Running News Daily

Ethiopian Haftamnesh Tesfay leads a quartet of sub-2:22 runners at the 39th edition of the Osaka Women’s Marathon

Four runners from abroad have faster personal bests than the Japanese: Ethiopians Tesfay and Meskerem Assefa, Mimi Belete of Bahrain and Kenyan Bornes Jepkirui. Tesfay ran 2:20:13 in her debut at the 2018 Dubai Marathon, at the time the fourth fastest marathon debut in history. She followed up with a 2:20:47 run in Frankfurt later that year. Assefa won the Nagoya Women’s Marathon in 2018 and later in the year finished 11 seconds ahead of Tesfay in Frankfurt with a 2:20:36 PB. Although they did not have a good 2019 season, both have sub-2:20 potential and said they are running to win on Sunday.

With a 2:21:22 performance to her credit, Mimi Belete is the third fastest in the field; more importantly, she set that at last October’s Amsterdam Marathon, clipping more than a minute from her previous best. Belete was a solid performer on the track, with 1500m and 5000m medals Asian Games medals in her collection.

Defending champion Fatuma Sado and Jepkirui, who was third last year, are back. Jepkirui improved her personal best to 2:21:26 in the 2019 Ljubljana Marathon. The last runner to win back-to-back titles was Lidia Simon who won in 1999 and 2000. Before the Romanian, Katrin Dorre also collected back-to-back victories. The German won in Osaka a record four times. Her daughter, Katharina Steinruck, a 2:27:26 marathoner, will be running this year.

For Japanese women, it is the second to last opportunity to secure the third spot on the Olympic marathon squad. The first two finishers at September's Marathon Grand Championships (MGC) were automatically selected for the team. But third place finisher Rei Ohara, who finished four seconds behind the automatic-qualifying spot for the team, is not confirmed. Four years ago at the Nagoya Women’s Marathon, Ohara finished one second behind Tomomi Tanaka who clinched the final spot on the team bound for Rio. Thus Ohara is a sentimental favourite here, but if somebody runs faster than 2:22:22 in Osaka, or later in Nagoya, Ohara will be out.

Ohara could have chosen to sit and wait, but she decided run in Osaka.

“The memory of missing the team by one second four years ago still haunts me,” Ohara said, speaking at today’s pre-race press conference. “I could have sat and waited, but I want to be a challenger. On Sunday I want to go after the team berth which eluded me at the MGC.”

That sets up the clash between Ohara, who was third in the MGC, Mizuki Matsuda, fourth in the MGC and Kayoko Fukushi, seventh in the MGC, as a potential highlight of the race. Fukushi is the fastest with a 2:22:17 personal best from the 2016 Osaka race. Matsuda is six seconds slower with 2:22:23, recorded in the 2018 Berlin Marathon.

“I have done the best training possible,” said Matsuda, who also attended today’s press conference. “I will run on Sunday as if it is the last race of my life.”

Finally, newly minted Japanese half marathon record holder Hitomi Niiya, who blitzed to a 1:06:38 victory in Houston last weekend, will run as a pacemaker. 

(01/24/2020) Views: 1,853 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

Armino rallies to retain Xiamen Marathon title

Ethiopia’s Medina Deme Armino waited patiently until the last 500 metres to launched her powerful charge, successfully defending her title at the Xiamen Marathon, the first World Athletics Gold Label road race of the year on Sunday (5).

The 22-year-old Armino cut 73 seconds from her personal best to win in 2:26:12, making her the fourth multiple women’s winner in the 18-year history of the race following China’s Zhou Chunxiu (2003-2005) and fellow Ethiopians Mare Dibaba (2014-2015) and Fatuma Sado (2013, 2018).

It is also the second straight year for Armino to improve her career best in Xiamen, but her winning mark was still more than six minutes shy of Dibaba’s course record of 2:19:52 set five years ago.

Helped by three male pacers, a leading group of nine stayed together for most of the race. After the leaders passed the 35km mark in 2:02:40, 2018 Dublin Marathon winner Mesera Hussen of Ethiopia began to push ahead and the leading pack soon became scattered.

Hussen pulled clear before 38km with Armino trailing around 100m behind as the sole chaser. But the surge seemed to drain too much energy from Hussen, who slowed gradually after 40 kilometres with the defending champion narrowing the gap metre by metre.

