Kelvin Kiptum wins London Marathon, just missing world record
Kelvin Kiptum ran the second-fastest marathon ever, falling 16 seconds short of Eliud Kipchoge’s world record in winning the London Marathon Sunday morning, just moments after Sifan Hassan won the women’s division in her first attempt at a marathon.
Kiptum, a 23-year-old runner from Kenya who also ran the third-fastest marathon in history in December in Valencia, finished the London race in 2 hours, 1 minute, 25 seconds, falling just short of Kipchoge’s 2:01:09 world mark set in Berlin last year. He did lower Kipchoge’s London course record of 2:02:37. Geoffrey Kamworor, also of Kenya, was a distant second with Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola third.
“I am so happy with the result,” Kiptum said (via the Associated Press). “I don’t know what to say right now, I am just grateful. The course felt good, there was a bit of rain around halfway but it was okay. I enjoy doing the marathons - it is good preparation for me. I loved it, I am very happy.”
Hassan, an Ethiopian-born Dutch athlete who trained during the month-long observance of Ramadan, battled an elite field of women as well as a preexisting hip problem that at times left her far off the pace and looking as if she might drop out altogether. But she worked her way back to the leaders and outkicked the field, winning dramatically in 2:18:33. Alemu Megertu of Ethiopia second and Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya were third.
“It is really amazing. I never thought I would finish a marathon - and in one of the greatest marathons, I finished it, and I won,” Hassan told the BBC. “I’m so grateful to the crowd - I’ll never forget this race.”
Hassan admitted last week that fasting and not drinking water during Ramadan left her at less than full strength. “Sometimes I wake up like, ‘Why the hell did I decide to run a marathon?’” she said, adding that she was “scared of a marathon” and had no expectation that she might win.
She hoped merely to finish “so the next time I know what to do.”
Madison de Rozario of Australia won the women’s wheelchair race, finishing just a second ahead of Switzerland’s Manuela Schar in 1:38:51. Susannah Scaroni, the American winner of the Boston Marathon’s wheelchair race Monday, finished third.
Switzerland’s Marcel Hug followed up on his Boston wheelchair win Monday by also winning in London, breaking his course record with a time of 1:23:43. Daniel Romanchuk, the top American finisher, was fourth after his second-place finish in Boston.
Mo Farah, in what he said would be the last marathon of his storied running career at the age of 40, finished ninth.