April 2012
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1 APRIL 2012: POZNAN HALF MARATHON, POLAND
MEN: 1 Solomon KIPTOO KEN 1:02:00 2 Tola BANE ETH 1:02:28 3 Edwin KIPTOO KEN 1:03:00 4 Paul Kemboi KIPTOO KEN 1:03:32 5 Stephen CHELIMO KEN 1:06:11 6 Michael KARONEI KEN 1:06:16 7 John Kibichiy TANUI KEN 1:07:17 8 Lukasz GURFINKIEL POL 1:08:04 9 Pawel TARASIUK POL 1:10:30 10 Marcin KONIECZNY POL 1:12:21 WOMEN: 1 Lucy NJERI KEN 1:10:26 2 Nadezda TRYLINSKAJA RUS 1:12:14 3 Gladys KIPROTICH KEN 1:13:09 4 Aleksandra DULIBA POL 1:14:43 5 Olena SERDIUK POL 1:19:06 6 Hadas MOSER POL 1:21:57 7 Antonina RYCHTER POL 1:23:41 8 Elzbieta WOJCIECHOWSKA POL 1:25:33 9 Malgorzata SOBANSKA POL 1:27:47 10 Julia DOBIEZYNSKA POL 1:29:29
1 APRIL 2012: VATTENFALL BERLIN HALF MARATHON, GERMANY
Denis Koech upset compatriot and reigning World Champion Wilson Kiprop, beating him by just one second. It was the first time Koech had gone under the hour. The women’s race was just as close, with Philes Ongori beating Helah Kiprop by one second. A record 29,246 runners had entered this 32nd edition of the race.
![](images/2012/apr12_berlin1.jpg)
A lead group of eight men ran the first 10km into the wind and passed in 28:26 minutes against the planned 28:00, but the pace picked up in the second half. With 3km to go five runners were still together but then Denis Koech, running only his second race outside Kenya (in his first he won the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon in 1:00:34), surged strongly. He ran the next kilometre in 2:42, but Wilson Kiprop held on right through to the finish straight. "I was not confident of beating him" said Koech - but he did. Kiprop also ran a personal best and for the first time ever five men went under the hour. Koech’s winning time is the third fastest in the event’s history and the fourth fastest in the world this year.
In the women’'s race Philes Ongori, Helah Kiprop and debutant Caroline Chepkwony ran together almost the entire way. It was only in the final 2km that Chepkwony slipped back and left Ongori and Kiprop to duel it out. Sixth placed Andrea Mayr (AUT) ran a national record of 1:11:49.
MEN: 1 Denis KOECH KEN 59:14 2 Wilson KIPROP KEN 59:15 3 Exzekiel CHEBII KEN 59:23 4 Pius KIROP KEN 59:25 5 Paul KIPCHUMBA KEN 59:53 6 Leonard LANGAT KEN 1:00:05 7 Nicholas KIPKEMBOI KEN 1:00:16 8 Joseph KIPTUM KEN 1:00:26 9 Gideon KIPKETER KEN 1:00:35 10 Josphat KAMZEE KEN 1:02:56 WOMEN: 1 Philes ONGORI KEN 1:08:25 2 Helah KIPROP KEN 1:08:26 3 Caroline CHEPKWONY KEN 1:08:36 4 Karolina JARZYNSKA POL 1:10:56 5 Vicoty CHEPKEMOI KEN 1:11:13 6 Andrea MAYR AUT 1:11:49 7 Beata NAIGAMBO NAM 1:12:40 8 Krisztina PAPP HUN 1:12:53 9 Silke OPTEKAMP GER 1:16:45 10 Worknesh DEGAFA ETH 1:16:48
1 APRIL 2012: ALEXANDER THE GREAT MARATHON, GREECE
MEN: 1 Teklu Geto METAFERIA ETH 2:18:44 2 Dimitrios TSIOUNIS GRE 2:36:38 3 Antonis PAPADIMITRIOU GRE 2:38:28 4 Evangelos SKLAVOUNIS GRE 2:43:56 5 Grigoris SKOULARIKIS GRE 2:45:14 6 Dimitrios FOUKAS GRE 2:46:47 7 Apostolos TSIANAKAS GRE 2:47:31 8 Nikolaos KOSTAKIS GRE 2:51:10 9 Georgios SIKALOS GRE 2:52:15 10 Christos VOUTSELAS GRE 2:52:18 WOMEN: 1 Alina NITULEASA ROM 2:56:33 2 Chara SKOULARIKI GRE 3:07:46 3 Vaso STAVROU GRE 3:13:17 4 Evangelia DELI GRE 3:27:02 5 Zinia SANOUDOU GRE 3:29:40 6 Eirini GIOTI GRE 3:34:14 7 Eleonora GRAMMATIKAS GRE 3:39:56 8 Eleni KALLIA GRE 3:42:33 9 Evangelia SALPEA GRE 3:43:03 10 Irena MALIMPORSKA GRE 3:45:08
1 APRIL 2012: MEDIO MARATON VILLA DE MADRID, SPAIN
![](images/2012/apr12_madrid1.jpg)
In the 12th edition Eliud Kipserem established a new course record in narrowly beating his compatriot Benson Keri. Around 18,000 entered the event and the associated 5km race. There were 13,700 finishers in the Half Marathon. Jane Mwikali and Ana Dias were neck and neck for almost the entire race, but in the last few hundred metres in Retiro Park, Mwikali stole a march on her rival and won by a couple of seconds. Sixth-placed Vanessa Viega was the first Spanish woman to finish, and she will represent Spain in the London Olympic Marathon.
