SCRAMBLE FOR EURO CITY RACES: Rotterdam, Rome and Vienna fall to Kenyans

Kenyans and Ethiopians claimed a bigger slice of the glory in spring city marathons in Rotterdam, Vienna City and Rome yesterday.

The victory, which comes ahead of Boston Marathon set for next Monday (April 18) and London Marathon on Sunday next week, produced tongue-wagging shows as Athletics Kenya gears up to fashion a marathon squad for Kenya at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August.

In the Dutch port City of Rotterdam, little known Marius Kipserem scored an upset victory at the NN Rotterdam Marathon, clocking 2:06:11 at the IAAF Gold Label Road Race.

The 28-year-old knocked more than three minutes from the previous career best of 2:09:21 he set when winning the Hefei Marathon last October, one of three Chinese marathons Kipserem won in 2015.
Solomon Deksisa of Ethiopia was second in 2:06:22, an impressive debut for the 22-year-old.

Geoffrey Kirui, the 2011 IAAF World Youth 3,000m bronze medalist, returned third in 2:07:23 in his maiden outing over the distance.

Ethiopia’s Letebrhan Haylay Gebreslasea won the women’s race in 2:26:04. Sutume Asefe Kebede, also of Ethiopia, was second in 2:28:04. Further back Kenya’s Rebecca Korir was third in 2:29:16.

In Rome, debutant Amos Kipruto won Rome Marathon in 2:08:12.

Kipruto broke from a seven-man pack after 35 kilometres to finish more than a minute ahead of Ethiopian Birhanu Achamie, who reached the line in 2:09:27. Kenyan Dominic Ruto (2:09:27) was third.

Largely unheralded, Kipruto arrived in Rome with a 1:01:02 personal best in the half marathon, but more recently confirmed his form in January’s Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon where he paced the leaders through 30 kilometres in 1:27:30.

The native of Kapsabet, who is trained by Italian coach Claudio Berardelli, began running seriously in 2013 and now makes it two victories in the spring season for the former Rosa Associati trainer after Cyprian Kotut won in Paris last weekend.
Robert Chemosin, another rookie, won the 2016 Vienna City Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race, after posting 2:09:48 under windy conditions.

After two Ethiopian victories in the past two years, the men’s race at this edition was dominated by Kenyan runners as four of his compatriots followed Chemosin home.
Charles Cheruyiot was second in 2:10:09 and Suleiman Simotwo third in 2:10:15. Silas Limo (2:10:16) and Raymond Choge (2:11:07) completed the top five.

However, there was an Ethiopian winner in the women’s race as Shuko Genemo defied the difficult conditions to win in 2:24:31, the second fastest time in the history of the event. Debutant Ruti Aga, also from Ethiopia, was second in 2:25:27 while Doris Changeywo, a former world cross country regular, was a distant third in 2:31:50.