Meanwhile, Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge rewrote history after almost a decade by winning his race and retaining his crown at the London marathon men’s title.
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It was a first major marathon title for Sumgong, who had previously been a runner-up in Boston, Chicago and NY. “It was a fast, hard race and you need energy!” Instead, all the leading contenders eyed each other warily, waiting for the tension to break.
Sumgong took a tumble at around 23 miles, tangling feet with Aselefech Mergia as the lead group approached a water stop in an incident that also saw one of the favourites Mary Keitany also go down.
“The last mile I felt fine, I was matching the leaders”, said Weir.
Sumgong appeared to land on her head, but she brushed herself off and kept running. More surprisingly, when she got there she attacked, leaving only Tufa able to keep up.
A marshall in a motorcycle helmet could be seen grabbing the man’s arm in a bid to stop him in his tracks.
But this time, she has timed her run well and her dream to compete at the Olympic has been realised.
“It was not an ideal build-up, but I felt prepared and I enjoyed the distance”.
Not everyone was so tranquil.
Kipchoge’s time was still more than a minute faster than the previous London record of 2:04:29 set two years ago by Wilson Kipsang, who finished fifth Sunday. If he does, he will aim to better his world record in Berlin in September.
“I am really happy with the programme I’ve been undergoing and I’m happy with the course record today”.
The men’s race reached the 30km-mark in world record time and Kipchoge, 31, admitted to mixed feelings at missing the all-time best. “I didn’t realise the time but my reaction was not disappointment”, he said, smiling.
London represents the last chance for the men to run beneath 2:14 and the women to go quicker than 2:27. “I’m hoping I just run round but if I end up having to walk for whatever reason then I’m going to have to deal with that”, said Holmes. I think that’s a good thing. Kenenisa Bekele, the world 5,000 and 10,000m record holder, was a long way back in third in 2:06:36.
It means Kenyans have won the Elite Women’s race in five of the past six years.
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Steve Cram rated Kipchoge’s run as even better than Kimetto’s in 2014.