MEN: 1 Eliud KIPSEREM KEN 1:02:08 2 Benson Olena KERI KEN 1:02:13 3 Mohammed BLAL MAR 1:02:46 4 Abdelhadi EL MOUAZIZ MAR 1:03:30 5 Hailesmes Kel MULATU ETH 1:04:11 6 Abderrahim EL ASRI MAR 1:04:44 7 Hassane AHOUCHAR MAR 1:04:50 8 Sammy KIGEN KEN 1:04:58 9 Abderrahim EL JAAFARI MAR 1:05:06 10 Tolossa CHANGARE ETH 1:05:10 WOMEN: 1 Jane MWIKALI KEN 1:13:16 2 Ana DIAS POR 1:13:18 3 Marta TIGABEA ETH 1:13:43 4 Fatima AYACHI MAR 1:14:50 5 Nancy Langat CHENMUTAI KEN 1:14:57 6 Vanessa VIEGA ESP 1:15:31 7 Pilar VINUELA ESP 1:16:05 8 Maria Luisa MADERA ESP 1:19:43 9 Recuerdo ARROYO ESP 1:20:22 10 Elena UGENA ESP 1:21:34
1 APRIL 2012: SEMI MARATHON INT'L DE RABAT, MOROCCO
MEN: 1 Julius Arile LAMERINYANG KEN 1:01:07 2 Mekelinyang Pkumin LORTENYANG KEN 1:01:08 3 Gebremedin GEBRE ETH 1:01:23 4 Robert KAJUGA RWA 1:01:51 5 Victor KIPCHIRCHIR KEN 1:01:56 6 Anthony Kiplangat MARITIM KEN 1:02:27 7 Khalid SADDEN MAR 1:02:29 8 Jackson Kibet LIMO KEN 1:02:30 9 Dereje HAILEGIORGIOS ETH 1:02:55 10 Ziray HAILEKIROS ETH 1:03:02 WOMEN: 1 Waganesh MEKASHA ETH 1:11:11 2 Mercy Jemutai TANUI KEN 1:11:19 3 Marisa BAROS POR 1:12:01 4 Birhane Ababael YESHANE ETH 1:13:00 5 Maqlika BELFAKIH MAR 1:13:08 6 Soumiya LABANI MAR 1:13:18 7 Hind MCHACHTI MAR 1:15:55 8 Susan Jesang TANUI KEN 1:16:42 9 Kiross KIBA ETH 1:16:56 10 Kebira ELGMIRI MAR 1:18:54
1 APRIL 2012: CSOB BRATISLAVA MARATHON, SLOVAKIA
Strong winds could not deter a record entry of 7800 registered runners from 47 countries, with more than 2000 in the half marathon. This was an increase of 1200 (15%) over the previous year.
MEN: 1 Micah Kiplagat SAMOEI KEN 2:21:09 2 Elisha Kiprotich SAWE KEN 2:21:43 3 Oleg GUR BLR 2:22:14 4 Adam KOVACS HUN 2:22:27 5 Erkolo ASHENAFI ETH 2:25:04 6 Ales MIKO CZE 2:28:05 7 Bogdan DZIUBA POL 2:28:48 8 Tamas Janos NAGY HUN 2:30:03 9 Imrich MAGYAR SVK 2:31:02 10 Daniel ORALEK CZE 2:35:27 WOMEN: 1 Lucy Wambui MURIGI KEN 2:42:41 2 Reka BATAI HUN 2:46:15 3 Lilian KOECH KEN 2:49:32 4 Jana DORAZILOVA CZE 2:59:52 5 Ivana MARTINCOVA CZE 3:05:32 6 Katalin FARKAS HUN 3:09:12 7 Radka PAULINYO SVK 3:16:48 8 Svatoslava KACIROVA CZE 3:17:35 9 Karin RUSS AUT 3:18:55 10 Zsuzsanna HARSANYI HUN 3:19:20
1 APRIL 2012: mds - MARATON DE SANTIAGO, CHILE
MEN: 1 Peter Lemayian NKAYA KEN 2:12:52 2 Miguel Angel ALMACHI ECU 2:15:02 3 Benjamin KIPLIMO KEN 2:15:28 4 Edson Amaro DOS SANTOS BRA 2:16:20 5 Julius Kibet KOSKEI KEN 2:17:30 6 Isaack WAWERU KEN 2:20:55 7 Leonardo Fabian TENEPAGUAY ECU 2:22:42 8 Francisco Javier MENDEZ CHI 2:22:55 9 Franklin JIMENEZ PER 2:24:54 10 Juan Carlos HERNANDEZ COL 2:26:46 WOMEN: 1 Natalia ROMERO CHI 2:34:55 2 Erika ABRIL COL 2:36:09 3 Naomi JEPNGETICH KEN 2:36:55 4 Erika Alejandra OLIVERA CHI 2:37:41 5 Hyvon NGETICH KEN 2:43:48 6 Hortencia ARZAPALO PER 2:46:02 7 Claudia Milena TANGARIFE COL 2:52:24 8 Vianca Nataly PEREIRA BOL 2:54:51 9 Indira Paola ESPANOL COL 2:57:20 10 Benita GRAS CHI 3:04:26
1 APRIL 2012: PUNTA CANA HALF MARATHON, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
MEN: 1 Jorge TORIBA DOM 1:10:54 2 Alfonso PAULA DOM 1:11:27 3 Christopher MARTINEZ DOM 1:13:29 4 Eddy RAMOS DOM 1:14:51 5 Domingo ESPINAL DOM 1:14:59 6 Oscar DE LA ROSA DOM 1:17:17 7 Lewis CHALK DOM 1:17:52 8 Jorge MENDEZ DOM 1:19:33 9 Antonio DE LACRUZ DOM 1:19:41 10 Freddy Soto THORMANN DOM 1:19:50 WOMEN: 1 Dahania CITY DOM 1:28:58 2 Raquel CLARK DOM 1:35:22 3 Yarisel ROMERO DOM 1:35:59 4 Mindri GARCIA DOM 1:39:58 5 Elizabeth NYITRAY DOM 1:40:34 6 Rovana LAMPERT DOM 1:42:50 10km MEN: 1 Jose RUBIERA DOM 32:28 2 Edwin DUVAL DOM 32:50 3 JuanOlalis ALMONTE DOM 33:20 WOMEN: 1 Jordania DIAZ DOM 41:23 2 Maria MANCEBO DOM 42:13 3 Vicky MARTINEZ DOM 49:46
6 APRIL 2012: DEAD SEA ULTRAMARATHON, JORDAN
MEN: 1 Hayel MSALEM JOR 2:53:52 2 Suliman AL ZBOON JOR 3:23:49 3 Sulaiman AL SOBHI KSA 3:27:10 4 Tim DREW GBR 3:28:53 5 Majdi OWEED JOR 3:42:37 6 Waldemar MICHEN GER 3:46:01 7 Othman OKLEH JOR 3:47:05 8 Anas ZGHOOL JOR 3:49:35 9 Ibrahim AL ANBAR JOR 3:50:55 10 Qusai ALGOTY JOR 3:51:30 WOMEN: 1 Catherine TODD GBR 4:14:04 2 Rosalie HAUSNER GER 4:19:19 3 Elizabeth LAUGHTON GBR 4:26:36 4 Grit SEIDEL GER 4:54:13 5 Lesley JONES GBR 4:55:06 6 Josefina ANTILA FIN 5:22:36 7 Noor Maryam RABI JOR 5:50:02 8 Juliette WANNEBROUCQ FRA 6:22:07 9 Suneela KATIKALA IND 6:57:03 MARATHON MEN: 1 Fathi SLIMAN JOR 2:31:41 2 Abdullah MARZOOQ JOR 2:33:54 3 Ahmad NASER JOR 2:40:16 WOMEN: 1 Nahedah AL BAWAT JOR 3:19:00 2 Ghorod AL DGHEMAT JOR 3:20:37 3 Nour AL BAKOUR JOR 3:21:47