When Hussen reached the 500 metres-to-go mark, her pacer stopped. Armino seized the opportunity to speed up and soon overtook her rival. She never looked back before wrapping up her fifth marathon title in eight races.

It is the 11th consecutive women’s title taken by Ethiopians in the southern Chinese city.

Hussen finished second in 2:26:28, improving her PB by some two minutes. Afera Godfay, also from Ethiopia with a PB of 2:22:41, took third in 2:26:42.

Two-time reigning champion Dejene Debela failed to defend his title in the men’s race as his countryman Birhan Nebebew, third last year, built a sole lead after a fast 10km split from 30km to 40km and took the top honours in 2:08:16.

Nebebew’s victory also marks the fourth year in a row for Xiamen Marathon to witness an Ethiopian double.

The race was paced by a group of 10 to the 10km mark in 30:04. After another five kilometres, the leaders were cut to eight and the eight-man pack ran together to reach 20km in 1:00:39 and 30km in 1:31:35.

Kenya’s Kennedy Cheboror was the first to quit the leading group, then followed by Morocco’s Mohamed Zianni and Abdisa Duber of Ethiopia.

The 25-year-old Nebebew tried to pull away near the 35km mark with only Reuben Kerio of Kenya and Ethiopian veteran Girmay Birhanu Gebru managing to keep up with his pace.

The leading trio kept pushing ahead and the in-form Nebebew waited for three more kilometres to launch another charge. Gebru followed him for a little while but Nebebew soon cut the binds between them.

With a comfortable lead in hand, Nebebew never met any real threat afterwards. He broke the tape in style and knelt down to kiss the course to celebrate his first international marathon title.

Kerio, who improved his PB to 2:07:00 last October, overtook Gebru to settle for the second in 2:08:46. The 32-year-old Gebru, a 2:05:49 performer, finish third in 2:08:52, his first sub-2:10 mark since 2015.

 

(01/05/2020) Views: 1,816 ⚡AMP
by Vincent Wu for World Athletics

Jepchirchir wins Saitama Marathon in near record time

Breaking away from Fatuma Sado with 10km to go at the Saitama Marathon, Peres Jepchirchir, running her first marathon outside of Kenya, won the World Athletics Silver Label road race in 2:23:50.

The Kenyan’s winning mark was the second fastest time at the Saitama Marathon, just 32 seconds shy of the course record of 2:23:18 from 2016. Jepchirchir, the 2016 world half marathon champion and former world record-holder at the distance, was contesting just the third marathon of her career. Her official best for the marathon was a modest – by her standards – 2:46:15 recorded in Eldoret in 2018.

Two pace makers – Stacey Ndiwa and Perine Nemgampi – pushed the race at course record pace with Jepchirchir, Belaynesh Oljira, Sado and Rahma Tusa in tow. Their pace up to 15km (50:36) was consistent and steady, but it dropped slightly before the half-way point, reached in 1:11:31.

At 29km, Oljira was surprisingly the first of the top contenders to fall off the pace, and with the pacemakers exiting the course at 30km, Sado, Tusa and Jepchirchir formed the lead trio, nine seconds ahead of Oljira.

With Jepchichir forcing the pace, Tusa fell behind at 31km and then Sado did likewise one kilometre later, leaving Jepchirchir out in front alone.

Jepchirchir slowed slightly in the closing stages, but at 40km she had a two-minute lead over Sado. Her margin had grown to almost three minutes by the finish line, which she crossed in 2:23:50.

Sado, who dropped out of last year’s Saitama Marathon before going on to win the Osaka Women’s Marathon one month later, finished second, while Oljira, the fastest woman in the field with a PB of 2:21:53, finished third. Nina Savina of Belarus finished fourth in a PB of 2:28:44, taking 22 seconds off her best set in Warsaw earlier this year.

Kaori Yoshida was the first Japanese finisher, placing sixth. She was aiming to improve on her PB of 2:28:24 and was on pace to do so up until 20km, which she reached in 1:11:13. Her pace dropped in the second half, though, and she fell outside of PB pace, eventually finishing in 2:35:15.

Incidentally, 61-year-old Mariko Yugeta set a world masters’ best for the 60+ age group, clocking 2:56:54. She improved on her previous best – 2:59:15, her first sub-three-hour marathon – recorded last month in Shimonoseki.

