Cheshari Jacob and Souad Ait Salem won the 25th edition of the HAJ Hannover Marathon on Sunday.
In very good weather conditions 31 year-old Kenyan Jacob clocked
2:09:32. In a close finish Ethiopia’s Chala Bekele had been in the lead
briefly in the final kilometre but then had to settle for second in
2:09:42. Martin Kosgey of Kenya also ran a sub 2:10 time with 2:09:50 for third place.
Algeria’s
national marathon record holder Souad Ait Salem built a big lead during
the second half and clocked a fine 2:27:21. The 36 year-old missed the
course record by just 14 seconds. Olha Kotovska of Ukraine was second
with 2:29:13 and South Africa’s Mapaseka Makhanya clocked a personal
best of 2:31:02 to take third.
Adding
other races at shorter distances the HAJ Hannover Marathon had a record
entry of slightly over 20,000 runners. The event is an IAAF Silver
Label Road Race.
With
temperatures slightly below 10 Celsius at the start, overcast skies and
hardly any wind conditions were almost perfect. And the pace was during
the first part of the race. A big leading group passed the 10 k point
in 30:08 minutes. 15 runners including three pacemakers then reached the
half way point in 64:08 – a pace just inside the course record of
2:08:32 set by South Africa’s Lusapho April two years ago. However once
the pacemakers dropped out at the 25 k point the pace dropped
considerably for around six kilometres. Nine runners were still in
contention. “There was noone pushing and it turned tactical,” said
Cheshari Jacob, who has a personal best of 2:07:46 from Frankfurt in
2013.
It was Jacob who then surged ahead around 32 k, covering the next few kilometre sections below 3:00
minutes. The group split up immediately and Jacob was about five
seconds in front of Bekele and Kosgey after 35 k. The Ethiopian managed
to catch the leader around the 40 k mark. Bekele then even took the lead
briefly with less than a kilomtre to go. But Jacob responded, went
clear and finally won with an advantage of ten seconds. “I knew I had
something left and was confident that I would overtake him,” said Jacob,
who comes from Iten. “It is my aim to achive a time of 2:06
one day and I think it is possible in Hannover, because the course is
flat,” said Jacob, who will now target an autumn marathon. “I would like
to run in Frankfurt in October,” he said after his biggest career win
so far.
A
group of five women – Ethiopians Kidist Tedla, Ayantu Hailemaryam and
Aynalem Woldemichael, defending champion Souad Ait Salem and Kenyan
debutant Maryanne Wanjiru – passed the 10 k mark in a 34:26, a 2:25
pace. They were still running together beyond the 15 k point. However
before half way Wanjiru dropped out while Tedla and Hailemaryam also did
not make it to the finish. With a 1:12:55 half way split only Salem and
Woldemichael were left in the first group. The Ethiopian then fell back
between 25 and 30 k and was a minute behind the Algerian at 30 k. Ait
Salem reached that point in 1:43:50. Still well inside the course record
set by Ukraine’s Olena Burkovska in 2013 (2:27:07) she was going
strong.
“But
during the final two kilometres I had a cramp in my calf,” said Souad
Ait Salem, who slowed but still clocked her second best marathon time
with 2:27:21. Her personal record stands at 2:25:08. “I was not aware
that I was that close to the course record at this late stage. But I am
very happy with my performance. The weather was perfect and it is a very
good course,” said Souad Ait Salem.
While
second placed Olha Kotovska was well behind in second with 2:29:13
third placed Mapaseka Makhanya improved by more than five minutes from
2:36:36 to 2:31:02. The South African reached the qualifying times for
both, the World Championships this year and the Olympic Games in 2016.
Results, Men:
1. Cheshari Jacob KEN 2:09:32
2. Chala Bekele ETH 2:09:42
3. Martin Kosgey KEN 2:09:50
4. Munyo Mutai KEN 2:10:42
5. Augustine Ronoh KEN 2:10:45
6. Benjamin Kolum KEN 2:11:09
7. Weldon Kirui KEN 2:12:47
8. Patrick Kimeli KEN 2:18:15
9. Dominico Ricatti ITA 2:18:23
10. Habetamu Beyene ETH 2:19:31
Women:
1. Souad Ait Salem ALG 2:27:21
2. Olha Kotovska UKR 2:29:13
3. Mapaseka Makhanya RSA 2:31:02
4. Vaida Zusinaite LTU 2:37:59
5. Aynalem Woldemichael ETH 2:38:11
More information about the HAJ Hannover Marathon is available online at: www.marathon-hannover.de