Daniel Kibet posted a new course record of 2:09:44 at the 2019 Istanbul Marathon, erasing Felix Kimutai's mark.
Ethiopia's Yital Atnafu was placed second in 2:09:57 with Peter Ndorobo third in 2:10:09, 41 seconds ahead of Kimutai.
One of three pacemakers for the lead pack, Kibet led a group of 14 men through 10km in 30:14 and all but one of those were still in the pack as they reached the half-way point in 1:04:12, well on schedule to break the course record of 2:09:57.
Kibet, meanwhile, still looked comfortable at the front and reached 30km – the point at which he was due to drop out – in 1:31:29.
While Kibet continued to run, fellow pacemaker Moses Kemei exited the race then, leaving four other athletes – Peter Ndorobo, Yitayal Atnafu, Cosmas Birech and Kimutai – in contention.
Birech was the first of that quintet to fade with the remaining four hitting the 40km mark in 2:02:53, still inside course record pace. Kimutai was the next to fall behind, doing so quite quickly as the lead pack entered Gulhane Park with 2:06 on the clock.
Kibet’s winning time was some way short of the 2:06:49 PB he set in Seville earlier this year, but it comes just six weeks after his 2:06:52 clocking in Buenos Aires and is his first victory over the classic distance.
Elsewhere, Matthew Kisorio broke away in the final 10 kilometres of the Beijing Marathon to rewrite the men’s course record yesterday.
The 30-year-old clocked 2:07:06 to earn his second victory over the classic distance, knocking 10 seconds off the course record set six years ago by Ethiopia’s 2013 world bronze medallist Tadese Tola.
Kisorio led a Kenyan 1-2-3 finish with Solomon Yego coming home second in 2:09:45 with Emmanuel Rutto taking the final podium position in 2:10:15
Marius Kimutai took top honours in Hangzhou Marathon as he improved the course record by nearly half a minute. The 26-year-old outraced Kenya’s Stanley Bett in the last kilometre of the race to become the first Bahraini winner in the 33-year history of the event, clocking 2:10:05.
Bett finish second with a personal best of 2:10:12, also finishing inside the course record of 2:10:33 set two years ago by Azmeraw Bekele of Ethiopia. Fellow Kenyan Douglas Kimeli, the runner-up in Hangzhou last year, finished third in 2:11:01, improving his PB by five seconds.
Agnes Barsosio won the women's category. Her winning mark of 2:25:20 was 10 seconds shy of the course record set by Ethiopia’s Hirut Tibebu last year. Alice Jepkemboi Kimutai, winner of the 2018 Taiyuan Marathon and the 12th-place finisher in Hangzhou last year, clocked a lifetime best of 2:28:14 to take second place. Priscilla Chepatiy, winner of last year’s Wuxi Marathon, clocked 2:36:55 to complete a Kenyan podium sweep.
