Report07 Apr 2014


Beyene and Chepkorir win Santiago de Chile Marathon

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Beraki Beyene on his way to winning the Santiago Marathon (© Oscar Munoz Badilla)

Eritrean Beraki Beyene and Kenyan Emily Perpetua Chepkorir won the eighth edition of the Santiago de Chile Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race that took place in the Chilean capital on Sunday (6). Beyene’s time was 2:11:50, while Chepkorir’s was 2:35:16.

The morning was cold at 8°C and foggy, but 25,000 enthusiastic runners made the day colourful at the start of the race near the ‘Palacio de Gobierno’ (Government’s Palace) in the Chilean capital.

Only 4000 runners took part in the marathon. France’s Patrick Tambwé, who had the fastest time of all participants with 2:07:30, withdrew from the race at 12km.

The leading group of the men’s race, composed by Beyene, and Kenyans Simon Kariuki, Julius Keter and Julius Karing, crossed the 10km mark in 32:16. They all remained together at the 15km mark (47:10), 25km (1:19:12) and 35km (1:51:01).

The race was decided in the final 5km, when the 34-year-old Beyene, eleventh at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, was able to pull away from the rest of the Africans, winning in 2:11:50. The Eritrean missed the course record by only six seconds.

Kariuki was second with 2:12:11, while Karinga was third in 2:13:38. Keter, who won in Santiago in 2011 and 2013, was fifth with 2:15:52, while the best South American (and area champion) was Chilean Roberto Echeverría – sixth with 2:16:58.

The women’s race also presented at tight competition. Chepkorir was always in the leading group along with Ethiopian Alene Shewarge, fellow Kenyan Lucy Karimi and Chilean Erika Olivera. Their splits were 38:17 at 10km, 56:04 at 15km, 1:33:12 at 25km and 2:10:22 at 35km.

The 29-year-old Chepkorir prevailed in the final stages, crossing the line in 2:35:16, leaving Shewarge in second place (2:35:30) and Karimi in third (2:35:39). Olivera was fourth and South American champion with 2:36:08.

Chile’s Carlos Diaz (28:59) and Margarita Masias (34:29) won the 10km race, while Chile’s Leslie Encina (1:05:59) and Brazil’s Heide Silva (1:16:09) took the victory at the half marathon.

Eduardo Biscayart for the IAAF

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