2015 London Marathon Men's Race - Post Race Writeup

London Marathon - The Men's Race
by MarathonGuide.com

Always Seeking a World Record!?!

London Is Fast
The London Marathon is fast. It brings together the strongest possible fields and offers generous time bonuses. For the 2015 Marathon it had brought together the defending champion/course record holder/prior world record holder Wilson Kipsang and the current world record holder Dennis Kimetto. The course record at London was 2:04:29 - and the race held nine men who had run sub-2:05 for a marathon including three who had run sub-2:04. And with a field this deep and knowing the men who compete in the marathon, there would always be some legitimate competitor who would want to really race from the beginning - so the race would be fast.

The Start + a 3:18[sic] mile
From the beginning the race was fast and it even looked fast. With the pacers at the front doing their job, we noticed Eliud Kipchoge and Tsegaye Mekonnen running just behind seemingly wanting to escape from the confines of running behind others. Those watching television saw the 2 mile split posted to the screen and repeated by the announcers: 3:18 for the second mile! Well, of course that is impossible and was an error in the broadcast - but it did seem they were running that fast. Through 5K in 14:31, the men were well ahead of world record pace.

From the beginning through 13 miles, the front pack consisted of ten men led by two pacers - with Geoffrey Mutai the first to fall back. Through halfway in 1:02:19, the runners were behind world record pace and slightly behind course record pace, but close.

The Second Half
After the first half, the pace began to slow - but only compared to the ridiculously fast times we've become used to seeing. By 25K, the pack was down to 8 with two pacers; Samuel Tsegay of Eritrea having fallen off the pace. By 16 miles, Emmanuel Mutai was in trouble and fading back, with Tsegaye Mekonnen fading soon thereafter - and it was a race between six men: Wilson Kipsang, Dennis Kimetto, Eliud Kipchoge, Tilahun Regassa, Sammy Kitwara and Stanley Biwott.

By mile 22, with Kitwara moving back - five men looked equally strong. The five who would certainly remain in the top five places were running side by side across the road, each seeming to put in micro-surges less to break away than to show the others he was still strong.

At mile 22, Kipsang and Kipchoge make a real surge. Regassa falls back significantly. Kimetto breaks and falls back as well. But Kimetto miraculously regains the field and it is a race of four men: Kipsang, Kimetto, Kipchoge and Biwott.

Just before mile 24, Kipsang and Kipchoge take off again, and the race is between these two. They are running side-by-side and either seems strong enough to win. Going into 40K, Kipchoge pulls ahead to grab a bottle from the fluids table. With less than two miles to the finish it seems odd that Kipchoge would stop for fluids that would not even be absorbed by the end of the race - but it also becomes clear with that move that, rather than being weak and in need of refreshment, he is the stronger of the two.

With 700m to go, Kipchoge runs away and Kipsang lets him go. Either Kipchoge has started his sprint too early and Kipsang will catch him as he tires or he will win. With 200m to go, Kipsang tries to catch back up and gains just a little, but he is well back. The win goes to Eliud Kipchoge in 2:04:42 with Kipsang five seconds back in 2:04:47. Dennis Kimetto takes third in 2:05:50, Stanley Biwott is fourth in 2:06:41 and Tilahun Regassa holds onto fifth in 2:07:16.

The race at the 2015 London Marathon was excellent and as much as any fan could reasonably hope for. The winning time was not a course record, but it was the third fastest time ever at London - not bad. Two men had run sub-2:05 at London in 2014 and that feat was repeated in 2015. And although many would have liked to see Wilson Kipsang notch his third London victory, the win by Kipchoge after his 2014 Chicago Marathon victory positions him as among the very best.

Top Finishers:
1. Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) 2:04:42 - $155,000 ($55,000 + $100,000)
2. Wilson Kipsang (KEN) 2:04:47 - $130,000 ($30,000 + $100,000)
3. Dennis Kimetto (KEN) 2:05:50 - $97,500 ($22,500 + $75,000)
4. Stanley Biwott (KEN) 2:06:41 - $65,000 ($15,000 + $50,000)
5. Tilahun Regassa (ETH) 2:07:16 - $35,000 ($10,000 + $25,000)
6. Samuel Kitwara (KEN) 2:07:43 - $32,500 ($7,500 + $25,000)
7. Javier Guerra (ESP) 2:09:33 - $8,000 ($5,000 + $3,000)
8. Ghebre Kibrom (ERI) 2:09:36 - $7,000 ($4,000 + $3,000)
9. Aleksey Reunkov (RUS) 2:10:10 - $4,000 ($3,000 + $1,000)
10. Serhiy Lebid (UKR) 2:10:21 - $3,000 ($2,000 + $1,000)
11. Emmanuel Mutai (KEN) 2:10:54 - $2,500 ($1,500 + $1,000)
12. Michael Shelley (AUS) 2:11:19 - $1,000