FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hamburg Marathon Report
Marathons can be won in lost in many different ways. Shami Dawit of
Ethiopia and Rael Kiyara of Kenya employed a similar tactic to win the
men's and women's races at the 27th Haspa Marathon Hamburg this morning,
attacking between 30 and 40 kilometres, and breaking both course records,
with 2.05.58 and 2.23.47.
The big difference though was that Dawit was already close to the lead at
the three-quarter mark, and ran away at pace to win by over a minute;
whereas Kiyara was a minute behind at 30k, and closed on her runaway rivals
like an avenging angel, putting them to the sword just after 40k, and
winning by half a minute. They were both mightily impressive runs, on a
windy morning that threatened to ruin the organisers' hopes of giving their
new committee the kudos of good results.
They needn't have worried. As soon as Dawit and Kiyara got into gear, Julio
Rey's 2.06.52 from 2006, and Irina Timofeyeva's 2.24.14 from 2008 were
destined for the dustbin of history. Dawit was ten seconds shy of his best,
in Dubai three months ago, but given the respective conditions, this was an
infinitely superior run, and two sub-2.06's in succession contributes to
the resurgence of Ethiopian marathoning. Kiyara flew the flag for the
Kenyan rivals with close to two minutes improvement on her previous best.
For a city that boasts one day's rain in three, this was fortunately one of
the other two days, though the wind off the North Sea did threaten
proceedings. But a group of 15 men and a half dozen women through the first
half helped dissipate that, and with the breeze at their back over the
final kilometres, both winners said they barely noticed the wind.
Dawit waiting for his moment in the sun, and when it came, he had plenty of
time to savour it. He had finished one second behind his colleague Dadi
Yami in Dubai, and that one second seemed to convince everyone that Yami
was the big favourite here. He certainly played that role throughout the
first half of the race, ignoring the pacemakers and going to the front
himself. But Dawit, who had sat quietly through press conferences while
Yami was lionised by press and TV alike, surged silently to his colleague's
shoulder at 30k, and then proceeded to run 29.07 for the next 10k, and
leave Yami in the dust. Yami nonetheless underlined his good run in Dubai
(2.05.41) by finishing second, in 2.07.01, and Kenyan Augustine Ronoh(sic)
was third, in 2.07.23.
Kiyara played a waiting game. While her young colleague Valentine Kipketer
raced through the half in 1.10.24, with Netsanet Abeyo right behind, Kiyara
was adrift by herself in seventh place in 1.11.43. But a few kilometres
later, as the field fell apart in front of her, she picked up the pieces,
moving into third by 30k. Although still a minute behind, she said
afterwards, that was the point she thought she might win.
"The others started much too quickly," she said, "so I decided to run my
own pace. I didn't think I had a chance to win until I started seeing the
leaders after 30k. But I wasn't sure, it was only when I passed the
Ethiopian at 40k that I thought I was going to win". Abeyo held on to
finish second in 2.24.12, just under the old record, and her colleague
Etalamehu Kidane was third in 2.5.49.
Hamburg has suffered from internal rivalries and lost sponsors in recent
years, falling off from a pre-eminent place in both German and
international marathons, but with a new young team, and a couple of course
records to their credit, this looks like a turning point.
RESULTS
MEN
1 2 Shami DAWIT ETH 2.05.58
2 1 Dadi YAMI ETH 2.07.01
3 6 Augustine RONOH KEN 2.07.23
4 42 Shumi DECHASA ETH 2.07.56
5 46 Ahmed ABDULLAH QAT 2.08.36
6 25 Fikadu LEMMA ETH 2.09.50
7 4 Paul BIWOTT KEN 2.10.14
8 47 Essa RACHED MOR 2.10.52
9 44 Mustafa MOHAMED SWE 2.12.28
10 14 Cosmas KIGEN KEN 2.12.50
WOMEN
1 F2 Rael KYARA KEN 2.23.47
2 F3 Netsanet ABEYO ETH 2.24.12
3 F5 Etalemehu KIDANE ETH 2.25.49
4 F7 Beatrice TOROTICH KEN 2.27.41
5 F13 Valentine KIPKETER KEN 2.28.02
6 F1 Robe GUTA ETH 2.29.22
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