Kibet and Cheruiyot head Kenyan parade – Berlin 25km

Berlin, GermanyNeither wind nor cool temperatures of less than ten degrees Celsius could stop the Kenyans in the 25th edition of the Run Berlin. The jubilee edition of the race, which was formerly known as “25 km von Berlin” and had been the first big West German city road race back in 1981, produced another great demonstration of Kenyan talent. At the end the athletes from East Africa took the first twelve places in the men’s race. And there was great quality since the first eight runners finished within 1:15.

Seventh quickest all-time

There were two sorts of comebacks: Luke Kibet returned to Berlin after finishing second in last year’s race, which had been won by Paul Kosgei in 1:12:45. That time still stands as World record today. This time Kibet won, though he was just one second ahead of Simon Kiprop. Despite the wind he achieved a great winning time of 1:13:51 with which he now ranks seventh in the world all-time list for the distance. After having been absent from international athletics for a longer period Rose Cheruiyot came back to win the 25km race in Berlin.

Difficult weather conditions

Spectators in Berlin’s newly rebuilt Olympic Stadium saw another sprint finish in the women’s race. Cheruiyot just held off the challenge by Ethiopia’s Dire Tune Arusei, who crossed the line on the stadium’s blue track just a second behind. Rose Cheruiyot clocked 1:24:46, which was the fastest time in the race for six years. She missed Susan Chepkemei’s course record of 1:24:29 by just 17 seconds.

“Despite the difficult weather conditions we saw great races. So we are very happy with the jubilee edition of our race”, said race director Derk Kogelheide. “Additionally we had a 20 percent increase of entries.” All together 9672 athletes had entered the event. 6101 of them ran the 25km race while about 2300 participated in a 10km fun run. There were events for inline skaters and children as well. Last year the event had a total of 8000 entries. “Next year we hope to have more than 10,000 athletes.”

MEN – fast opening

While one gets used to the fact that no German elite runners were in the race (they would not have been able to play a role anyway) the Kenyans pushed the pace after passing 5km in 14:50. The next five kilometres were run in a very quick 14:00 minutes in this very flat passage of the course. The wind in the back may have helped a bit. Ten Kenyans were on their own in the first group at the 10km point (28:50).

If they had been able to stick to this sort of pace the World record would have been smashed once more. But in the second half of the race the wind was coming from the front and the pacemakers were out. 15km was reached in 43:40. During an uphill stretch back towards the Olympic Stadium the leading group was reduced to five runners: Kibet, Kiprop, Mitei Enock, who later finished third in 1:13:56, Stanley Salil and Francis Kiprop. It was not before the approach to the stadium on the last two kilometres that this group broke up.  

“If the weather would have been better we could have run faster. Maybe there would have been a chance to go for the record”, Kibet said. He had been unlucky a year ago, finishing second in 1:12:52, which is still the second fastest time ever run at the distance. “I had come here to break the world record in 2004, but at the end Paul Kosgei was a bit faster than me.” This time he was determined to win. “When I entered the stadium and Simon was still with me I was a bit nervous because I thought about last year.” But in the end Kibet had the stronger finish. It was the fourth time in a row that the Kenyans took at least the first three places in this race.

Kibet had placed 17th in the recent London Marathon, clocking 2:16:40. He now intends to run the 10,000m in the Kenyan trials for the World Championships in Helsinki. In autumn he plans to run another marathon.

Women – close finish

In the women’s race Rose Cheruiyot made it five wins in a row for Kenya at this race. But it was getting very close. From start to finish Cheruiyot and the 20 year-old Ethiopian Dire Tune Arissi ran shoulder to shoulder. “Until the very end I was not sure if I would be able to beat her,” said Cheruiyot. “But the strong opposition was the reason why it was possible to run so fast despite today’s weather conditions.”

Cheruiyot had won a major race in Berlin before. Three years ago she had clocked 69:32 in the Berlin Half Marathon. Since then little was heard about her. “That is right – I disappeared for some time“, the 29 year-old said and explained: “I gave birth to a girl in March 2003. But now I am back.”

Cheruiyot plans to run in the Kenyan 10,000 m trials as well. “I know that it will be very hard to qualify for Helsinki but I will try.” The Eldoret based athlete then intends to run her marathon debut in autumn. “I would like to come back here and run the Berlin Marathon.”

Men:
1. Luke Kibet   KEN  1:13:51
2. Simon Kiprop  KEN  1:13:52
3. Mitei Enock   KEN  1:13:56
4. Stanley Salil  KEN  1:14:03
5. Francis Kiprop  KEN  1:14:20
6. Julius Sugut  KEN  1:14:34
7. Richard Mutei  KEN  1:14:54
8. Joseph Ngolepus  KEN  1:14:56
9. Jason Mbote  KEN  1:16:29
10. Eliud Tanui  KEN  1:16:43

Women:
1. Rose Cheruiyot  KEN  1:24:46
2. Dire Tune Arissi  ETH  1:24:47
3. Peninah Arusei  KEN  1:29:28
4. Rebby Koech  KEN  1:30:44
5. Ludmilla Afoniouchkina RUS  1:35:03
6. Ingalill Andersson SWE  1:44:29