Abdelkerim Boubker secures win at the Athens Classic Marathon – Athletics news
Abdelkerim Boubker of Morocco cruised to a major victory over a competitive field of runners in a decent time of 2 hours, 11 minutes and 40 seconds at the Athens Classic Marathon on November 13, in Athens, Greece.
With the supremacy of Kenyan runners in the field and a tough course, the battle looked quite challenging for the Moroccan. Nonetheless, he did not lose his focus at the target and went on with a steady and consistent pace. The tail wind with some of the
worst conditions in the 30 year history of the revived event made it a challenging platform, which the contenders had ever stepped into.
Raymond Bett of Kenya ran at the back of the group of six contenders which looked a replication of his game when he won at last year’s race. However, the defending champion was dropped out from the field at the 23 km mark in the respective meet.
Sammy Chumba was a consistent competitor of Kenya who kept on to his ground and survived until the end for the second spot in a well attained time of 2 hours, 13 minutes and 27 seconds. Daniel Gatheru of Ethiopia was soon to drop out from the lead group
but made a good comeback to mantle third spot in a time of 2 hours, 16 minutes and 12 seconds. Ukrainian competitors, Andriy Naumov and Andrii Toptun also turned out to be amongst the good finishers at the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
After the race, Boubker stated, “I always felt good through the race, and became more and more confident that I could win. I prepared especially hard for this race. But to win this race, and finish in this stadium makes me very proud.”
The women’s race was won by Elfnesh Melaku of Ethiopia, who completed the distance in 2 hours, 35 minutes and 25 seconds, and she was followed by Ukrainian athlete, Kamila Khanipova, who secured the second spot with a finish at 2 hours, 35 minutes and 31
seconds. The third spot was won by Amira Benamor of Tunisia in a time of 2 hours, 42 minutes and 15 seconds.
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