• Ayaibei beat Vivian Kiplagat to second place in 2:28:06, as Elizabeth Lumokol (2:33:00) completed the podium placings.
• Kisorio won the race in 2:12:38 ahead of David Kiplimo (2:12:51) Kenneth Kemboi (2:15:43).
Beijing Marathon champion Valary Aiyabei and two-time Africa Junior champion Mathew Kisorio used their experience over the years to win the second edition of the Eldoret City Marathon held in Eldoret yesterday.
Aiyabei, the 2016 Barcelona Marathon champion opened the gap to win the race easily to pocket Sh3.5m in one of the highest paying marathons in Africa.
The Elgeyo Marakwet runner has experience on the local scene following her victory at the 2015 Kass Marathon, which saw her bag an invite to the 2016 Barcelona Marathon, her first ever outing in Spain, where she won.
The consistent Aiyabei clocked 2:27:17 to dethrone last year’s winner Sharon Cherop, who ran at the Boston Marathon on Monday.
Ayaibei beat Vivian Kiplagat to second place in 2:28:06, as Elizabeth Lumokol (2:33:00) completed the podium placings.
Fresh from finishing third at Nagoya Women’s Marathon in Japan, Aiyabei said she was using the race as part of her long run training.
“It has been long since I went for long runs and today, I wanted to use this race as part of my training. My body is too small and I have to save some energy for other things. Long runs need too much energy, completing 40km a day is not easy,” said the reigning Iten Marathon champion.
Apart from today’s win, the Iten-based runner said she is keen to compete at the Berlin Marathon in September as she ventures into world marathon majors.
“My target is to compete in Berlin. Competing at the majors is good for any athlete,” she added.
Second-placed Kiplagat, who finished 15th at Milan Marathon two weeks ago said the competition was stiff.
“The pace was too high for me to catch up. I wanted to reduce the gap but you can only compete with an athlete that you can see. I did not see her after 2km so it was hard for me to recover,” said Kiplagat.
Kisorio maintained his pace to lift the local title giving Prague Marathon a wide berth. Coming from a running family of former Paris Marathon champion Peter Kimeli and Nicholas Togom, the sons of the late Some Muge — the first Kenyan to win the world cross country title — Kisorio won the race in 2:12:38 ahead of David Kiplimo (2:12:51) Kenneth Kemboi (2:15:43).
Kisorio, who won 5,000m and 10,000m while a junior runner at the Africa junior championships, said it was too hot for him to compete and the course was very tough because it has been so long since he ran.
“The race was good but the weather was too hot for me. The course was very tough too but am happy I have won,” said Kisorio, who has now turned his focus on the Valencia Marathon slated for December.