7 APRIL 2012: TWO OCEANS MARATHON 56km, SOUTH AFRICA
MEN: 1 Stephen MUZHINGI ZIM 3:08:08 2 Henry MOYO MAW 3:08:35 3 Collen MAKAZA ZIM 3:08:45 4 Gert THYS RSA 3:09:42 5 Bongumusa MTHEMBU RSA 3:10:16 6 Mthandazo QHINA RSA 3:11:00 7 Tsotang MAINE LES 3:11:51 8 Lucas NONYANA RSA 3:12:03 9 Odwa TUNYISWA RSA 3:12:50 10 Kimutai LEZAN KEN 3:12:58 WOMEN: 1 Elena NURGALIYEVA RUS 3:41:55 2 Natalia VOLGINA RUS 3:45:29 3 Devon CROSBY-HELMS USA 3:47:30 4 Mamorallo TJOKA LES 3:48:50 5 Samukeliso MOYO ZIM 3:49:10 6 Adinda KRUGER RSA 3:50:13 7 Lizih CHOKORE ZIM 3:52:26 8 Ntombesinthu MFUNZI RSA 3:52:39 9 Mundalambo TSHIFHIWA RSA 3:53:00 10 Paulina NJEYA RSA 3:53:29 HALF MARATHON MEN: 1 Xolisa TYALI RSA 1:04:54 2 Joel MMONE RSA 1:05:01 3 Lucky MOHALE RSA 1:05:09 WOMEN: 1 Rene KALMER RSA 1:15:02 2 Irvette VAN BLERK RSA 1:16:22 3 Rutendo NYAHORA ZIM 1:18:30
7 APRIL 2012: UVU NORTH POLE MARATHON, NEUTRAL POLAR OCEAN
MEN: 1 Andrew MURRAY GBR 4:17:08 2 Luis Alonso MARCOS ESP 4:19:38 3 James MATTHEWS AUS 4:41:01 4 Hirofumi ONO JPN 5:07:05 5 Greg SWAN AUS 5:13:39 6 Ian AYLING GBR 5:52:04 7 Cees HARDEMAN NED 5:56:05 8 James ALDERSON AUS 6:06:38 9 Vlado STARESINIC CRO 6:11:22 10 Lars Samo TOBIASSEN GLD 6:20:28 WOMEN: 1 Demeiza FARR AUS 6:06:36 2 Rebecca NEWMAN GBR 6:11:39 3 Julie BRAILSFORD GBR 6:14:40 4 Marianna ZAIKOVA FIN 7:03:36 5 Rhoda JONES USA 11:41:26
8 APRIL 2012: DAEGU INT'L MARATHON, KOREA
MEN: 1 David Kemboi KIYENG KEN 2:07:57 2 Gilbert Chepkwony KIPTOO KEN 2:08:16 3 Benson BARUS KEN 2:08:36 4 Abdelaziz ENNAJI MAR 2:08:49 5 Yusuf SONGOKA KEN 2:09:08 6 Ahmed BADAY MAR 2:09:16 7 Mohamed EL HACHIMI MAR 2:09:40 8 Abraham TADESSE ETH 2:10:26 WOMEN: 1 Alemitu Abera BEGNA ETH 2:24:57 2 Mulu SEBOKA ETH 2:27:38
14 APRIL 2012: PARDUBICE WINE HALF MARATHON, CZECH REPUBLIC
MEN: 1 Mike Kiprop CHERUIYOT KEN 1:06:34 2 Vit PAVLISTA CZE 1:07:05 3 Jakub BAJZA CZE 1:07:09 4 Kenneth KIPKOSGEI KEN 1:07:10 5 Jan KREISINGER CZE 1:07:44 6 Jiri VOJAK CZE 1:08:00 7 Kamil KRUNKA CZE 1:09:20 8 Petr LOSMAN CZE 1:10:09 9 Frantisek MAHOVSKY CZE 1:10:16 10 Ales MIKO CZE 1:10:18 WOMEN: 1 Petra PASTOROVA CZE 1:18:18 2 Marta FENCLOVA CZE 1:22:14 3 Jindriska MARTINKOVA CZE 1:23:28 4 Tereza ZUZANKOVA CZE 1:23:50 5 Daniela HAVRANKOVA CZE 1:25:49 6 Denisa KOZAKOVA CZE 1:25:55 7 Lenka KRALOVA CZE 1:26:09 8 Katerina KREIGELOVA CZE 1:26:41 9 Ivana MARTINKOVA CZE 1:28:48 10 Laura MATULOVA CZE 1:29:59
15 APRIL 2012: VIENNA CITY MARATHON, AUSTRIA
Photos: VCM/Jean-Pierre Durand
![](images/2012/apr12_vienna2.jpg)
Henry Sugut set an Austria all-comers record in winning the 29th edition, while Fate Tola (Ethiopia) defended her women's title. Haile Gebrselassie beat Paula Radcliffe in the OMV Champions Race over the half marathon distance. Organisers registered a record total of 36,157 runners. Radcliffe got a 7:52 minutes head start in the half marathon chase race against Gebrselassie, calculated on the personal best times of the two athletes. Gebrselassie closed the gap quickly. Radcliffe's advantage was down to 3:42 at 9km and after 15.3km he overtook her. Radcliffe had suffered bronchitis in the past two weeks and was clearly not at her best. She ran 72:03 against Gebrselassie's 60:52.
![](images/2012/apr12_vienna1.jpg)
Henry Sugut's sub-2:07 win was clearly the performance of the day. He had won in 2010 and is the first man to repeat a victory in Vienna since 1992. After a first half of 64:18 the pace picked up. Art 30km (1:30:19) Sugut, John Kiprotich, Gilbert Kirwa, Gilbert Yegon and Willy Kibor formed the leading group. Sugut, who had entered the race with a personal best of 2:08:21, made a decisive move at 38km to drop the others.
In the women's race Fate Tola led from the start. The 24 year-old, who is a training partner of Germany's marathon record holder Irina Mikitenko and lives in Germany, ran her personal best in Vienna last year with 2:26:21, ran an even pace throughout. She led by 49 seconds at halfway and although the chasing pair reduced this to 18 seconds at 30km she increased her advantage to 30 seconds by 35km.
