) Views: 1,747 ⚡AMP