(12/08/2019) Views: 1,778 ⚡AMP

Ethiopia's Belaynesh Oljira will start as favorite in the fifth Saitama International Marathon, a World Athletics Silver Label road race

The elite field includes eight runners from abroad as well as two Japanese. Oljira is the fastest among them with a 2:21:53 lifetime best set in the 2018 Frankfurt Marathon.

Oljira was a superb track runner, having finished fifth in the 2012 Olympics and third in the 2013 World Championships, both at 10,000m and boasts track bests of 14:42.57 in the 5000m and 30:26.70 in the 10,000m. She's only raced once this year, in a 10km road race in June, so her current fitness is a mystery.  

Oljira’s second fastest marathon is 2:24:21 - only two runners in the field have run faster: Ethiopians Rahma Tusa, who clocked 2:23:46 in the 2018 Roma Marathon and Fatuma Sado who ran 2:24:16 in the 2015 Toronto Marathon. Sado was one of the favorite in Saitama last year but failed to finish. She won the Osaka Marathon in January with 2:25:39.

The field also includes Kenyan Paskalia Chepkorir, who has a best of 2:26:04; Zinash Debebe of Ethiopia, who has a 2:27:15 lifetime best; Ethiopia's Zerfie Limeneh, a 2:26:48 runner; and Nina Savina of Belarus, who's clocked 2:29:06.

Hiroko Yoshitomi, with a best of 2:30:09 and Kaori Yoshida, who's run 2:28:24, are the Japanese entrants. Their incentive? Any Japanese runner who breaks 2:22:22 will secure the third spot on the 2020 Olympic Marathon team.

The most intriguing runner in the field is Kenyan Peres Jepchirchir, the former world half marathon record holder with a best of 1:05:06 and 2016 world champion over the distance. She's run two marathons in her career, both at altitude in Kenya and both over 2:45. But those performances don't seem indicative of her marathon potential.

Inaugurated in 1979 as the Tokyo Women’s Marathon, the first women-only marathon, it was moved to Yokohama after 30 years where it remained as an elite women-only race. After six editions, it was moved to Saitama where it became a mass race but still only features a women's elite field.

(12/06/2019) Views: 2,069 ⚡AMP
by World Athletics

Kenyan Felix Kimutai set a course record of 2:09:57 at the Istanbul Marathon last year, and this year he aims to retain Instanbul Marathon title

The 30-year-old won the Dongying Marathon earlier this year in 2:09:23, taking more than half a minute off his previous PB set when winning in Istanbul 12 months ago. But he may need to produce another lifetime best if he is to become the first back-to-back men’s winner since 2011.

Former track specialist Yitayal Atnafu of Ethiopia is the fastest in the field, having clocking 2:07:00 in Paris last year. The 26-year-old returned to the French capital earlier this year and recorded a season’s best of 2:08:31.

Based on this year’s times, Turkey’s Polat Kemboi Arikan leads the field. The two-time European 10,000m champion set a PB of 2:08:14 in Paris back in April, finishing just ahead of Atnafu, but earlier this month he withdrew from the marathon at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.

Aside from Kimutai, two other men in the field know what it’s like to triumph in Istanbul. 2016 winner Evans Kiplagat of Azerbaijan and 2015 champion Elias Chelimo – both sub-2:08 performers at their best – return to the Turkish city. Kiplagat also recently withdrew from the World Championships marathon, while Chelimo has a season’s best of 2:11:41, set in Hong Kong.

Fellow Kenyans Cosmas Birech, Joseph Aperumoi and Hillary Kipchumba all have PBs inside 2:09 and so have the ability to contend for a podium finish. And watch out for Bahrain’s Abdi Ali Gelchu and Ethiopia’s Musa Babo, who have been in PB form this year, clocking 2:09:44 and 2:09:55 respectively.

Three pacemakers will lead the field through 30km on schedule for a 2:09 finish, so it’s possible that Kimutai’s course record could fall on Sunday.

Visiline Jepkesho has the strongest credentials of the entrants in the women’s race. The 29-year-old has the fastest PB (2:21:37) and season’s best (2:22:58) and outside of major championships has finished in the top four in all of her marathons to date.

Former track specialist Yitayal Atnafu of Ethiopia is the fastest in the field, having clocking 2:07:00 in Paris last year. The 26-year-old returned to the French capital earlier this year and recorded a season’s best of 2:08:31.

Based on this year’s times, Turkey’s Polat Kemboi Arikan leads the field. The two-time European 10,000m champion set a PB of 2:08:14 in Paris back in April, finishing just ahead of Atnafu, but earlier this month he withdrew from the marathon at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.