MEN: 1 Henry SUGUT KEN 2:06:58 2 Gilbert YEGON KEN 2:07:38 3 John KIPROTICH KEN 2:07:44 4 Gilbert KIRWA KEN 2:08:09 5 Willy KIBOR KEN 2:08:32 6 John KOMEN KEN 2:09:24 7 Geoffrey NDUGU KEN 2:10:00 8 Artur KOZLOWSKI POL 2:10:58 9 El-Hassane Ben EL-KHAINOUCH MAR 2:11:06 10 Arkiadusz GARDZUELEWSKI POL 2:11:34 WOMEN: 1 Fate TOLA ETH 2:26:39 2 Olga GLOK RUS 2:27:18 3 Helalia JOHANNES NAM 2:27:20 4 Olha KALENAROVA-OCHAL POL 2:31:33 5 Lydia RUTTO KEN 2:31:37 6 Maryna DAMANTSEVICH BLR 2:32:18 7 Nonata Da Silva CRUZ BRA 2:32:46 8 Anastassia DASHKEWICH BLR 2:34:11 9 Tanja EBERHART AUT 2:43:59 10 Natalia STEIGER AUT 2:54:14
15 APRIL 2012: ABM AMRO ROTTERDAM MARATHON, NETHERLANDS
Photo: Orange Pictures
![](images/2012/apr12_rotterdam1.jpg)
Ethiopians scored a spectacular double in a windy and rather cool 32nd edition writes Wim Van Hemert. Yemane Adhane won the men's race in 2:04:48, while Tiki Gelana became the fourth fastest woman of all time with her 2:18:58 victory.
At halfway a rather big group went through in 1:01:38, six seconds inside world record schedule. By 25km (1:13:00) Adhane and Getu Feleke, still being paced, were seven seconds clear. After pacing ceased at 30km they worked together, passing 35km in 1:42:33 but the world record was slipping away from them although they claimed after the race not to have had anything more than a fast time on their minds. Moses Mosop was 25 seconds behind at 35km and could not close as they passed 40km. Adhane moved ahead in the final kilometre to win by about 20m.
Tiki Gelana, 24, was in a class of her own. She had a lead of five seconds after only 5km and simply strode further ahead as the race progressed.
MEN: 1 Yemane ADHANE ETH 2:04:48 2 Getu FELEKE ETH 2:04:49 3 Moses MOSOP KEN 2:05:02 4 Stephen KIBET KEN 2:08:05 5 Stephen CHEMLANY KEN 2:10:07 6 Koen RAYMAEKERS NED 2:10:35 7 Dylan WYKES CAN 2:10:47 8 Mariusz GIZYNSKI POL 2:11:20 9 Ignacio CACERES ESP 2:11:58 10 Rachid KISRI MAR 2:12:17 WOMEN: 1 Tiki GELANA ETH 2:18:58 2 Valeria STRANEO ITA 2:23:43 3 Merima HASEN ETH 2:25:47 4 Miranda BOONSTRA NED 2:27:32 5 Lanni MARCHANT CAN 2:31:51 6 Heleen PLAATZER NED 2:31:51 7 Krista DUCHENE CAN 2:32:05 8 Wilma ARIZAPANA COL 2:34:11 9 Ivana SEYKIROVA RUS 2:34:23 10 Yamna OUBOUHOU FRA 2:35:48
15 APRIL 2012: PARIS MARATHON, FRANCE
Photo: Vincent Lyky
![](images/2012/apr12_paris1.jpg)
Despite wind and cold new records were set writes P-J Vazel. The wind was blowing strongly yet the pace was fast from the start, with a large group passing 10km in 29:21.
At halfway (1:01:51), the race was 55 seconds inside course record pace yet the group remained large. Pacemakers stopped after 25km (1:13:40) except Limo who was leading a group of eight runners along the Seine embankment. When Limo stepped aside Stanley Biwott took up the running.
By 14km to go, all the pacemakers had stopped and Stanley Biwott took the lead, followed by Ethiopians outsiders Raji Assefa (2:10:48) and Sisay Jisa (Marathon debut). Biwott reached the 30km in 1:28:04. His rivals fell away but Biwott did not let up until the final uphill towards the finish in the Avenue Foch, where he visibly slowed — but his victory and the course record were secure.
Behind him the two Ethiopians sprinted the last 100m as Assefa took second place and smashed his personal best by more than four minutes.
Race favourite Tirfi Beyene justified expectations from the start. She gradually increased the pace (35:02 at 10km, 50:26 at 15km), leading four women including a surprising Sultan Haydar, whose first marathon was 2:35 in Istanbul last year.
By halfway (1:10:45), Beyene was still 45s behind course record schedule, but surged into a clear lead after 25km and kept the pressure on, knowing that only a sub-2:20 time would guarantee her an Olympic place.
Well behind, Haydar, visibly exhausted, improved her lifetime best by more than 10 minutes in a national record for Turkey.
MEN: 1 Stanley BIWOTT KEN 2:05:11 2 Raji ASSEFA ETH 2:06:23 3 Sisay JISA ETH 2:06:26 WOMEN: 1 Tirfi BEYENE ETH 2:21:39 2 Sultan HAYDAR TUR 2:25:07 3 Makda HARUN ETH 2:26:46
15 APRIL 2012: BARCLAY'S MILANO CITY MARATHON, ITALY
MEN: 1 Daniel Kiprugut TOO KEN 2:08:39 2 Nickson KURGUT KEN 2:08:43 3 Biru Gemechu WORKU ETH 2:08:48 4 Elijah Kipruto SANG KEN 2:11:44 5 Berhanu Shiferaw TOLCHA ETH 2:11:54 6 Franck CALDEIRA BRA 2:12:03 7 Lahcen MOKRAJI MAR 2:14:13 8 Ancelmo Damiao DE SOUSA BRA 2:14:14 9 Giovanni GUALDI ITA 2:15:25 10 Wissem HOSNI TUN 2:16:35 WOMEN: 1 Irene Jerotich KOSGEI KEN 2:31:07 2 Emma QUAGLIA ITA 2:31:15 3 Nebiat HABTEMARIAM ETH 2:38:09 4 Emebet Etea BEDADA ETH 2:42:02 5 Esther HILDAGO ESP 2:42:25 6 Mihaela Maria PRUNDUS ROM 2:45:38 7 Claudia GELSOMINO ITA 2:49:48 8 Lara MUSTAT ITA 2:55:24 9 Martina SOLIMAN ITA 3:03:28 10 Simona GUILIANI ITA 3:06:24
15 APRIL 2012: XIII SAO PAULO INTL. MARATHON NESTSHOES CORPORE, BRAZIL
![](images/2012/apr12_saopaulo1.jpg)
MEN: 1 Silvaldo Santos VIANA BRA 1:08:14 2 Gilson Rodriues DE MIRANDA BRA 1:08:36 3 Fredison Carneiro COSTA BRA 1:09:22 4 Manuel Alves DA SILVA BRA 1:10:23 5 Marildo Jose BARDUCO BRA 1:10:41 6 Jose Luis DA SILVA BRA 1:10:50 7 Antonio Jose DA COSTA BRA 1:11:03 8 Antonio Soares FILHO BRA 1:11:46 9 Antonio Carvalho FERREIRA BRA 1:12:16 10 Fernando Beserra DA SILVA BRA 1:12:24 WOMEN: 1 Paloma VASCONCELOS BRA 1:30:50 2 Francine do Amaral LOPES BRA 1:31:45 3 Lindinalva Saraiva DA SILVA BRA 1:32:08 4 Carla Giorgi FERREIRA BRA 1:33:34 5 Raquel BOMBARDELLI BRA 1:33:36 6 Daniele RAGUZA BRA 1:34:59 7 Maria Ferreira SOUTO BRA 1:35:45 8 Angelina Cardoso MACHADO BRA 1:35:51 9 Simone Leite MANOCCHIO BRA 1:37:08 10 Marina de Salles OLIVEIRA BRA 1:38:10
