SINGAPORE, Dec 7 – Kenya took a clean sweep at the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon on Sunday, with Luke Kibet winning the men’s event in a record-breaking time.
The 25-year-old crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 13 minutes, breaking last year’s record set by another Kenyan Elijah Mbogo by one minute.
Johnstone Chepkwony took second place while Amos Matui was in third.
Another Kenyan Edith Masai clinched the title in the women’s race in 2 hours and 34 minutes. She was followed by Silvia Skortsova a Russian and another Kenyan Rose Chesire.
This was the seventh edition of the Singapore Marathon and it was a record breaking fete in participation numbers. 15,000 runners took part in the 42-kilometre.
Still in Asia, Kenya’s Felix Limo finished fifth at the Fukuoka International Men’s Marathon while a fellow countryman John Kales abandoned at the 30-kilometre mark, in a race that went to Ethiopia’s runner.
Beijing Olympic bronze medallist Tsegaye Kebede won Sunday’s race, setting a personal best time as well as a new record.
The 21-year-old Ethiopian picked up the pace and never looked back crossing the finishing line in two hours, six minutes and 10 seconds.
That improved on his previous personal best of 2:06:40 set in winning the Paris marathon this season, and was faster than the previous meet record of 2:06:39 set by Beijing Olympic champion Samuel Wanjiru last year.
The real competition started soon after Kales abandoned the race and eventually Satoshi Irifune survived the Japanese battle to finish second in 2:09:23.
Irifune earned a place in the world championships in Berlin next year as the top Japanese finisher.
About The Author
