Kenya’s Bernard Koech said he sought advice from marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge before cruising to win the Haspa Marathon Hamburg on Sunday in a time of 2:04:09.
Dorcas Tuitoek completed a Kenyan double by winning the women’s race in 2:20:09. Tiruye Mesfin of Ethiopia finished second in 2:20:18
Joshua Belet and Martin Kosgey took second and third in the men’s race with 2:04:33 and 2:06:18 respectively.
Koech, who improved the course record by 38 seconds, said: "
“I ran a god race and I knew that I probably had to run a time around my PB to win,” said Koech. “I spoke with Eliud Kipchoge about the course before I came here and he gave me some advice.”
Kipchoge won his marathon debut in Hamburg back in 2013.
Kenya’s Rhonzai Lokitam Kilimo finished fifth in 2:08:08, the same time as Germany’s Richard Ringer – a PB for the latter, which is two seconds inside the Olympic qualifying time.
As expected, it was Mesfin who took the lead in the women’s race early on. But with a half marathon split of 69:46, she was not as fast as she had planned. The 2:17:23 course record was out of reach, but at 35km Mesfin looked a certain winner.
She was around a minute ahead of her rivals, but then disaster struck. The 20 year-old slowed and then stumbled, falling to the ground in the final kilometre. Behind her, Tuitoek saw her opportunity and found another gear to pass Mesfin around 300 metres from the finish line.
“I was really surprised to win. I did not see when Mesfin fell, I was just fully focused on myself. I still had enough energy,” said 25-year-old Tuitoek, who had a PB of 2:24:54 before the race.
“I knew that I could probably run a 2:20 time. This course is really fast and good for records.”
