FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hillary Yego Proves A Debutant's Delight While
Joan Rotich Wins Women's Race In Tough Conditions
Hillary Yego produced a major surprise by taking the Athens Classic
Marathon on his debut at the distance. In warm weather with temperatures
soaring to well over 20 Celsius the Kenyan, little known on the
international scene, ran 2:13:59 on the tough original course, leading from
the town of Marathon to the Panathinaikon Stadium in Athens. Fellow Kenyans
Dickson Cheruiyot (2:14:40) and David Rutoh (2:14:47) took
second and third. The defending champion Raymond Bett (Kenya) didn't live
up to his own pre-race expectations and dropped out shortly after halfway
because of stomach problems.
Joan Rotich completed a Kenyan double, leading from the start and crossing
the line in the old Olympic Stadium in 2:41:38. Svitlana Stanko of Ukraine
was runner-up in 2:42:03 and Magda Gazea gave the home fans plenty to
celebrate with a fine run for third place in 2:46:07.
While the course record remained intact, the organisers could reflect on
record entries with 11,000 taking part in the 31st Athens Classic Marathon.
It was definitely a day when running took centre stage in the Greek capital
with more than 30,000 participants entered in a variety of events.
Time and again marathons produce surprises. A course such as Athens makes
predicting outcomes a tricky business, even in a country where where
soothsayers have been performing that role since ancient times: who would
have predicted in 2004 that Stefano Baldini (Italy) and Mizuki Noguchi
(Japan) would have won Olympic gold? Today the tough course and difficult
weather conditions made it truly a long, hard road for all.
Conditions were deceptive for the first few kilometres with the temperature
around 15 degrees Celsius. As soon as the sun broke through the clouds, the
heat and humidity rose. The leading men went through 10 k in 31:01, on
course for breaking 2:11 which would have put Baldini's course record of
2:10:55 under pressure. That had been the declared target of the defending
champion and event record holder (2:11:35), Raymond Bett of Kenya.
The pace slowed en route to halfway, reached by a group of ten runners in
66:48. Shortly afterwards Raymond Bett dropped out because of stomach
problems. With more hills on the way to the highest point of the course at
32.5k, the numbers who found going too tough grew.
The lead group was reduced to a trio once the descent into Athens began:
Yego, Cheruiyot and Rutoh. With 5k to go Rutoh was dropped, then Yego made
the decisive move just before the 40k mark.
"This was my first marathon. And this is of course a perfect start for me.
I am very happy, but it was very tough. The course is very hill and when it
finally sloped down into Athens it was getting very hot and humid,"said 27
year-old winner Hillary Yego, who comes from Eldoret and trains with
experienced marathon runners like Wilson Kibet and Sammy Kitwara. "They
gave me good advice during the training, but also for the race."
In contrast to the men's race, one woman took the initiative from the
start. Joan Rotich went to the front and quickly built a big lead. When she
passed 15 k in 54:10 minutes, the Kenyan was almost two and a half minutes
ahead of Ukraine's Svitlana Stanko. Rotich began to struggle on the hills
and Stanko sensed her chance, cutting back the lead. Rotich had established
too great an advantage, however, and Stanko crossed the finish line 25
seconds behind.
"I had hoped to run 2:32. And I was on course for that until 15 k. But then
it got too tough," said 25 year-old Rotich, who has a personal best of
2:33:56. "The Athens Marathon is a special race, so I am very happy to have
won it. It was a great feeling to run into the Olympic Stadium."
Results (including bib numbers):
Men:
1 Hillary Yego (KEN / # 24 / orange vest) 2:13:55
2 Dickson Cheruiyot (KEN / # 25 / blue vest) 2:14:40
3 David Rutoh (KEN / # 13) 2:14:47
4 Paul Kosgei (KEN / # 2) 2:16:58
Women:
1 Joan Rotich (KEN / # 105) 2:41:38
2 Svitlana Stanko (UKR / # 106) 2:42:03
3 Magda Gazea (GRE / # 601) 2:46:07
More Information and online entry is available at:
www.athensclassicmarathon.gr
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