Browsing: Kipruto

Benson Kipruto had what looked like a safe lead with 200 left. Then Alexander Mutiso found an extra gear that nearly stole the show. (KEVIN MORRIS)

NEW YORK CITY, November 02 — After an uneventful opening 16 miles, the 54th New York City Marathon gradually turned into a thrilling duel that yielded the closest finish in race history. Benson Kipruto held off fellow Kenyan Alexander Mutiso by a mere 0.03 (you read that right) for the win.

The early pace had been conservative, despite sunny and comfortable conditions (50F/10C at the start). The lead pack came through 5K in 15:11 and 10K in 30:22, then slowed to 46:01 at 15K and 1:01:45 at 20K. The halfway mark was reached in 1:05:18 with 22 athletes still together. The convoy included two-time Olympic champion and former World Record holder Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya, making his NYC debut a few days before his 41st birthday.

The race finally got interesting in the 16th and 17th miles, with American Hillary Bor, in his debut at the distance, stringing out the field with 4:45 and 4:40 miles. Just 8 men remained at the front and the pace slowed to 5:08 in the 21st mile, a brief respite before the final push to the finish.

By the 23rd mile, the tempo quickened again and soon it was down to a 4-man race between Kipruto, Mutiso, their compatriot Albert Korir (the â€21 NYC champion) and Patrick Dever of Great Britain. A mile later, Kipruto and Mutiso broke away, quickly opening a gap on Korir and Dever. They covered the 25th mile in 4:30, with Mutiso running just behind Kipruto.

Finally, in the 26th mile Mutiso drew even, but Kipruto soon surged ahead at Columbus Circle entering Central Park for the final time with about 600 meters to go. He appeared to be headed for a comfortable victory, but about 200 meters from the finish Mutiso found another gear and came charging. Kipruto responded, pushing hard to the line. Both men raised their arms at the line, credited with identical times of 2:08:09. Kipruto got the nod on the photo finish. Thanks to the dawdling early pace they were far off the course record (2:04:58), but time is rarely the point on New Yorkâ€s demanding route.

“I was aware that Mutiso was behind, and it was so close, and I knew because I know Mutiso also is a strong guy,†said Kipruto, the Olympic bronze medalist in â€24 who had previously won World Marathon Majors in Boston (â€21), Chicago (â€22) and Tokyo (â€24). “But I never lost hope through the last stages of the race.â€

He earned $100,000 for the win, while Mutiso took home $60,000. “Iâ€m happy with todayâ€s performance,†said Mutiso, the winner in London last year. “It was not easy. It was hard. But I said I will fight until the finishing point. I knew Benson is very strong, but I said keep pushing and following him until the finishing line.â€

Korir (2:08:57) managed to break away from Dever (2:08:58) on the final climb to the finish for 3rd. Switzerlandâ€s Matthias Kyburz (2:09:55) took 5th, holding off Joel Reichow (2:09:56), who was the top American. Reichow had been 12th as late as 24 miles but finished strongly. Charles Hicks (7th in 2:09:59), who has dual citizenship with the U.S. and Great Britain, and Joe Klecker (10th, 2:10:37) also broke into the top 10, while Bor (2:10:47) faded to 12th.

“We just kind of started to see some of the top American guys coming back to us going into mile 24,†said Reichow, an unsponsored journeyman who finished 18th in New York last year then won the Grandmaâ€s Marathon in Minnesota in June. “Honestly, Iâ€d just been convincing myself just to stay on the group we were at. Then I was in the situation, OK, thereâ€s an opportunity here. Just keep the pressure on, see what we can do and just trust yourself.â€

Defending champion Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands, the Olympic silver medalist in â€21, dropped out after 18 miles.