![](images/2012/apr12_saopaulo2.jpg)
15 APRIL 2012: NAGANO OLYMPIC COMMEMORATIVE MARATHON, JAPAN
MEN: 1 Francis KIBIWOTT KEN 2:09:05 2 Silas SANG KEN 2:09:10 3 Moses KANGOGO KEN 2:10:53 4 Alexey A. SOKOLOV RUS 2:10:59 5 Kiyokatsu HASEGAWA JPN 2:16:03 6 Ryoichi MATSUO JPN 2:18:15 7 Shunsuke SAKAI JPN 2:18:39 8 Atsushi HASEGAWA JPN 2:19:12 9 Akinori OBARA JPN 2:20:23 10 Koji SATO JPN 2:20:36 WOMEN: 1 Pauline WANGUI KEN 2:34:22 2 Belaynesh Gebre ZEMEDKHUN ETH 2:35:19 3 Rose NYANGACHA KEN 2:36:18 4 Lauren SHELLEY AUS 2:37:13 5 Sayuri BABA JPN 2:37:38 6 Chihiro TANAKA JPN 2:42:34 7 Manami TAKEUCHI JPN 2:42:57 8 Yuko MACHIDA JPN 2:43:19 9 Anastasia NDEREBA KEN 2:43:33 10 Risa Hagiwara JPN 2:43:56
15 APRIL 2012: VANCOUVER SUN RUN 10K, CANADA
MEN: 1 Kelly WIEBE CAN 29:13 2 Kip KANGOGO KEN 29:14 3 Matt LOISELLE CAN 29:18 4 Eric GILLIS CAN 29:30 5 Rejean CHIASSON CAN 29:38 6 Hosea Kibet RUTTO KEN 29:49 7 Willy KIMOSOP KEN 30:20 8 Samuel PAWLUK CAN 30:56 9 Kevin FRIESEN CAN 31:00 10 Benjamin THISTLEWOOD CAN 31:01 WOMEN: 1 Natasha FRASER CAN 34:12 2 Melissa TODD USA 34:39 3 Kate BAZELEY CAN 34:51 4 Marilyn ARSENAULT CAN 35:03 5 Anne-Marie MADDEN CAN 35:12 6 Kathy BUTLER GBR 35:14 7 Lucy SMITH CAN 35:23 8 Lisa HARVEY CAN 35:36 9 Catrin JONES CAN 36:08 10 Melissa ROSS CAN 36:30
16 APRIL 2012: 116th BAA BOSTON MARATHON, USA
Photo: Alan Brookes
![](images/2012/apr12_boston1.jpg)
The "beach day" weather threatened to be the main story, but two new champions battled the heat in thrilling, tactical races to carry the day writes Alan Brookes. There were 26,700 entrants from 91 countries. Organizers offered to defer entries until next year, but 22,426 started. From 22°C at the Start, it rose to over 30°C for the masses finishing.
Geoffrey Mutai started as favourite after his 2:03:02 "fastest ever" last year on the "assisted" course but he stepped off the course at 30km with cramps, unable to hang onto a surge by fellow-countrymen Levy Matebo and Matthew Kisorio. Eventual winner Wesley Korir, said that when the trio surged before Heartbreak Hill, he decided to let them go: "it was too hot, too hard. I thought it would be better to be conservative." After 20 miles, he said "it just happened. Bernard Kipyego and I worked together. I saw the third guy and bit by bit it just happened". By the time he caught Matebo, Korir was getting cramps. "I had to slow down a bit and my energy picked up. I was careful". Korir, who was on scholarship in Kentucky ran 2:13:53 in the mass race as a non-elite runner at Chicago in 2008, went onto place 6th in Chicago in 2009, 4th in 2010, and 2nd last Fall in a personal best of 2:06:15. He married Canadian distance runner Tarah McKay at Louisville, and they have an infant daughter, Mckayla. He had their names written on all of his drink bottles to think of them and inspire him. Matebo pulled away again as Korir cramped, but Korir surged away over the final mile in the battle of attrition.
The Women's race was also a tactical battle, with last year's third-placer, Sharon Cherop, running a smart race for victory — sprinting away from her friend Jemima Jelegat in the final 300m. Cherop, who won the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2010, also took the bronze medal at the IAAF World Championships Marathon in Daegu last summer. "Last year, I didn't know exactly where the Finish line was, and I mis-timed my finish". This time, Cherop was content to stay in a pack of five that included Jelegat, Georgina Rono, Diana Chepkemoi Sigei and New York City Marathon winner, Ethiopian Firewot Dado. As Cherop cranked it up over the Newton hills, Sigei fell off, then Dado. When it came to the final sprint she surged ahead: "I knew where I was this year" she said.
MEN: 1 Wesley KORIR KEN 2:12:40 2 Levy MATEBO KEN 2:13:06 3 Bernard KIPYEGO KEN 2:13:13 4 Jason HARTMANN USA 2:14:31 5 Wilson CHEBET KEN 2:14:56 6 Laban KORIR KEN 2:15:29 7 Michael BUTLER NED 2:16:38 8 David BARMASAI KEN 2:17:16 9 Hideaki TAMURA JPN 2:18:15 10 Mathew KISORIO KEN 2:18:15 WOMEN: 1 Sharon CHEROP KEN 2:31:50 2 Jemima JELEGAT KEN 2:31:52 3 Georgina RONO KEN 2:33:09 4 Firewot DADO ETH 2:34:56 5 Diana SIGEI KEN 2:35:40 6 Rita JEPTOO KEN 2:35:53 7 Mayumi FUJITA JPN 2:39:11 8 Nadezdha LEONTEVA RUS 2:40:40 9 Svetlana PRETOT FRA 2:40:50 10 Sheri L PIERS USA 2:41:55
22 APRIL 2012: 10th ZURICH MARATHON, SWITZERLAND
Despite the testing weather, more than 7600 starters made it to the finish and Swiss national champion Maja Neuenschwander was fast enough to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Heavy rain fell only fifteen minutes into the race and did not stop for most of the elite race. Slower runners were even caught in a hailstorm although they also enjoyed some sunny intervals on their way around Lake Zurich. In the men's race a large group of Kenyan and Ethiopian runners gradually reduced to a face-off over the last few kilometres between Franklin Chepkwony, Shadrack Kemboi, Hailu Begashaw and Tesfaye Girma Bekele. Chepkwony proved strongest, breaking away to win in the penultimate kilometre.
