Kenyan runners dominate in Copenhagen

The Copenhagen Marathon on Sunday saw the fastest time ever run on Danish soil by a woman when Rodah Chepkorir Tanui crossed the finish line in 2:23:14. The performance crowned a perfect running event on a sunny day in the Danish capital with a total of 12,000 runners taking part.

“Everything was just perfect today. The pace was excellent, and I had prepared well,” the 32-year-old Tanui – who won by a margin of close to two minutes – said afterwards.

In the men’s race, the Kenyan dominance proved to be even stronger as Solomon Kirwa came in first in a time of 2:09:12 – with two compatriots following after him, all dipping under the 2:10-hour-mark.

To Kirwa, today’s victory was special. The 36-year-old Kenyan has won international half marathons in Udine and Rome-Ostia, but this was his first international triumph at the full distance.

“It means a lot to me finally to win a marathon race. I ran the Copenhagen Half Marathon three years ago, so I knew the route here is flat and fast. My training has been good, so of course I was hoping to win. We started out quite slow, but I felt good all the way and could speed up a little at the end of the race,” Kirwa said.

The race also included the National Championships, and here Jacob Sommer Simonsen and Karen Ehrenreich took the titles with 2:14:46 and 2:35:02 respectively.