FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Meselech Melkamu breaks course record, Tesfaye Abera wins Hamburg
Ethiopia's Meselech Melkamu smashed the course record by more than two
minutes in the Haspa Marathon Hamburg. Finishing in 2:21:54 despite windy
conditions she made a strong statement regarding the selection of
Ethiopia's marathon Olympic team. Fellow-Ethiopian and defending champion
Meseret Hailu was second with 2:26:26 while Germany's Anja Scherl caused an
upset with a tremendous run for third place. Improving by more than eight
minutes to 2:27:50 she has secured Olympic selection.
Ethiopia's Tesfaye Abera took the men's race in 2:06:58. Achieving his
second marathon win this year after taking Dubai in a world lead of
2:04:23, he should gain selection for the Olympic team. Kenyans Philemon
Rono and Josphat Kiprono followed in second and third with 2:07:20 and
2:10:44 respectively.
Women's Race: Fast Pace from the Start??
Meselech Melkamu dictated the pace together with the defending champion
Meseret Hailu from the start with the Kenyan Sarah Chepchirchir pressing at
their heels. That scenario came to an end just before 20km when Melkamu
broke away in the style which reminded onlookers of her best performance of
2:21:01. She went through halfway in 71:04 and a 15 second lead over Hailu
and Chepchirchir. Despite the strong headwind at times during the second
half of the race, Melkamu maintained her pace and the pursuing duo were
unable to cut the deficit. Meseret Hailu finished second in 2:26:26 but
Chepchirchir faded to seventh place in 2:30:08.
"I think that without the wind I could have run under 2:20 today because
it's a fast course. This was one of the best performances of my career. I
hope it will be enough to win Olympic selection," said the 30 year old
Meselech Melkamu, who is also the African record holder at 10,000m. She
improved the course record by Netsanet Abeyo by 2:18 minutes. The
fellow-Ethiopian ran 2:24:12 in 2012.
For much of the race Anja Scherl was in seventh place. Her objective from
the start was to run the Olympic qualifying time for the German team. Her
race splits showed she was on course to break 2:30 and the qualifying time
was 2:30:30. But there was an added proviso – to be relatively sure of
booking a trip to Rio, Anja Scherl had to run faster than Anna Hahner, who
ran 2:30:19 in Berlin last autumn.
When she went through halfway in 73:57 in seventh place, Anja Scherl
admitted she was startled: "I was really surprised by the time, even a
little shocked. But until 32 kilometres I had no problems at all, it was a
fantastic race for me," said Scherl, who ran as Anja Schneider before her
marriage. Even the strong headwinds over the second half failed to slow her
pace. By 35 km she had improved to fifth, moving up two more places in the
last five kilometres. "I still can't believe yet that I've qualified for
Rio," said Anja Scherl, whose place in the Olympic Marathon team is now
guaranteed. She took a giant slice off her personal best with an
improvement of 8:41 minutes and became the eighth fastest German woman in
the marathon of all time.
There was also good news further down the women's field: Leila Luik ensured
that Estonia would be sending all three sisters to the Olympic marathon
after she ran 2:42:11. Her target had been to break her federation's
qualifying time of 2:45 which means she should now join her sisters Liina
and Lily in the marathon squad.
Men's Race: Times gone with the Wind
Wind was a strong factor as shown by the race splits and the way the men's
race developed. In the early stages a tail wind gave the leading group an
extra boost between 7 and 15 kilometres, giving them a split time for the
latter of 44:17 and on course for a finishing time of 2:04:30. The course
record of 2:05:30, set by Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge three years ago, appeared
to be in danger.
They couldn't maintain this kind of pace consistently as headwinds began to
blow strongly. The leading group comprising ten men reached halfway in
62:49 but by 30km the numbers were cut in half. This quintet consisted of
four runners plus the Kenyan pacemaker Albert Kangogo and reached 30km in
1:29:29. The pacemaker then dropped out, leaving the outcome to be decided
between Tesfaye Abera and Philemon Ron along with the Ethiopian Abayneh
Ayele and Eritrea's Yekeber Bayabel. It came down to a duel between the
lanky Abera, 1.92m tall, and the diminutive Rono. After 35km the Ethiopian
made a break but the Kenyan was back with him two kilometres later. The
decisive attack came shortly before 40km when Abera attacked and Rono had
no response.
"It was a good race for me. We ran in a big group and worked well together
which led to very fast splits at the beginning. When I led later on, the
wind was very strong," said the 24 year old Tesfaye Abera. As far as his
chances of Olympic selection were concerned, the Ethiopian, who is the
fastest marathoner this year with his winning time of 2:04:23 in Dubai,
commented: "What is important is that when the selectors decide, I am still
the fastest Ethiopian."
Results
Men:
1. Tesfaye Abera ETH 2:06:58
2. Philemon Rono KEN 2:07:20
3. Josphat Kiprono KEN 2:10:44
4. Abayneh Ayele ETH 2:11:49
5. Merhawi Kesete ERI 2:12:21
6. Ezekiel Chebii KEN 2:12:45
7. Ivan Fernandez ESP 2:12:55
8. Abdelhadi El Hachimi BEL 2:13:10
Women:
1. Meselech Melkamu ETH 2:21:54
2. Meseret Hailu ETH 2:26:26
3. Anja Scherl GER 2:27:50
4. Monika Stefanowicz POL 2:28:26
5. Madai Perez MEX 2:29:27
6. Kelly Arias COL 2:29:36
7. Sarah Chepchirchir KEN 2:30:08
8. Adriana da Silva BRA 2:31:23
More information is available at: www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de
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