Geoffrey Mutai - Joyce Chepkirui prevail at the Media Maratón de Bogotá: IAAF Gold Label Road Races
As the 12th edition of the Media Maratón de Bogotá, the only IAAF Gold Label Road Race in South America concluded on Sunday, July 31, it was the Kenyan duo of Geoffrey Mutai and Joyce Chepkirui who prevailed in the Men and Women’s races, respectively.
Colombia’s traditional Half Marathon, usually known as the Bogotá Half Marathon, attracted 14,295 runners this year, while for its 10k version, it cherished a staggering 29,903 entries contributing to an impressive total of 44,198 runners.
To prevail in their respective races, Mutai crossed the tape in a course record of one hour, two minutes and 20 seconds, while Chepkirui, his countrywoman stopped the clock in one hour, thirteen minutes and 34 seconds.
Despite displaying a thrilling run, the race did not bring any surprises for spectators as the pre-favourites of the meet bagged the titles. The Men’s race, as per expectations, proved to be a battle between the top-two runners of the contest, Deriba Merga
and Mutai.
Right from the gun, with ambitions to take over each other, Mutai and Merga preferred pulling themselves away from rest of the field. By the time they reached the 5km mark, they maintained a significant distance from the rest of the lot. The leading pair
powered away shoulder to shoulder until the seven kilometres mark was reached.
This was the time when Merga could not keep up to the sustained pace of the Kenyan runner and dropped away with a significant margin. Continuing to lead the run, Mutai overcame the 10km mark in a record setting 29:07 minutes, with Merga following him with
a 20 seconds gap. Despite encountering suffocating conditions caused by oxygen deficit and high-altitude, Mutai maintained a pace that ensued in observing a new course record.
Behind the leading duo, a small pack of runners consisting of Macharia, Ridouane Harroufi and Stephen Mokaka were struggling for a possibly third finish on the podium.
Sustaining with his pace, Mutai lived up to expectations and finished-off his race at the top of the podium. He also improved the course record by an impressive eleven seconds. Merga too held his second position and covered the desired distance in one hour,
four minutes and 49 seconds. For clocking a one hour, four minutes and 57 seconds finish, Wilson Chebet claimed third position in the run.
On the Women’s side, the title of the Media Maratón de Bogotá was rightfully claimed by Joyce Chepkirui. Just like her male counterparts, the Kenyan athlete decided to power herself away from rivals right from the gun. As the race lingered on, for unleashing
the power of her legs, Chepkirui covered the initial 1km of the race in a mere three minutes.
By this point, her rivals had already decided to concede to her, but Peninah Arusei, her countrywoman was sure enough of her potential to challenge the power breaker. Running closely behind the leader of the run, she was accompanied by her Ethiopian counterpart,
Mare Dibaba.
However, Chepkirui’s challengers could not keep up with her pace for long, as they began to fade away with a further 2km distance down the line. By the 10 km mark, the Kenyan had built a lead of about one minute and was the sole runner striding towards victory,
without compromising her speed. Though in the final km of the race, followers decided to shorten the distance, yet the leading runner finished 19 seconds ahead of her closest rival.
For finishing-off the race in one hour, 13 minutes and 54 seconds, Dibaba succeeded in clinching the second place for herself, while for clocking one hour, 15 minutes and 41 seconds, Chebet finished third on the podium in the respective meet.
Tags: