FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sure Bett Takes Race Record
Raymond Bett's foresight paid off, as the Kenyan confidently strode along
the road from Marathon to Athens, to win the 30th edition of the Athens
Classic Marathon in a race record of 2.11.35.
On the original marathon course, created for the inaugural modern Olympics
in 1896, Bett loped along behind a handful of colleagues until he took the
initiative on the steady decline in the final 10k to the finish in the
splendid marble Panethenaiko Stadium, venue for the first modern Olympics.
Bett finally despatched his last rival with about four kilometres to run,
and was a comfortable winner, almost a minute ahead of colleagues, Paul
Kosgei, who passed Alex Kirui inside the stadium, finishing second in
2.12.20, to Kirui's third in 2.12.26.
Bett won here two years ago, and he said earlier this week that, having
experienced the difficulty of the course, he specifically ran lots of hills
in preparation. He was a very happy and justified man after the race.
"I was always confident I could win," said Bett. "I used the experience of
winning here two years ago, to hang at the back of the group in the hills,
and come through at the end. The conditions today were good, but if I come
back again, I think I could break the course record".
As opposed to the race record, which Bett broke by five seconds, the course
record belongs to 2004 Olympic winner, Stefano Baldini of Italy, with
2.10.55.
That looked way beyond reach after a steady but unspectacular first half in
66.22, at which point there were still a dozen men in contention. But the
gradients and rolling hills in the middle of the course took their toll on
the others, while Bett was preparing to run the second half over a minute
faster.
Instead of a predicted headwind, there was ultimately a slight breeze at
their backs, on a bright sunny morning, with temperatures rising from
15C(59F) at the 9am start, to 18C(64F) at the finish.
In only his second marathon, and despite the tough course, Kosgei improved
his personal best by over two minutes; and Kirui completed the Kenyan
sweep. The expected challenge from two strong Ethiopians never
materialised, as Mesfin Hailu dropped off the pace well before halfway,
then dropped out altogether, as did his colleague, Teferi Wodajo.
To complete the Kenyan day, the top trio's trophies were presented by
colleague and world record holder Patrick Makau, who had himself been given
an award at a Gala Dinner two nights earlier, for the concurrent 30th
anniversary of the Association of International Marathons (AIMS).
Kenyan debutante, Consolater Chemtai Yadaa won the women's race in exactly
2.40.00; Svitlana Stanko of Ukraine was second in 2.40.07, while another
Kenyan, Viola Chelangat Kimetto was third in 2.40.28.
The race has expanded considerably since the 2500th anniversary two years
ago, of the Battle of Marathon, the event which ultimately gave rise to the
creation of the event for the inaugural modern Olympic Games. Today, there
were close to 10,000 runners at the start in Marathon; and over double that
number ran in the five and ten kilometre races in Athens city centre.
RESULTS
MEN
Pos/Bib Name Country Time
1 1 Raymond BETT KEN 2.11.35
2 21 Paul KOSGEI KEN 2.12.20
3 8 Alex KIRUI KEN 2.12.26
4 3 Japhet KIPKORIR KEN 2.13.31
5 11 Peter BIWOTT KEN 2.14.37
6 20 Charles NGOLEPUS KEN 2.16.55
WOMEN
1 105 Cosolater Chemtai YADAA KEN 2.40.00
2 103 Svitlana STANKO UKR 2.40.07
3 108 Viola Chelangat KIMETTOKEN KEN 2.40.28
4 102 Sviatlana KOHOU BLR 2.42.30
5 601 Magdalini GAZEA GRE 2.44.42
6 106 Tetiana IVANOVA UKR 2.46.48
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