Aside from Kimutai, two other men in the field know what it’s like to triumph in Istanbul. 2016 winner Evans Kiplagat of Azerbaijan and 2015 champion Elias Chelimo – both sub-2:08 performers at their best – return to the Turkish city. Kiplagat also recently withdrew from the World Championships marathon, while Chelimo has a season’s best of 2:11:41, set in Hong Kong.

Fellow Kenyans Cosmas Birech, Joseph Aperumoi and Hillary Kipchumba all have PBs inside 2:09 and so have the ability to contend for a podium finish. And watch out for Bahrain’s Abdi Ali Gelchu and Ethiopia’s Musa Babo, who have been in PB form this year, clocking 2:09:44 and 2:09:55 respectively.

Three pacemakers will lead the field through 30km on schedule for a 2:09 finish, so it’s possible that Kimutai’s course record could fall on Sunday.

Visiline Jepkesho has the strongest credentials of the entrants in the women’s race. The 29-year-old has the fastest PB (2:21:37) and season’s best (2:22:58) and outside of major championships has finished in the top four in all of her marathons to date.

But Jepkesho, who represented Kenya at the 2016 Olympics, contested the marathon at the World Championships just five weeks ago, finishing a respectable 15th in 2:46:38, so she may not be at her freshest on Sunday.

Merima Mohammed’s PB of 2:23:06 was set back in 2010, but the Bahraini runner is still highly competitive. She has a season’s best of 2:27:34 and won the Jilin Marathon in June.

Ethiopian duo Hirut Tibebu and Fatuma Sado are also expected to challenge. Tibebu finished second in Seoul in March, beating Mohammed and coming within 30 seconds of her PB with 2:24:05. Sado, meanwhile, is a 2:24:16 performer at her best and will be keen to improve on her third-place finish from Istanbul last year.

Three other women in the field head to Istanbul off the back of recent lifetime bests. Kenya’s Angela Tanui and Maurine Chepkemoi clocked respective PBs of 2:25:37 and 2:26:16 in Vienna seven months ago, while Ethiopia’s Sifan Melaku ran a PB of 2:26:46 in Seville in February.

The pacemaker in the women’s race will aim to put the leading athletes on schedule for a 2:21 finish.

(11/01/2019) Views: 2,163 ⚡AMP
by IAAF

There is a good chance the course record will be broken at the EDP Lisbon Marathon

With two IAAF Label road races being held on the same day – the LUSO Lisbon Half Marathon (Gold) and the EDP Lisbon Marathon (Silver) – and competitive fields lined up for both, there’s a strong chance of at least one course record being broken in the Portuguese capital on Sunday.

Kenya’s 2016 world half marathon champion and former world record-holder Peres Jepchirchir leads the women’s field for the half marathon. The 26-year-old, who had a baby at the end of 2017, has returned to action this year with a best of 1:07:36, two-and-a-half minutes shy of her lifetime best.

She’ll face defending champion Yebrgual Melese of Ethiopia, who set a course record of 1:07:18 last year.

Others in the field include Kenya’s Vivian Kiplagat, 10km world leader Dorcas Kimeli, Monica Jepkoech, Ethiopia’s Waganesh Amare, South Africa’s Glenrose Xaba and Portuguese duo Jessica Augusto and Catarina Ribeiro.

With a PB of 58:48, Kenya’s Jorum Okombo is the fastest in the men’s half marathon field and has the ability to challenge the course record of 1:00:13, but he heads to Lisbon with a season’s best of 1:02:31 so might not be at his absolute best.

Eritrea’s Amanuel Mesel, who has a best of 1:00:10 and finished seventh at the 2018 World Half Marathon Championships, will be keen to improve on his third-place finish from last year. Uganda’s Thomas Ayeko, seventh at this year’s World Cross Country Championships, and Kenya’s Daniel Rotich also have PBs inside 61 minutes and should contend for top honors. Hermano Ferreira, who has a best of 1:01:24, is the leading Portuguese entrant.

The course record of 2:07:34 will be the prime target for the leading men in the marathon field.

Kenya’s Stephen Chemlany, who has a best of 2:06:24, is the fastest in the field, but his PB was set back in 2014 and the 37-year-old hasn’t raced this year. Fellow Kenyan Samuel Wanjiku won in Lisbon in 2014 in 2:08.21, but his PB of 2:07:04 dates back even further to 2012.

