Kenyan sets new course record, while the Ethiopian struggles out.
Mumbai : Kenyan pacemaker Gideon Kipketer won the men’s race in an all-East African clean sweep of the podium by setting a new course record in the 13th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on Sunday .
Kipketer, who started the race as a pace-setter, decided to continue till the end after taking over the sole lead midway through the return leg of the race and stopped the clock at 2:08:35, shaving almost a full second off the 2013 record of 2:09:32 set by Ugandan Jackson Kiprop.
Kipketer, who won USD 56,000, including the bonus for breaking the course record worth USD 15,000, was followed home in second place by Ethiopia’s Seboka Dibaba in 2:09:20 and Marius Kimutai of Kenya (2:09:39).
The corresponding women’s crown was clinched by Ethiopian runner Shuko Genemo in 2:27:50, well off the 2:24 course record set in 2013 by Kenya’s Valentine Kipketer, sister of the winner of the men’s race. In second place was Kenya’s Bornes Kitur (2:32:00), while Valentine, whose shoe lace got untied at the 29-km mark when she was closely trailing the winner, finished a distant third in 2:34:07.