In the women's race Maja Neuenschwander was seeking an Olympic qualifying time, having missed out by a few seconds in Berlin. She battled the elements and was more than a minute inside the required time. The race went to Workenesh Tola, who was not in need of a fast time, and so marked Neuenschwander until the penultimate kilometre when she strode away to win by 140m.
MEN: 1 Franklin CHEPKWONY KEN 2:10:58 2 Shadrack KEMBOI KEN 2:11:11 3 Hailu BEGASHAW ETH 2:11:14 4 Tesfaye Girma BEKELE ETH 2:11:28 5 Bernard Kipkemoi ROTICH KEN 2:13:02 6 Hussein RUTTO KEN 2:13:51 7 Wilfred Kibet KIGEN KEN 2:14:47 8 Kamau Michael CHEGE KEN 2:15:32 9 Samson Mungai KAGIA KEN 2:15:59 10 James Kipkosgei ROTICH KEN 2:17:17 WOMEN: 1 Workenesh TOLA ETH 2:31:24 2 Maja NEUENSCHWANDER SUI 2:31:56 3 Sheni Tigist ABDI ETH 2:34:40 4 Jasmin NUNIGE SUI 2:44:29 5 Olivia KURTZ SUI 2:50:13 6 Julie FREUDIGER SUI 2:51:08 7 Lucia MAYER-HOFMANN SUI 2:53:25 8 Karin JAUN SUI 2:53:37 9 Denise ZIMMERMANN SUI 2:55:22 10 Carmen BAHLER SUI 2:56:26
22 APRIL 2012: BELGRADE MARATHON, SERBIA
MEN: 1 James Kiptum BARMASAI KEN 2:16:01 2 Henry Kipyego KEMBOI KEN 2:22:52 3 Charles Kiprono ROTICH KEN 2:23:11 4 Daniel Kiplimo BETT KEN 2:24:48 5 Muslu ERCAN TUR 2:28:15 6 Hristo STEFANOV BUL 2:28:42 7 Ioannis PAPADOPOULOS GRE 2:29:47 8 Mustafa SHABAN BUL 2:31:23 9 Ilor KELEZI ALB 2:41:30 10 Milos MITRIC SRB 2:55:26 WOMEN: 1 Mary PTIKANY KEN 2:42:48 2 Giulu ESRA TUR 2:57:08 3 Vanja SUPIC SLO 3:26:53 4 Lidija MIKLOS SRB 3:27:25 5 Jelena BREZAK CRO 3:29:14 6 Dina PINTARIC SRB 3:35:27 7 Ljiljana HARDING SRB 3:39:01 8 Tanja RADUMILO SRB 3:44:00 9 Jozica SIFTAR SLO 3:44:45 10 Olivera CIRKOVIC SRB 3:46:24 HALF MARATHON MEN: 1 Kristijan STOSIC SRB 1:10:12 2 Par PAPANDREOPOILOS GRE 1:11:36 3 Molis MILANOVIC SRB 1:12:28 WOMEN: 1 Ana SUBOTIC SRB 1:24:34 2 Mariana CEGAR SRB 1:25:53 3 Danijela BARAC SRB 1:27:08
22 APRIL 2012: ENSCHEDE MARATHON, NETHERLANDS
MEN: 1 Ishimael BUSENDICH KEN 2:09:09 2 Julius KORIR KEN 2:09:13 3 Moses KURGAT KEN 2:09:59 4 Alebachew DEBAS ETH 2:10:06 5 Kilplimo KIMUTAI KEN 2:12:45 6 Bertram KETER KEN 2:13:37 7 Musa BABO ETH 2:14:49 8 Kipsang KIPKEMOI KEN 2:15:55 9 Joash MUTAI KEN 2:18:46 10 Donald SAMBU KEN 2:20:38 WOMEN: 1 Konstantina KEFALA GRE 2:41:01 2 Ingrid PRIGGE NED 2:55:42 3 Arenda ABBINK NED 3:04:01 4 Sophie DE KEERSMAEKER BEL 3:23:32 5 Ida VERDUIN-BOONE NED 3:25:56 6 Alien KRUIZE NED 3:27:56 7 Gerry VISSER NED 3:29:52 8 Monique KROPMANS NED 3:34:01 9 Ingrid KLAASSEN NED 3:37:57 10 Gea SIEKMANS NED 3:38:29 HALF MARATHON MEN: 1 Caspar KIELMA NED 1:12:15 2 Leon SANDERMAN NED 1:12:58 3 Caimin STEVENS NED 1:14:20 WOMEN: 1 Jacqueline RUSTIDGE NED 1:21:50 2 Brigit LANDEWE NED 1:26:04
22 APRIL 2012: CRACOVIA MARATHON, POLAND
MEN: 1 Peter Kariuki WANJIRU KEN 2:12:11 2 Edwin KIRUI KEN 2:12:37 3 Faustin Mussa STAREHE TAN 2:13:02 4 Andrei SERGEEV RUS 2:17:46 5 Sammy Kipkorir KIBET KEN 2:20:54 6 Denis Mwanzia MUSSAU KEN 2:20:54 7 Oleksij RYBACZENKO UKR 2:26:06 8 Illya ZMAZNEV RUS 2:27:31 9 Victor ROGOVOI UKR 2:31:28 10 Vasilij HEDUEDEN RUS 2:32:41 WOMEN: 1 Lucia KIMANI BIH 2:36:54 2 Anastasya ZUYEVA RUS 2:40:41 3 Agnieszka CIOLEK POL 2:41:32 4 Volha REZKAYA BLR 2:46:05 5 Natalia SOLOVEYEVA RUS 2:50:37 6 Mariya MALYSHEVA RUS 2:58:19 7 Agnieszka CADER POL 2:59:16 8 Jutka HUDAKOVA SVK 3:07:30 9 Beatrice Chebet SERONEI KEN 3:08:04 10 Barbara GRUCA POL 3:17:01
22 APRIL 2012: MARATONA SANT'ANTONIO, ITALY
Photo: Photosprint
![](images/2012/apr12_santantonio1.jpg)
Lucky for some: In the 13th edition Robert Kwambai Kipkorir defeated 2009 winner Ben Chebet to win his debut marathon writes Diego Sampoalo. In the women's race Marily Dos Santos improved her best time by over three minutes to defeat debutante Frida Domongole.
