Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won Sunday’s Hamburg Marathon as the 15,000 runners in the northern German city paid tribute to the victims of the Boston Marathon bomb blasts.
The 28-year-old Kipchoge, running in his first competitive marathon, set a new course record of 2hrs 05.30mins with Ethiopia’s Limenih Getachew second 2min 5sec back, while Kenya’s Lawrence Kimaiyo was third 4min 57sec adrift.
“I am very happy, because I certainly wanted to break the record,” Kipchoge, who won a 5,000m silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, told broadcaster NDR having shaved 28 seconds off the previous record.
It was a fine run for the debut marathon runner. Kipchoge switched to road running last year after failing to make the Kenya Olympics team in the 5,000 m that would have seen him participate in his third consecutive Games. He holds a personal best of 59.35 in the half marathon set in Lille, France on September 9 on his debut run. He finished sixth in last year’s IAAF World Half Marathon Championships before making the big stop to the 42 km race.
He was a polished and consistent runner on the track with multiple World championships and Olympic medals. He won 5,000m gold at the 2003 and 2007 World Athletic Championships and 5,000m silver at the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games. He is the 2003 World Cross Country Championship junior champion.
Courtesy of nation.co.ke