Kenya Bags the 25th edition of the Venice Marathon
Simon Mukun, the 25-years old Kenyan runner has won the first major long distance race of his career at the 25th edition of Venice Marathon, held in Venice, Italy.
Mukun defeated Sahle Betona Warga from Ethiopia after a thrilling battle during the final km run at the famous bridges. Mukun, who previously had a PB (personal best) of two hours, eleven minutes and thirty nine minutes, set at Nairobi, succeeded in keeping
it under 2:10 barrier for the first time in his career. He crossed the finishing line in two hours, nine minutes and thirty five seconds, leading the race by 12 seconds and pushing Betona towards second position.
The Ethiopian also went on improving his PB from two hours, twelve minutes and thirteen seconds, set in Paris, to two hours, nine minutes and forty seven seconds. Kenyan runner Peter Nderitu finished third at Venice with time clocked two hours, ten minutes
and fifty two seconds.
On the women’s side, the race ended in favour of Makda Harun Haji from Ethiopia. Haji, who had been placed fourth in last year’s Venice marathon for finishing in two hours, twenty nine minutes and fifty six seconds, also went on improving her PB. She made
it to the finishing line in tow hours, twenty eight minutes and eight seconds. With a difference of one minute and thirteen seconds, Elizabeth Chemweno finished second.
On men’s side, as the race began, Mubarak Hassan Shami, the runner from Qatar and the winner of Venice Marathon 2005 event and silver medal winner at Osaka in 2007, along with the Kenyan runner Paul Kimugul kept up their pace and took an early lead during
the race. Both of them crossed the ten kilometres mark in thirty minutes and four seconds, while the fifteen kilometres mark was covered in forty five minutes and thirty three seconds. Behind these two leading athletes, there was a pack of runners comprised
of Paul Samoei Kimeli from Kenya, Philemon Kemboi Kiprono, Simon Mukun, Peter Nderitu, Peter Some Kimeli, and the Ethiopian runners which comprised of Sahle Betona Warga, Haile Diriba Demisse, and Tuyuba Beju.
Behind this leading group, there was a duo of Danilo Goffi and Migidio Bourifa who were battling for the Italian marathon title.
The pack of leading runners began to break up after the initial twenty one kilometres distance where Shami and Kimugul were still leading the race by clocking one hour, three minutes and thirty seven seconds till the mark. At this stage, there emerged a
possibility for they might be able to embark upon the course record of two hours, eight minutes and thirty seven minutes.
With rest of the distance observing many athletes fading away, at the final kilometres there was a group of seven men still struggling to remain in the contention. The pace at that point was an impressive 2:7, but expectedly, it became more tactical in the
second part that was traditionally more challenging.
The leading pack of nine had been reduced to six when the race covered 30 km mark while crossing the San Giuliano’s Park. After covering the mark in one hour thirty minutes and fifty four seconds, Shami seemed giving up with his pace. On Italian side, Danilo
Goffi dropped out of the race after running for thirty three kilometres, leaving Migidio Bourifa alone to fight for the Italian title.
While crossing the long Freedom Bridge, the battle for the final win entered into a fierce competition. The trio of Betona, Mukun and Nderitu at this stage broke away from rest of the pack and started leading the race.
By the forty kilometres mark, Nderitu too could not keep the pace and the fight among Mukun and Betona began for winning the title. At that point, Betona was leading the race and seemed to be favourite for the title. However, when it was a distance of 400
meters to go, tragedy struck him and he fell off. Mukun was fast enough to take advantage of the situation. With making it to the finishing line in two hours, nine minutes and thirty five seconds, he named the Venice Title his. Among local athletes, Migidio
Bourifa could manage to finish the race in two hours, fifteen minutes and eighteen seconds which made him claim his third Italian marathon title.
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