The race passes through six towns before reaching the finish line in Padua. At 15km (46:07) seven men went clear and after 30km it was down to four (1:31:58). Kwambai and Chebet surged ahead at 31km amd battled it out until 35km when Kwambai broke away, running two kilometres at sub-three minute pace. His second half was 1:04:26, but he missed the course record by 12 seconds.
The decision to change the course last year paid off. There was no course record this year but there was good depth to results; the first four men dipped under 2:11.
Four women led through 15km in 53:30: Marily Dos Santos, Frida Domongole, Ethiopian Elfenesh Melaku and Brazilian Michele Das Chagas. They passed halfway in 1:15:20. Das Chagas dropped back before 25km and by 30km it was a battle between Dos Santos and Domongole. From 36km Dos Santos started to pull away for an unchallenged win.
MEN: 1 Robert KWAMBAI KEN 2:09:14 2 Ben Chebet KIPRUTO KEN 2:10:02 3 Paulo Roberto PAULA BRA 2:10:23 4 Tumicha WORANA ETH 2:10:53 5 Kiflom SIUM ERI 2:11:09 6 Genemo Gerju GESERA ETH 2:15:42 7 Asefa Abtamu WAKEYO ETH 2:15:53 8 Elson Alex Gracioli ITA 2:20:56 9 Alberto MONTORIO ITA 2:22:28 10 Vito SARDELLA ITA 2:26:37 WOMEN: 1 Marily DOS SANTOS BRA 2:31:55 2 Frida DOMONGOLE KEN 2:34:49 3 Elfenesh Melaku YADO ETH 2:36:43 4 Michele DAS CHAGAS BRA 2:42:55 5 Mateja KOSOVELJ SLO 2:43:03 6 Silvia SERAFINI ITA 2:44:29 7 Aleksandra FORTIN ITA 2:50:13 8 Stefania SATINI ITA 3:02:33 9 Maria Cristina ORLANDI ITA 3:02:39 10 Marianna MAIORINO ITA 3:04:18
22 APRIL 2012: ROCK 'N' ROLL MADRID MARATHON, SPAIN
Photo: Mareas
![](images/2012/apr12_madrid4.jpg)
Kenya's Patrick Korir and Margaret Agai took surprise wins at the 35th edition, Korir in a sprint finish and Agai by a two-minute margin writes Emeterio Valiente.
Conditions were good (11-16°C) but the course has some tough uphill sections towards the end. By 10km (30:52) Mexico's Alejandro Suárez was the only non-African in the large leading pack. Erick Kibet paced to halfway in 1:04:52, on course record schedule. At 27km defending champion Moses Arusei lost ground as a lead group of four emerged. Mark Tanui made most of the pace, while Korir ran at the back of the group. Enock Mitei broke away to hold a 10-second advantage over Cherogony and Korir at 40km. But the tough closing section changed everything as the chasing pair reeled him in with 350m to go and Korir's late burst of speed took him to victory. Cherogony's third place completed a full set of podium positions over the last three years.
A powerful East European entry in the women's race was reduced to only the early leader Lithuania's Diana Lobacevske and Russia's Marina Kisileva, but late entry of Margaret Agai and Ethiopians Roman Gebregessese and Tigist Gebayahu bolstered the field. It was the African trio, plus Tigist Worku who took charge in the mid stages as Lobacevske dropped back. With Halfway passed in 1:15:30 and Agai setting a relentless pace, Worku fell back at 30km, followed soon after by Gebeyahu. Agai finally pulled away from Gebregessese after 35km.
MEN: 1 Patrick KORIR KEN 2:12:07 2 Enock MITEI KEN 2:12:13 3 Thompson CHEROGONY KEN 2:12:14 4 Mark TANUI KEN 2:12:23 5 Hailu DOGAGA ETH 2:13:15 6 Paul KIRUI KEN 2:14:09 7 Moses ARUSEI KEN 2:16:41 8 Felix LIMO KEN 2:20:06 9 Tilaun ALIYEV AZE 2:20:15 10 Isaac KOSGEI KEN 2:20:33 WOMEN: 1 Margaret AGAI KEN 2:32:23 2 Roman GEBREGESSESE ETH 2:34:40 3 Tigist GEBEYAHU ETH 2:36:31 4 Dailin BELMONTE CUB 2:41:07 5 Marina KISILEVA RUS 2:42:36 6 Tigist WORKU ETH 2:43:30 7 Irene LORENZO ESP 2:55:38 8 Cristina ROZALEN ESP 2:55:51 9 Nancy LANGAT KEN 3:03:19 10 Paqui FUENTES ESP 3:03:31
22 APRIL 2012: STEINMETZ GABORONE MARATHON, BOTSWANA
MEN: 1 Felix KIPKORIR KEN 2:16:25 2 Benjamin SEREM KEN 2:16:46 3 Jobo KHATOANE LES 2:16:49 4 Tsepho RAMARENE LES 2:16:51 5 Ramolefi MOTSIELOA LES 2:18:03 6 Paul Kipngeno KORIR KEN 2:19:14 7 Raobene RAMOSEKA BOT 2:20:23 8 Mike WEDSTONTEBULO MAW 2:20:36 9 Ndabili BASHINGILI BOT 2:21:00 10 Kelebonye SEMBUWA BOT 2:21:35 WOMEN: 1 Samukeliso MOYO ZIM 2:48:29 2 Ntahleng MASAILE LES 2:54:03 3 Maleboheng MOFATA LES 2:59:43 4 Solotate ONKEMETSE BOT 3:05:48 5 Margareth MAHOHOME ZIM 3:08:58 6 Tina MEKGWE BOT 3:52:48 7 Alice MATIMBA BOT 3:56:05 8 Vanessa MAEDER RSA 4:23:14 9 Martinette WIESE NAM 4:27:46 10 Emily GREENBERGER BOT 4:29:53
22 APRIL 2012: DVV ANTWERP MARATHON, BELGIUM
MEN: 1 Paul KIPROP KEN 2:15:38 2 Lander VAN DROOGENBROEK BEL 2:16:49 3 Florent CAELEN BEL 2:22:53 4 Tim STESSENS BEL 2:23:24 5 Eric KERING KEN 2:27:53 6 Ralf PREIBISCH NED 2:38:51 7 Maarten VAN DER DONCK BEL 2:39:11 8 Wout MOREEL BEL 2:39:32 9 Nid RUMPHAKWAEN BEL 2:41:48 10 Bart CATTEAU BEL 2:42:40 WOMEN: 1 Ange DAMMEN BEL 3:01:59 2 Kelly WILLIS BEL 3:03:13 3 Sophie VAN BIERVLIET BEL 3:08:00 4 Miecke DUPONT BEL 3:09:42 5 Chantal MARZOCCHI ITA 3:13:17 6 Aimee VAN ONGERVALLE BEL 3:14:10 7 Veronique COENE BEL 3:14:45 8 Carine VAN HOODONCK BEL 3:17:33 9 Christel VOCHTEN BEL 3:18:10 10 Nicole VERMEERSCH BEL 3:18:20
22 APRIL 2012: SANTIAGO CORRE 10km, DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
MEN: 1 Alfonso Paula ACOSTA DOM 32:19 2 Jesus RAMIREZ DOM 33:30 3 Juan Odalis ALMONTE DOM 32:36 4 Ivan Perez FELIX DOM 32:51 5 Rosa TORIBIO DOM 32:53 6 Matias EURIDY DOM 33:22 7 Pe Herrera OLIVAREZ DOM 33:58 8 Frank Wils BOBADILLA DOM 34:06 9 Francisco VASQUEZ DOM 34:15 10 Marte Jose RUBIERA DOM 34:26 WOMEN: 1 Dei Padilla SANCHEZ DOM 39:56 2 Deyanira DIAZ DOM 42:30 3 Jeifi Vargas PENALO DOM 42:46 4 Reynalda VILLORIN DOM 43:08 5 Feliz Montero DE CIA DOM 44:13 6 Soranyi RODRIGUES DOM 46:18
29 APRIL 2012: HASPA MARATHON HAMBURG, GERMANY
Shami Dawit of Ethiopia and Rael Kiyara of Kenya both won by attacking between 30-40 km, writes Pat Butcher. Both went on to break the course records. Dawit was already close to the lead at that point and ran away to win by over a minute. Kiyara was a minute behind, and closed on her runaway rivals like an avenging angel and winning by half a minute.