Barnabas Kiptum, however, heads to Lisbon off the back of a 2:08:02 lifetime best at the Gold Coast Marathon just three months ago. Likewise, Ethiopia’s Andualem Shiferaw (2:08:16) and Birhanu Teshome (2:08:20) have set PBs earlier this year.

Others in the field with PBs inside 2:09 include Kenya’s former steeplechaser Patrick Terer, Joseph Aperumoi and Richard Mengich.

Fatuma Sado’s lifetime best of 2:24:16 is just three seconds shy of the Lisbon course record. The Ethiopian won in Osaka earlier this year in 2:25:39, the second-fastest performance of her career, and will start as the favorite on Sunday.

Compatriot Sechale Dalasa set her PB of 2:26:27 on her debut at the distance back in 2012 but has come close to it on several occasions since then, including her 2:28:46 run in Houston earlier this year. Kenya’s Truphena Chepchirchir, meanwhile, set her PB of 2:27:52 at this year’s Dongying Marathon.

Others in the field include Ethiopia’s 2008 world U20 5000m champion Sule Utura, Kenya’s Helen Jepkurgat and 2010 Commonwealth 10,000m silver medalist Doris Changeywo.

(10/18/2019) Views: 2,147 ⚡AMP
by IAAF

Ethiopian Worknesh Edesa will headline the women field at Lanzhou

The women’s course record of 2:31:22 set by Kenya’s Nguriatukei Rael Kiyara four years ago will  face serious threat.

Worknesh Edesa of Ethiopia improved her PB by nearly three minutes to 2:21:05 in Dubai this January to make her the fastest woman on paper. Since her marathon debut in 2015, the 26-year-old Edesa has never finished outside of the top three in each marathon she’s contested. Even her slowest clocking of 2:31:06 set in 2015 is better than Kiyara’s Lanzhou record.

Edesa’s compatriot Gutemi Shone, 27, is another title contender. The former Ottawa and Seoul marathon winner recorded her career best of 2:23:32 in Houston four years ago and scored a 2:24:28 victory in Sevilla in February.

Fatuma Sado, also from Ethiopia, is the only woman in the field that has competed in Lanzhou before, clocking 2:38:39 to finish fifth in her previous outing in the western Chinese city. The 27-year-old has titles from Hamburg, Los Angeles, Xiamen, Beijing, Warsaw and Osaka on her CV and registered her PB of 2:24:16 from her third place finish in Toronto in 2015.

The 35-year-old veteran Aberu Mekuria is also known for her consistency with victories in Koln, Hengshui, Ottawa and Valencia to her name. Two month ago she added the Chongqing Marathon title to her title collection with a PB of 2:24:30.

Fantu Jimma, 31, will also arrive in Lanzhou with high spirits after taking the victory at the Wuhan Marathon in April. Her winning mark of 2:28:25 is some two minutes shy of her PB of 2:26:14 set in Dubai four years ago.

The field also includes Ethiopian duo Hiwot Gebrekidan, a 2:25:45 performer, and Sifan Melaku, who just improved her PB to 2:26:46 in Sevilla in February, as the women’s race is very likely to see a sweep of podium by Ethiopian runners.

(05/31/2019) Views: 2,141 ⚡AMP
by IAAF

Ethiopian Fatuma Sado won the 38th edition of Osaka International Women’s Marathon

Surging away from Rei Ohara after 38 kilometers, Fatuma Sado won the 38th Osaka International Women’s Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label road race, on Sunday clocking  2:25:39.

“I was very happy, but the time was not fast enough to be selected for the Olympic team,” said the 27-year-old Ethiopian who became just the fourth African to win the race after Lornah Kiplagat, Catherine Ndereba and Amane Gobena. “I want to run faster time in the next race.”

Rei Ohara of Japan was second, seven seconds behind the winner, with Bornes Jepkirui another 15 seconds behind in third.

“I wanted to make my move at 30 kilometers,” Ohara said, “but I could not do it right. I tried my surge again at 35K, but it was far from decisive. I wanted to win, but could not close the gap at the end of the race.”

The pacemakers did an admirable job, bringing the lead pack through five kilometers in 17:00, 10 kilometres in 33:59, and 15 in 51:02. At 15 kilometers, the lead pack consisted of three pacemakers, an Ethiopian trio of Sado, Asefa Sutume and Abebech Afework, Kenyans Jepkirui and Jeptoo and Japanese Ohara, Fukushi and Hatsuki Omori.

