Press Release - Munich Marathon - 10/8/23

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                         GENERALI MUNICH MARATHON: 

 Kenyans Bernard Muia and Catherine Cherotich take eventful races in Munich

An eventful GENERALI MUNICH MARATHON produced a Kenyan double triumph on 
Sunday. In fine weather conditions Bernard Muia clocked 2:09:17. This is 
the second fastest winning time in the history of the race which saw its 
37th edition. Catherine Cherotich took the women's race crossing the finish 
line in the Munich Olympic Stadium in 2:31:34. Germany's Sebastian Hendel 
was the fastest European runner in fifth place with a personal best of 
2:10:14. However he missed the Olympic qualifying time of 2:08:10. 

The men's leading group passed the half way mark in 64:29, which was almost 
exactly the split time targeted. With less than ten kilometers to go 
Kenyans Bernard Muia and Benson Nzioki pushed the pace, breaking up the 
leading group. They covered the kilometre sections from 34 to 36k in 2:56, 
2:58 and 2:53 and built a decisive lead. It was then Bernard Muia - a 
training partner of the World Half Marathon Championships' bronze medallist 
Samwel Mailu - who left behind his compatriot in the final kilometre. The 
28 year-old was first over the line with 2:09:17 after he was added to the 
Munich elite field only on Tuesday. He had been training for a marathon and 
was accepted in Munich after an other athlete had to cancel his start. 
Marathon debutant Benson Nzioki took second in 2:09:12 while Mica Cheserek 
completed the Kenyan podium with 2:09:26. 

The men's leading group was unfortunate during the race when they missed a 
turn shortly before the 10k mark. The group had to turn around and lost 
about half a minute. "It is a pity that something like this has occurred, 
but unfortunately it can happen in a marathon. At least I know I am 
stronger than in 2022 and should be able to run sub 2:10 next time," said 
Sebastian Hendel, who ran 2:10:37 in Munich a year ago in his debut and now 
improved by 23 seconds.

The women had a major problem in this section of the course as well, when 
they were misguided and took the same turn too early. They were suddenly 
around 600 m short and their times would have been invalid. However 
organisers staged a unique rescue mission for these athletes by adding two 
laps for the affected runners in the Olympic Stadium before the finish.

There was an all-Kenyan podium in the women's race as well: Catherine 
Cherotich, who left behind Teclah Chebet just before the 30k mark, was the 
winner with 2:31:34. Chebet took second in 2:32:13 while Flomena Ngurasia 
followed in third with 2:33:17. "Of course I was very tired, but the 
spectators pushed me towards the finish line on these two laps in the 
stadium. The atmosphere was great," said 28 year-old Catherine Cherotich. 

"I have never experienced anything like this in 23 years of organizing this 
race. I can not point the finger on anyone. The section of the course where 
they took the wrong turns contains major road works and it was all very 
confusing," said Race Director Gernot Weigl, who was still happy with the 
overall event: "We had thrilling races and there was a lot of excitement." 
A total of 21,647 runners from 87 nations entered the 37th edition of the 
GENERALI MUNICH MARATHON, including races at shorter distances. 5,210 of 
them were marathon runners, making the event the fourth biggest German 
marathon.

Results:

Men:
1 Bernard Muia         KEN 2:09:17
2 Benson Nzioki        KEN 2:09:21
3 Mica Cheserek        KEN 2:09:26
4 Cosmas Kiplimo       KEN 2:10:07
5 Sebastian Hendel     GER 2:10:14
6 Amos Birgen          KEN 2:11:15
7 Luke Kibet           KEN 2:11:41
8 Merhawi Ghebreslasie FRA 2:17:33

Women:
1 Catherine Cherotich  KEN 2:31:34
2 Teclah Chebet        KEN 2:32:13
3 Flomena Ngurasia     KEN 2:33:17
4 Caroline Chepkwony   KEN 2:36:32
5 Beatrice Cheburet    KEN 2:46:42

More information about the GENERALI MUNICH MARATHON is available at: 
www.generalimuenchenmarathon.de

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