Massive Marathon Debut for Kipchoge

Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya in his first marathon race in career ran an impressive 2:05:30 minutes to win Hamburg marathon on Sunday (21).

The 28-year old Kipchoge who won World Cahmpionships 5000m gold in 2003 and silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with his winning time set a new Hamburg marathon coarse record.

Ethiopia's Limenih Getachew took second (2:07:35) with Lawrence Kimaiyo of Kenya teking the final spot on the podium.

"I am very happy, because I certainly wanted to break the record," told Kipchoge, who also won 5000m silver at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Kipchoge

Lithuania's Diana Lobacevske was the women's race winner clocking in (2:29:17).  Switzerland's Maja Neuenschwander finished 1min 33sec behind the winner while Kenya's Priscilla Lorchima took third with a time of 2:31:23.

There had been security concerns before the race when a suspicious package was found at an inner city underground station. Police closed down the U3 metro line, which runs under the port to the city's town hall, but the object turned out to be an empty box and the all-clear was sounded.

Only eight runners had explicitly cancelled their places in the Hamburg Marathon due to the events in Boston, said organisers. Total of  15 000 runners in the northern German city paid tribute to the victims of the Boston Marathon bomb blasts.

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