Gladys Cherono from Kenia celebrates winning the 42nd Berlin… More than 41,000 runners from 131 countries were registered to run.
Advertisement
Kenyan favorite Eliud Kipchoge shrugged off mid-race footwear problems to win the Berlin marathon on Sunday with a personal best time of two hours, four minutes and one second but missed out on a world record by more than a minute.
The Kenyan looked unaffected when the insoles of his shoes started slipping up to his ankles and flapped against his calves with every step.
The relatively flat course over 42.195 kilometres (26 miles 385 yards) through the centre of Berlin has a reputation for speed and ten world records have fallen in the city – seven in the men’s race and three in the women’s.
“At some point they started coming out but I had no time to remove them”, Kipchoge told reporters. With several of the top performers setting PBs and with the current world record set at the race, Berlin is one of the biggest days of the year for running fans. “I would very much love to come back and run an even faster time”.
The half-marathon target had been 61:30 but the leading group went through the 13.1 mile mark in 61:53 for 2:03:46 pace and it was clear that Kipchoge was having problems with his footwear, as the insoles could be seen flapping out of the shoes.
In Canadian running news, Reid Coolsaet ran the second fastest Canadian marathon getting close to the record of 2:10:09.
With favorable weather conditions forecast for the Berlin Marathon on Sunday, there will be a handful of runners targeting another world record on the fast course.
Fellow Kenyan Gladys Cherono clocked 2:19:25, winning the women’s race ahead of Ethiopians Aberu Kebede and Meseret Hailu.
Advertisement
“I think I had no chance to beat Eliud”, said Kiptanui, who knocked 17 seconds off his personal best set in Prague in 2010.