Kipchoge stuck with the chase pack through 17 miles before finishing 17th in 2:14:36. After the race he indicated that he is stepping away from professional racing, though he will continue to run marathons. He was pleased to finally complete all the Marathon Majors. “I can say proudly I am a real marathon runner now because I have a Six Star Medal,†he said with typical understatement, “and this one signifies a real, real legacy in sport.â€

NYC MARATHON MENâ€S RESULTS

(point-to-point)

1. Benson Kipruto’ (Ken) 2:08:09; 2. Alexander Mutiso’ (Ken) 2:08:09; 3. Albert Korir’ (Ken) 2:08:47; 4. Patrick Dever’ (GB) 2:08:58; 5. Matthias Kyburz’ (Swi) 2:09:55; 6. Joel Reichow (MnDistE) 2:09:56; 7. Charles Hicks’ (GB) 2:09:59; 8. Sondre Nordstad Moen’ (Nor) 2:10:15; 9. Tsegay Tuemay’ (Eri) 2:10:36; 10. Joe Klecker (On) 2:10:37; 11. Daniele Meucci’ (Ita) 2:10:40; 12. Hillary Bor (Hoka) 2:10:47.

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Great Britain’s Patrick Dever came an impressive fourth on his marathon debut in the men’s race in New York as Benson Kipruto beat Alexander Mutiso in a dramatic photo finish to claim victory.

Preston Harrier Dever, who finished in a time of two hours eight minutes and 58 seconds, was part of a four-man group before Kipruto and Mutiso broke clear in the latter stages.

Mutiso nearly overtook his fellow Kenyan on the line but Kipruto held him off to win as both were given a time of 2:08.09. Their compatriot Albert Korir was third in 2:08.57.

Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge, who could have run his last marathon at elite level,, external was 17th in 2:14.36.

Hellen Obiri set a course record to win the women’s race in New York as the 35-year-old Kenyan claimed victory in 2:19.51.

The previous record of 2:22.31 had been set by Margaret Okaya in 2003.

Sharon Lokedi was second in 2:20.07 and fellow Kenyan Sheila Chepkirui was third in 2:20.24, while Great Britain’s Jessica Warner-Judd was seventh on her debut over the distance in 2:24.45.

Great Britain’s David Weir came second (1:34.09) behind Switzerland’s Marcel Hug (1:30.16) in the men’s wheelchair race.

Briton Eden Rainbow-Cooper (1:59.30) was seventh in the women’s wheelchair race, which was won by American Susannah Scaroni (1:42.10).

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Middle-distance runners Abel Kipsang, Jemma Reekie and Collins Kipruto were among the athletes to break a meeting record at the Meeting de Marseille – a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze competition – in the south of France on Wednesday (9).

Kipsang had opened his 2021 campaign with a string of victories in Kenya, then earlier this month clocked a 1500m PB of 3:33.99 in Montreuil. After a runner-up finish in Hengelo last weekend, the 24-year-old Kenyan returned to winning ways in France.

The pacemaker brought the field through 800m in 1:52.95 with Kipsang sitting in fourth place. He moved into the lead about 250 metres later, while 800m specialist Elliot Giles navigated his way through the field into fourth place.

Giles moved into second place with 200 metres to go, but Kipsang then moved up a gear and sprinted away from his opponents, going on to win by about 10 metres in a lifetime best of 3:32.68, taking almost two seconds off the meeting record.

Giles was rewarded with a PB of 3:33.80 with Spain’s Ignacio Fontes just 0.04 behind. The top nine athletes all finished inside the Olympic qualifying standard of 3:35.00.

Kipsang’s compatriot Collins Kipruto employed a similarly impressive finishing kick to win the men’s 800m.

After the first lap was covered in a swift 49.95, it looked as though European indoor champion Patryk Dobek was on his way to victory. But coming off the final bend, Kipruto moved from third to first and stopped the clock at 1:43.95, taking almost half a second off his PB.

France’s Benjamin Robert came through to take second, clocking a PB of 1:44.53, while Dobek wound up third in 1:44.80.

Reekie produced arguably the most dominant performance of the meeting. The double European U23 champion sprinted away from the field on the second lap of the women’s 800m to win in 1:58.41, the second-fastest outdoor performance of her career to date and a two-second improvement on the previous meeting record held by her training partner, European 1500m champion Laura Muir. Germany’s Christina Hering was second in 2:00.15.

