It
was Kenya’s day at the BMW Berlin Marathon today as Patrick Makau broke
Haile Gebrselassie’s world record to leap to the top of the 2010/11
World Marathon Majors standings while Florence Kiplagat moved to fifth
on the women’s leaderboard as she became only the 11th women to break the 2:20 barrier.
Makau produced a brilliant
performance to retain his Berlin title as he sliced 21 seconds from
Gebrselassie’s 2008 mark with 2:03:38, adding 25 points to the 15 he
picked up when finishing third in London this year. Makau now has 60
points overall, five more than London Marathon winner Emmanuel Mutai
with Tsegaye Kebede lying third.
After
last year’s cold and rain, the famous “Berlin Marathon weather”
returned and Makau took full advantage of the perfect conditions to lead
home fellow Kenyans Stephen Kwelio, Edwin Kimaiyo and Felix Limo, who
were rewarded with 15, 10 and five WMM points respectively.
Makau made the decisive
move at around 27km when he kicked away from Gebrselassie, who was
suffering with breathing problems, and sped past the 30km mark in a
world record time of 1:27:38. Makau went on to win by more than four
minutes while the Ethiopian recovered briefly before eventually dropping
out around 38km.
“This
was the greatest day of my running life,” said Makau afterwards. “When I
woke up today my body didn’t feel very good but as the race went on I
felt better.
“At 25km I felt I could break the world record. It’s great to have beaten Haile, one of my heroes.”
If
Kwelio, who started as a pacemaker, was one shock name at the finish,
marathon debutant Scott Overall provided another surprise. The Briton
gained a spot on the men’s leaderboard when he was fifth in 2:10:55,
worth one point.
In
the women’s race, Kiplagat gained her first WMM points as she ran away
from world record holder Paula Radcliffe after 15km to take a solo
victory in 2:19:44.
The Kenyan, who dropped out of
the Boston Marathon in April, now sits alongside fellow Kenyan Caroline
Kilel plus Ethiopian pair Aberu Kebede and Teyba Erkesso on 25 points.
Irina
Mikitenko overtook Radcliffe before 35km to finish second in 2:22:18,
adding 15 points to the one she earned when fifth in Chicago last year.
Radcliffe finished third in 2:23:46 and moves to equal 15th on the standings.
Ethiopia’s Atsede Habtamu, fourth in 2:24:25, and Russian Tatyana Petrova, fifth in 2:25:01, also gained WMM points.
Another Russian, Liliya
Shobukhova, still leads the women’s 2010/11 series with 65 points, five
ahead of New York champion Edna Kiplagat and 30 more than London winner
Mary Keitany.
The
following athletes have collected WMM points at the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON
this Sunday (points counting for 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 series):
Men:
1. Patrick Makau KEN 25 points 2:03:38 WR
2. Stephen Kwelio KEN 15 2:07:55
3. Edwin Kimaiyo KEN 10 2:09:50
4. Felix Limo KEN 5 2:10:38
5. Scott Overall GBR 1 2:10:55
Women:
1. Florence Kiplagat KEN 25 points 2:19:44
2. Irina Mikitenko GER 15 2:22:18
3. Paula Radcliffe GBR 10 2:23:46
4. Atsede Habtamu ETH 5 2:24:25
5. Tatyana Petrova RUS 1 2:25:01
The current standings in the 2010-2011 WMM series:
Men
1. Patrick Makau (KEN) 60
2. Emmanuel Mutai (KEN) 55
3. Tsegaye Kebede (ETH) 41
4. Geoffrey Mutai (KEN) 40
5. Gebre Gebremariam (ETH) 35
Women
1. Liliya Shobukhova (RUS) 65
2. Edna Kiplagat (KEN) 60
3. Mary Keitany (KEN) 35
4. Bezunesh Bekele (ETH) 30
5. Florence Kiplagat (KEN) 25
5. Aberu Kebede (ETH) 25
5.
Teyba Erkesso (ETH) 25
5. Caroline Kilel (KEN) 25
Full
standings for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 WMM series as well as further
information about the WMM and participating athletes are available
from:
www.worldmarathonmajors.com