FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
STANDARD CHARTERED DUBAI MARATHON RESULTS
dubai, friday, January 20, 0800gmt
Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia broke the course record in the Standard Chartered
Dubai Marathon on Friday morning, with two hours, four minutes and eleven
seconds. But the much heralded world record attempt by his star colleague,
Kenenisa Bekele was strangled at birth when the multiple champion and world
record holder fell at the start, and got held up in the pack while the
leaders accelerated away at world record breaking pace. Bekele never got
back on terms and the injuries sustained in the fall caused him to drop out
just after halfway.
It seems that Dubai is not good for Bekele's health or fortunes; this is
the second time he's dropped out of the marathon here. Two years ago, it
was with a hamstring injury, this time he strained a calf when falling.
Through his manager, Jos Hermens, he said, "I came to Dubai to do something
special - however it was not to be. I fell down at the start and got hurt.
I tried to run, but it did not work. I hope to come back to Dubai one day
and show what I can do here".
It's always gratifying to see a first class track runner translate his
talent into marathon success, and Tola, who won 10,000 metres bronze in the
Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro last summer emphasised just how much
progress he has made in the marathon by taking over two minutes off his
debut time of 2.06.17, set when he finished fourth here in 2014.
It is a measure of his ambition that he was dissatisfied with his finishing
time today, as he was with his third place in Rio. The early fast pace in
Dubai, with the pack of a half dozen as much as 45 seconds up on world
record pace at halfway, told in the latter stages, and Tola finished over
two minutes outside the world record of 2.02.57 by Dennis Kimetto of Kenya
in Berlin 2014. And despite this marathon success, he wants to stay with
10,000 metres for the IAAF World Championships in London this summer and,
he says, "Win the gold medal this time.
"The pace was very fast at the start," he said of today's race. "The 15k
time (43.26) was much too fast. But when we found that Kenenisa was well
behind, I became more confident. I'm happy to win, but I think I could have
run under 2.04". That would have secured him a $50,000 bonus in addition to
the $200,000 first prize; because late on Wednesday, Race Director Peter
Connerton added the bonus to up to five men finishing under 2.04 as an
incentive to keep running right to the end, hoping they would ensure a fast
pace for Bekele.
But in the scrum at the start, he fell in the scramble, and couldn't get us
fast enough to give chase to the rapidly accelerating lead group, and when
his calf muscle began to tighten, with him up to a minute adrift of the
leaders, he had to stop to massage himself, and the cause was lost. He
dropped out shortly afterwards, while Tola was waging a war of attrition
with several other Ethiopian colleagues which he finally won shortly before
30k when the last of his challengers, Sisay Lemma dropped back. At that
point Tola was still only one second shy of world record pace (1.27.39),
but the final pacemaker then dropped out, and with close to a minute lead
by 35k, Tola could afford to relent, and cruise to victory, breaking
colleague Ayele Abshero's course record of 2.04.23 from 2012. Another
Ethiopian, Mule Wasihun had dropped back to third at one point, but he
rallied to finish second, in 2.06.46, with Lemma hanging on for third, and
an Ethiopian sweep, in 2.08.04.
It was a similar finale in the women's race, though that remained
competitive until much later in the day. There was a still a group of seven
women together until close to 35k, when marathon debutante, Worknesh Degefa
started to force the issue. She is a superlative half-marathoner, and put
the extra training distance to good use by running away from all but Shure
Demise, one of the pre-race favourites. Demise managed to claw back some of
the deficit in the penultimate kilometre, but when she saw that Degefa was
still running strongly, she was forced to settle for second. Degefa won in
2.22.36, with Demise on 2.22.57, and compatriot Yebrgual Melese on 2.23.13.
RESULTS
MEN
1. Tamirat Tola ETH 2:04:11
2. Mule Wasihun ETH 2:06:46
3. Sisay Lemma ETH 2:08:04
4. Sisay Jigsa ETH 2:08:09
5. Mark Lokwanamoi KEN 2:08:39
6. Mekuant Ayenew ETH 2:09:23
7. Azmeraw Bekele ETH 2:10:22
8. Chele Dechasa ETH 2:10:24
9. Limenih Getachew ETH 2:11:16
10. Tsegaye Mekonnen ETH 2:11:54
WOMEN
1. Worknesh Degefa ETH 2:22:36
2. Shure Demise ETH 2:22:57
3. Yebrgual Melese ETH 2:23:13
4. Tadelech Bekele ETH 2:24:04
5. Hirut Tibebu ETH 2:25:12
6. Roza Dereje ETH 2:26:58
7. Shuko Genemo ETH 2:28:16
8. Tigist Teshome ETH 2:30:09
9. Megertu Ifa ETH 2:30:45
10. Anne-Mari Hyrylainen FIN 2:32:19
###
|
