MILANO CITY MARATHON, ITALY

A record 5726 runners assembled in the Piazza Castello in cool conditions writes Diego Sampaolo. Recent bronze medal winners in the World Road Running Championships in Udine, Kenya’s Evans Cheruiyot and Pamela Chepchumba confirmed their form in winning their races, with Chepchumba smashing her previous best of 2:29:48 set in the 2006 Paris Marathon.

A seven-man group including three pacemakers passed 15km in 45:46, 45 seconds ahead of the chasing group. Two pacers dropped out at halfway, reached in 1:04:24, after which the pace slowed slightly as runners watched each other. At 30km it was down to four men: John Birgen, Norman Dlomo, Charles Kamathi and Cheruiyot. Dlomo tried to break away at 34km. Kamathi was dropped but Cheruiyot and Birgen responded quickly and the three passed 35km in 1:47:30. Cheruiyot and Birgen then went clear. Cheruiyot’s speed (he ran 59:05 in Udine) proved decisive at 39km when he pulled away from Birgen to finish in the Arco della Pace with a five-second advantage.

Margaret Okayo, the Milan record holder with 2:24:59 from 2002, hit the front early on and ran with Chepchumba, passing 10km in 33:45. Coming back from injury, she completed her test run at halfway, passed in 1:11:50. In the second half Chepchumba continued running strongly at course record pace but showed signs of fatigue at the end, and the record slipped from her grasp. This was the fourth Marathon of her career. Bahrain’s Nadia Ejjaffini led Marcella Mancini by 50 seconds at 30km, but the Italian overhauled her at 40km to take second.

MEN:
1 Evans K CHERUIYOT KEN 2:09:15
2 John BIRGEN KEN 2:09:20
3 Norman MBLOMO RSA 2:10:39
4 Charles KAMATHI KEN 2:11:25
5 Ottavio ANDRIANI ITA 2:11:42
6 José TELEZ BRA 2:12:24
7 Vanderlei DE LIMA BRA 2:12:54
8 Mostafa ERRABAH ITA 2:14:16
9 Abdelhadi El HACHIMI MOR 2:14:35
10 Anselmo DE SOUZE BRA 2:14:44

WOMEN:
1 Pamela CHEPCHUMBA KEN 2:25:36
2 Marcella MANCINI ITA 2:34:58
3 Petra TEVELI HUN 2:35:21

Source/Courtesy
AIMS (Association of International Marathons and Road Races)
https://aimsworldrunning.org/
AIMS