34th ASICS Stockholm Marathon 2012 – Jordan win in cruel conditions

The 34th ASICS Stockholm Marathon was afflicted by the worst conditions ever. Unseasonal 3-4 degrees (C) and blasts of wind up to 18 meters/second attacked the runners, accompanied by persistent rain it all become a great ordeal.

Top Runner Andreas Bergstedt described the absurd when the competitors did hit a wall of wind at the halfway mark. “One of us cracked up, and started to laugh unrestrainedly.”
   
15 968 runners started, 14 686 completed the race. That means that only 8 percent did not finish, a surprisingly low figure, considering the harsh conditions.

Methkal Abu Drais was the quickest of them all, Whoever expected a Jordan runner to win? Abu Drais started modestly and progressed through the field, overtaking Ethiopia’s Dereje Debele Tulu in the final kilometers.
The Kenyan runners dreaded the weather and failed to reach Top-20-positions.

Derebe Godana, Ethiopia, dominated the women’s race, right from the start. She won by over three minutes to Veronika Lopatina, of Russia.