FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cheshari Jacob takes Hannover, second win in a row for Souad Ait Salem
Cheshari Jacob and Souad Ait Salem won the 25th edition of the HAJ Hannover
Marathon on Sunday. In very good weather conditions 31 year-old Kenyan
Jacob clocked 2:09:32. In a close finish Ethiopia's Chala Bekele had been
in the lead briefly in the final kilometre but then had to settle for
second in 2:09:42. Martin Kosgey of Kenya also ran a sub 2:10 time with
2:09:50 for third place.
Algeria's national marathon record holder Souad Ait Salem built a big lead
during the second half and clocked a fine 2:27:21. The 36 year-old missed
the course record by just 14 seconds. Olha Kotovska of Ukraine was second
with 2:29:13 and South Africa's Mapaseka Makhanya clocked a personal best
of 2:31:02 to take third.
Adding other races at shorter distances the HAJ Hannover Marathon had a
record entry of slightly over 20,000 runners. The event is an IAAF Silver
Label Road Race.
With temperatures slightly below 10 Celsius at the start, overcast skies
and hardly any wind conditions were almost perfect. And the pace was during
the first part of the race. A big leading group passed the 10 k point in
30:08 minutes. 15 runners including three pacemakers then reached the half
way point in 64:08 – a pace just inside the course record of 2:08:32 set by
South Africa's Lusapho April two years ago. However once the pacemakers
dropped out at the 25 k point the pace dropped considerably for around six
kilometres. Nine runners were still in contention. "There was noone pushing
and it turned tactical," said Cheshari Jacob, who has a personal best of
2:07:46 from Frankfurt in 2013.
It was Jacob who then surged ahead around 32 k, covering the next few
kilometre sections below 3:00 minutes. The group split up immediately and
Jacob was about five seconds in front of Bekele and Kosgey after 35 k. The
Ethiopian managed to catch the leader around the 40 k mark. Bekele then
even took the lead briefly with less than a kilomtre to go. But Jacob
responded, went clear and finally won with an advantage of ten seconds. "I
knew I had something left and was confident that I would overtake him,"
said Jacob, who comes from Iten. "It is my aim to achive a time of 2:06 one
day and I think it is possible in Hannover, because the course is flat,"
said Jacob, who will now target an autumn marathon. "I would like to run in
Frankfurt in October," he said after his biggest career win so far.
A group of five women – Ethiopians Kidist Tedla, Ayantu Hailemaryam and
Aynalem Woldemichael, defending champion Souad Ait Salem and Kenyan
debutant Maryanne Wanjiru – passed the 10 k mark in a 34:26, a 2:25 pace.
They were still running together beyond the 15 k point. However before half
way Wanjiru dropped out while Tedla and Hailemaryam also did not make it to
the finish. With a 1:12:55 half way split only Salem and Woldemichael were
left in the first group. The Ethiopian then fell back between 25 and 30 k
and was a minute behind the Algerian at 30 k. Ait Salem reached that point
in 1:43:50. Still well inside the course record set by Ukraine's Olena
Burkovska in 2013 (2:27:07) she was going strong.
"But during the final two kilometres I had a cramp in my calf," said Souad
Ait Salem, who slowed but still clocked her second best marathon time with
2:27:21. Her personal record stands at 2:25:08. "I was not aware that I was
that close to the course record at this late stage. But I am very happy
with my performance. The weather was perfect and it is a very good course,"
said Souad Ait Salem.
While second placed Olha Kotovska was well behind in second with 2:29:13
third placed Mapaseka Makhanya improved by more than five minutes from
2:36:36 to 2:31:02. The South African reached the qualifying times for
both, the World Championships this year and the Olympic Games in 2016.
Results, Men:
1. Cheshari Jacob KEN 2:09:32
2. Chala Bekele ETH 2:09:42
3. Martin Kosgey KEN 2:09:50
4. Munyo Mutai KEN 2:10:42
5. Augustine Ronoh KEN 2:10:45
6. Benjamin Kolum KEN 2:11:09
7. Weldon Kirui KEN 2:12:47
8. Patrick Kimeli KEN 2:18:15
9. Dominico Ricatti ITA 2:18:23
10. Habetamu Beyene ETH 2:19:31
Women:
1. Souad Ait Salem ALG 2:27:21
2. Olha Kotovska UKR 2:29:13
3. Mapaseka Makhanya RSA 2:31:02
4. Vaida Zusinaite LTU 2:37:59
5. Aynalem Woldemichael ETH 2:38:11
More information about the HAJ Marathon Hannover is available online at:
www.marathon-hannover.de
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