News02 Dec 2007


Cheruiyot wins in debut, Chepchumba cruises to personal best in Milan

FacebookTwitterEmail

Dominating victory and big PB for Pamela Chepchumba in Milan (© organisers)

Milan, ItalyKenyans Evans Kiprop Cheruiyot and Pamela Chepchumba scored impressive wins at today’s Milano City Marathon held in cool but ideal conditions as a record figure of 5726  runners started from Piazza Castello.

Both Cheruiyot and Chepchumba confirmed good form winning in Milan after their world bronze medals at the World Road Running Championships in Udine last October.

Cheruiyot, who ran the first Marathon of his career, crossed the finish line in 2:09:16, the fastest time on Italian soil in 2007 which improved Elias Kemboi Chelimo’s 2:09:36 in Rome.

John Birgen, who surprisingly won in Milan in 2003 but had four difficult years due to injury problems in the following years, came back with a convincing sub-2:10 race in second place in 2:09:20, twelve seconds slower than his winning time of 2003.

South Africa’s Norman Dlomo took third place in 2:10:39, a new PB.

Pamela Chepchumba, third in Udine with her Half Marathon lifetime best of 1:08:06, set her PB running a remarkable 2:25:36. She smashed her previous best of 2:29:48 set in the Paris Marathon in 2006.

Men’s race - Cheruiyot strikes with 3km remaining

With a starttime temperature of 9° C, Martin Lel, winner at the London and New York Marathons this year, set the early pace with Uganda’s Nicholas Kiprono in the first part of the race passing the first 10 km in 30:28 before concluding his duties for the day.

A seven-man group made up the lead pack. It was formed by pacemakers Peter Chebet, Nicholas Kiprono and Daniel Gatheru, Cheruiyot, Birgen, former 10,000m World champion Charles Kamathi, and Abdeladhi El Hachimi from Morocco. They ran at a 3:03 pace for each kilometre, passing the 15 km mark in 45:46. They built a margin of 45 seconds on the chase group formed by Italian top runner Ottavio Andriani and Olympic bronze medallist Vanderlei De Lima of Brazil. Their chores completed, Kiprono and Chebet dropped out at the halfway mark which the lead pack reached in 1:04:24.

After the 21st kilometre the pace slowed slightly. Kamathi hit the front followed by Jackson Kirwa, Dlomo and Birgen. A fast halfway mark was followed by a second stage of the race in which the leading runners seemed to control each other hitting the 25 km mark in 1:16:29.

At 30 km four men remained in the front: Birgen, Dlomo, Kamathi and Cheruiyot.  Dlomo tried to break away at 34 km when Kamathi was dropped. Kamathi, who chose Milan for his debut over the Marathon distance after a period of injuries, then lost ground. Cheruiyot and Birgen responded quickly to Dlomo’s breakaway attempt as three remained in contention after they passed the 35 km in 1:47:30. Cheruiyot and Birgen then broke clear of Dlomo whose attack at 34 km probably took its toll by kilometre 38.

Cheruiyot, who set an impressive Half Marathon PB in Udine on 14 October running 59:05, proved his speed to be decisive at 39 km when he pulled away from Birgen. In the final kilometre near the finish line situated in the Arco della Pace, Cheruiyot ran impressively building a gap of five seconds on Birgen at the end of the race.

“I thank Martin Lel for the advice he gave me before the race,” said Cheriuyot. “I am happy with my final time in my debut over the Marathon. It was cold but the race conditions were perfect.”

Birgen was also happy with his runner-up place. “I had a lot of problems after my win in 2003. I have returned to my best form.”

Kamathi, who is now based in Japan, had to be content with fourth place in 2:11:25.

Italy’s Andriani, who was pursuing the qualifying time of 2:10:30 for next year’s Olympic Games in Bejing set by the Italian Federation FIDAL, ran alone for most of the race and finished fifth in 2:11:42.

Women’s race - Chepchumba cruises

Former London, New York and Boston Marathon winner Margaret Okayo, who set the women’s event record running 2:24:59 in 2002, launched the women’s race at a fast pace hitting the front in the first part of the race with Pamela Chepchumba. They passed the 10 kilometre mark in a fast 33:45.

As planned on the eve of the race Okayo finished her test in her comeback from injury at halfway which was passed in 1:11:50.

In the second half of the race in-form Chepchumba continued running strongly at a course record pace. Only in the final part of the race did Chepchumba show signs of fatigue but it was an impressive display for the Kenyan who broke the tape in 2:25:36, the second fastest time ever run in Milan behind Okayo’s record. Less than two months ago Chepchumba took the world bronze medal in Udine after recovering from a bout of malaria.

Chepchumba concluded the fourth Marathon of her career. Before her Milan win she finished third in Nairobi in 2005, third in Paris and second in Bejing in 2006. The Kenyan athlete, who was born in 1979, trains in Kapsabet and is mother of two children.

“The course was nice and flat, it was not so cold as I expected,” Chepchumba said. “I thank the support of the fans along the course who helped me to improve my PB.”

Italian runner Marcella Mancini, who was dropped by Nadia Ejjaffini by 50 seconds at 30 km, overhauled the athlete from Bahrain at 40 km to take second place in 2:35:00, but missing her attempt to improve her 2:33:17 PB set in Turin in 2005.

Petra Teveli from Hungary finished third in 2:35:21.

Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF

Leading Results:
Men:
 1. Evans Kiprop Cheruiyot (Kenya)  2:09:16 
 2. John Birgen (Kenya)  2:09:20
 3. Norman Mblomo (South Africa)  2:10:39
 4. Charles Kamathi  (Kenya)  2:11:25
 5. Ottavio Andriani (Italy) 2:11:42
 6. José Telez (Brazil)  2:12:24
 7. Vanderlei De Lima (Brazil)   2:12:54
 8. Mostafà Errabah (Italy)  2:14:16
 9. Abdelhadi El Hachimi (Morocco)  2:14:35
10. Anselmo De Souza (Brazil)   2:14:44

Women:
 1. Pamela Chepchumba (Kenya)  2:25:36
 2. Marcella Mancini (Italy) 2:35:00
 3. Petra Teveli (Hungary) 2:35:21

Pages related to this article
Disciplines
Loading...