Between kilometers 17 and 20, Jeptoo, Afework and Omori lost contact with the leaders. By half way, the lead dwindled to the pacemakers, Jepkirui, Sado, Fukushi and Ohara. After 25 kilometers, the pace started to slow, but Fukushi began to drift back anyway. At 30 kilometers, the final pacemaker dropped out and Ohara surged ahead, followed by Sado and Jepkirui.

(01/28/2019) Views: 2,018 ⚡AMP

Ruth Chepngetich runs the 7th fastest women’s marathon time of all times Sunday in Turkey

Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich stormed to a Turkish all-comers record at the 40th Vodafone Istanbul Marathon on Sunday November 11, clocking 2:18:35 at this IAAF Gold Label Road Race.  With a 2:22 pace initially in mind to try breaking the 2:22:36 race record she set in her debut last year, Chepngetich surprised at Saturday’s technical meeting when the defending champion asked that intermediate times be calculated for a sub-2:19 run. Having noted those, the 24-year-old went in pursuit of exactly what she targeted. Leading from the gun, Chepngetich opened her bid with a 16:13 opening five kilometers, already four seconds ahead of her compatriot Margaret Agai, with Fatuma Sado of Ethiopia following behind closely. While Agai and Sado did not attempt to maintain the pace, Chepngetjch reached the 10K mark in 31:59. Agai was 30 seconds behind at that point, with Sado another 27 seconds adrift with Ethiopian Zerfie Limeneh on her shoulder. Chepngetich confidently passed the 15-kilometres marker in 48:15 before reaching the halfway in 1:08:22, ahead of world record pace. She increased the gap to nearly three minutes at 30K where she passed at 1:37:42, and cruised onwards to her 2:18:35 performance to end the day in a tie as the seventh fastest women’s marathoner of all-time. Agai was a distant second in 2:25:04 with Sado third in 2:31:05. (11/11/2018) Views: 1,821 ⚡AMP

Kenya’s Paul Kios Kangogo wants to win and break the course record at Beijing Marathon

Kangogo who has a best time of 2:09:20, said he has overcome his injury concerns and is ready to return to the winner's podium in the Chinese capital. However, it will not only be the win he is targeting but to improve on his best time and attack the course record of 2:07:16, which was set five years ago by Ethiopia's Tadese Tola. My training has gone well and everything is fine. I have pushed my body to the limit and am happy, I have come through without any problems. I can say am in-form. I know there will be a strong Ethiopian challenge including the past champions, but running a marathon is down to your own strength and strategy and past record count for less," Kangogo told Xinhua, Thursday in Nairobi. The Kenyan has blown hot and cold in the last two years, mainly due to injury and hopeful, after returning to fitness in April, he will be consistent to string together another podium finish. He however, will be up against the 2014 Beijing marathon champion Fatuma Sado, Tola Dibaba (2:06:17) and Abayneh Ayele (2:06:45) who will be running his third race in China this year. He finished second in 2:14:13 at the Chongqing marathon in March and went on to take third place in Dongying in 2:13:47. There is also Ethiopia's Seboka Negusse (2:09:44) winner at the Hannover marathon in April and Xiamen marathon champion Dejene Debela (2:07:10). (09/15/2018) Views: 1,745 ⚡AMP

Sado Beats The Rain to Win Xiamen Marathon

Ethiopia’s Fatuma Sado overcame heavy rain and a stomach problem in the latter sages to win the Xiamen International Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label road race, this morning (2:26:41). Sado, the 2013 winner and defending champion Meseret Mengistu were both considered the favorites in the women's race. However, the 27-year-old reigning champion, who was also the fastest entrant (2:23:25) from her victory at the 2015 Paris Marathon, dropped out of the leading group soon after the start. (01/07/2018) Views: 1,720 ⚡AMP

Champions Mengistu and Sado ready to clash in Xiamen

Defending champion Meseret Mengistu and 2013 winner Fatuma Sado of Ethiopia will both chasing a second title at the 16th edition of the Xiamen International Marathon. The 27-year-old Mengistu is the fastest woman on paper with a personal best of 2:23:25 achieved when she won the 2015 Paris Marathon. She has won four out of the five marathon races she completed since 2014, including victories in Cape Town in 2014 and in Beijing in 2016. (01/05/2018) Views: 1,404 ⚡AMP