Two other meeting records fell in the sprints.

Following her 11.04 PB in Hengelo last weekend, Britain’s world and Olympic 4x100m medallist Daryll Neita proved her breakthrough wasn’t a one-off, winning the 100m in Marseille in 11.08. The -1.6m/s headwind suggests Neita is just a race or two away from breaking the 11-second barrier. World 200m finalist Gina Bass of The Gambia was second in 11.21.

Poland’s in-form Natalia Kaczmarek won the women’s 400m in a meeting record of 51.16, beating Laviai Nielsen (51.42) and Floria Guei (51.57).

Elsewhere, Slovenia’s Neja Filipic bounded out to a PB of 14.31m to win the women’s triple jump, and recent European Team Championships winner Asier Martinez of Spain won the 110m hurdles in 13.36 (-1.0m/s), just 0.02 shy of his recent PB.

Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

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Kenya’s Purity Rionoripo and Benson Kipruto were first past the post at the inaugural edition of The Battle of the Teams in Prague on Sunday (30), winning the World Athletics Label Road Race in 2:20:14 and 2:10:16 respectively.

Starting in glorious sunshine on the Charles Bridge, The Battle of the Teams concept involved four carefully balanced teams of eight athletes, but eventually there could be only one individual winner in the men’s and women’s races, and only one team could come out on top.

After a quick first half, Rionoripo applied pressure at the front of the women’s race at 25km, breaking loose and building an unassailable lead. As the last of the 13 three-kilometre laps unfolded, she pulled further and further clear, surging to the line in 2:20:14, with Ethiopia’s Guteni Shone taking second in 2:21:46.

Eva Vrabcova Nyvltova of the Czech Republic placed sixth in 2:27:07, just 36 seconds shy of her national record and comfortably enough for her to book her ticket for the Tokyo Olympics. “I’m back,” said the European bronze medallist, who returned to action last year after a maternity break. “I don’t know what to say. I didn’t expect this at all, so I’m very happy. I didn’t want to believe it was happening until I had finished.”

The men’s race was a tactical and cautious affair, with Kipruto putting in a big surge in the final 5km to win in 2:10:16, finishing 10 seconds ahead of Dickson Chumba.

The scoring format, with six runners per team to count, saw times converted to points, but importantly ensured that the last finishers for each team could change the team positions dramatically. Despite her individual victory and points contribution to her Volkswagen team, Rionoripo could not stop rival Team Birell from taking the team title.

Eventually it was the two personal bests by team members that ensured Team Birell’s comfortable winning margin, their squad’s times converting to 7152 points over Team Volkswagen’s 6887. Team Mattoni were third with 6845, with Team Skupina CEZ on 6765.

Leading results

Women
1 Purity Rionoripo (KEN) 2:20:14
2 Guteni Shone (ETH) 2:21:46
3 Valary Aiyabei (KEN) 2:22:39
4 Betty Lempus (KEN) 2:24:15
5 Tigist Abayechew (ETH) 2:26:12
6 Eva Vrabcova-Nyvltova (CZE) 2:27:07
7 Aberu Mulisa (ETH) 2:28:02
8 Meseret Belete (ETH) 2:28:31
9 Moira Stewartova (CZE) 2:29:28
10 Reia Iwade (JPN) 2:32:33

Men
1 Benson Kipruto (KEN) 2:10:16
2 Dickson Chumba (KEN) 2:10:26
3 Nobert Kigen (KEN) 2:10:27
4 Kenneth Keter (KEN) 2:10:29
5 Lencho Anbesa (ETH) 2:10:50
6 Kinde Atanaw (ETH) 2:11:00
7 Mengistu Zelalem (ETH) 2:11:48
8 Yitayal Atnafu (ETH) 2:11:58
9 Wily Canchanya (PER) 2:12:33
10 Abdi Ibrahim (BRN) 2:12:52

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