FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ENTERPRISE OVERCOMES ADVERSITY
Hong Kong, January 17, 2016 - The top finishers in the 20th anniversary
edition of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon early Sunday morning
were unanimous in declaring the conditions the worst they'd ever run in.
But despite the monsoon rain, the men in particular put on a storming
finale, which came down to a duel in the last two kilometres, with the lead
changing up to the final 400 metres when Mike Kiprotich Mutai finally
pulled clear of his Kenyan colleague, Lawrence Cherono, to win by two
seconds in 2.12.12. Given the conditions, that was an excellent time, less
than a minute shy of the course record of 2.11.27, set two years ago by
this year's third placer, Feyera Gemeda of Ethiopia, who clocked 2.12.20
this time.
The Hong Kong organisers welcome independent elites making their own way to
the race, and several have pulled off surprise wins in the past, notably
Gemeda. But this year's selection of uninvited guests had a twist to the
tale. Former Kenyan marathoner, Thomas Kiprotich has been living and
coaching in Hong Kong for the last eight years. A relatively recent
decision to go into athlete management of young friends from his celebrated
hometown of Eldoret resulted in the trio finishing first, fourth and
seventh, Dickson Tuwei and Julius Maisei being the others.
With unusual lack of circumspection for a Kenyan, Cherono - who also comes
from Eldoret - had declared himself a likely winner, whatever the
conditions, prior to the race. He was warned of the impending rain, but
clearly hadn't reckoned on Mutai.
"We know each other well," said Kiprotich immediately after the race, "and
I was confident I could beat him in the finish. I knew I would win from
40k". That was not evident to the spectators who still turned out in force,
despite the weather. They witnessed the two men pass and re-pass each other
in the last five minutes of the race, to make it a nail-biting finish.
"I still thought I was going to win," said Cherono, "but he was too strong
for me in the end". Feyera dropped off the pace at the point where Mutai
and Cherono began their duel, but he hung in to finish just eight seconds
adrift of the winner.
The women's race in contrast was far more sedate, although, like the men,
the half dozen leaders stayed together throughout the majority of the race.
"Nobody really wanted to take the lead, because of the rain," said eventual
winner, Letebrhan Haylay Gebreslasea, who hails from Tigre in northern
Ethiopia. "But I decided to try from 36k, and the group split up".
Only her colleague, Ayelu Lemma Geda responded, and although, as in the
men's race, the gap at the end was just two seconds, Geda never got on
terms with Gebreslasea, and the winner wasn't threatened down the finishing
straight, as had happened in the men's race. Gebreslasea won in 2.36. 51,
with Geda on 2.36.53, and another Ethiopian, Ehite Bizuayehu Gebireyes
third, in 2.37.28.
Probably the best run of the day in the women's race came from Yu Kit Ching
of Hong Kong. She has already been selected for the Rio Olympics, and with
a sixth place, hard on the heels of five quality Ethiopians (one running
for Bahrein), she clocked 2.38.38, only 14 seconds slower than her best,
set in far more clement conditions in Prague nine months ago.
RESULTS
PLACE NAME COUNTRY TIME PRIZE/US$
MEN
1 Mike Kiprotich MUTAI KEN 2.12.12 65,000
2 Lawrence CHERONO KEN 2.12.14 30,000
3 Feyera GEMEDA ETH 2.12.20 15,000
4 Dickson TUWEI KEN 2.12.29 10,000
5 Fikre ROBI ETH 2.12.47 6,000
6 Megersa BACHA ETH 2.13.02 3,000
7 Julius MAISEI KEN 2.13.20 2,000
8 Melaku BIZUNEH ETH 2.17.27 1,600
9 Mulatu REGASA ETH 2.17.39 1,200
10 Samuel MWANIKI KEN 2.19.27 1,000
WOMEN
1 Letebrhan GEBRESLASEA/ETH 2.36.51 65,000
2 Ayelu L GEDA ETH 2.36.53 30,000
3 Ehite B GEBIREYES ETH 2.37.28 15,000
4 Koren JELALA ETH 2.38.01 10,000
5 Lishan D GEMCHU BRN 2.38.19 6,000
6 YIU Kit Ching HKG 2.38.38 3,000
7 Aster TILAHUN BRN 2.39.09 2,000
8 Askale T HURISA ETH 2.40.04 1,600
9 Naomi MAYO KEN 2.40.44 1,200
10 Meseret G AGAMA ETH 2.41.26 1,000
ends
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