From the start, despite the windy conditions, the old records were destined for the dustbin of history. A group of fifteen men and one of six women kept together through the first half and helped to lessen the effects of the wind. With it at their back over the stages, both winners said they barely noticed it. Dawit had finished one second behind Dadi Yami in Dubai in January, and that second seemed to convince everyone that Yami was the big favourite in Hamburg. He certainly played that role by ignoring the pacemakers and going to the front himself. Dawit surged silently to draw level at 30km and then ran 29:07 for the next 10km, leaving Yami in the dust.
Kiyara played a waiting game. While Valentine Kipketer raced through the half in 1:10:24 with Netsanet Abeyo right behind, Kiyara was in seventh in 1:11:43. But the field fell apart in front of her and she moved into third by 30km. She later said that was the point she thought she could win. "The others started much too quickly," she said, "so I decided to run my own pace". She passed Abeyo at 40km.
MEN: 1 Shami DAWIT ETH 2:05:58 2 Dadi YAMI ETH 2:07:01 3 Augustine RONO KEN 2:07:23 4 Shumi DECHASA ETH 2:07:56 5 Ahmad ABDULLAH QAT 2:08:36 6 Fikadu LEMMA ETH 2:09:50 7 Paul BIWOTT KEN 2:10:14 8 Essa RASHAD QAT 2:10:52 9 Mustafa MOHAMED SWE 2:12:28 10 Cosmas KIGEN KEN 2:12:50 WOMEN: 1 Rael KIYARA KEN 2:23:47 2 Netsanet ABEYO ETH 2:24:12 3 Etalemahu KIDANE ETH 2:25:49 4 Beatrice TOROITICH KEN 2:27:41 5 Valentine KIPKETER KEN 2:28:02 6 Robe GUTA ETH 2:29:22 7 Dinkenesh MEKASHA ETH 2:29:56 8 Malika ASAHSSAH MAR 2:30:23 9 Natalia SOKOLOVA RUS 2:35:31 10 Mona STOCKHECKE GER 2:43:11
29 APRIL 2012: NICE INT'L HALF MARATHON, FRANCE
MEN: 1 Bernard KOECH KEN 59:57 2 Titus MASAI KEN 1:00:29 3 Tesfaye ABERA ETH 1:00:32 4 Abraham GEBRETSADIK ETH 1:00:34 5 Andualem SHIFERAW ETH 1:00:40 6 Reuben LIMO KEN 1:01:32 7 Merkebu AYELE ETH 1:01:45 8 Lema TOLA ETH 1:02:08 9 Ladan WANJIKU KEN 1:03:32 10 Justus MORANGA KEN 1:03:36 WOMEN: 1 Gutemi IMANI ETH 1:11:11 2 Pauline NJERI KEN 1:13:42 3 Mercelyne ONDIEKI KEN 1:13:53 4 Svetlana PRETOT FRA 1:15:23 5 Catherine BERTONE FRA 1:18:23
29 APRIL 2012: BIG SUR INT'L MARATHON, USA
In a day that combined sunshine, fog and heavy winds nearly 9,000 runners braved the elements to run the Marathon and shorter distance events on California's scenic Big Sur coastline. Strong winds of more than 45kph plagued the runners between 10-20km, confirming the appropriate name of Hurricane Point. Fog shrouded the course for several miles, but runners enjoyed sunshine for the last 16km of the race.
It was only when the fog cleared that Adam Roach could see Christian Mocko and Jesus Campos up ahead and thought "Hey, I've got a chance". Just past 30km, Roach surged past Mocko. "I was saving my energy for the downhills. I knew it'd be a tough course", he said. While the leading three jockeyed for position, at times they also had to battle winds gusting up to 60kph.
Nuta Olaru easily won the women's title despite battling stomach pains that twice forced her to stop completely. Her Big Sur debut smashed the competition which included 1574 women of the total 3357 finishers.
MEN: 1 Adam ROACH USA 2:32:25 2 Christian MOCKO USA 2:34:11 3 Jesus CAMPOS USA 2:37:08 4 Oswaldo LOPEZ USA 2:41:30 5 Chris CALZETTA USA 2:41:47 6 Andrew PARSEL USA 2:43:33 7 Martin CONRAD USA 2:47:15 8 Crispin LAZARIT USA 2:48:37 9 Xiao WANG USA 2:49:12 10 Ben CLARKE USA 2:49:24 WOMEN: 1 Nuta OLARU ROM 2:50:08 2 Amy LANE USA 3:09:42 3 Cassandra ALRED USA 3:11:43 4 Cindy LYNCH USA 3:13:30 5 Melissa LONGLEY USA 3:14:32 6 Carolyn THOMPSON USA 3:16:33 7 Heather MORGAN USA 3:20:51 8 Chevaun TARRACH USA 3:21:54 9 Jennifer CHERLAND USA 3:22:21 10 Rhonda GLASS USA 3:22:28
29 APRIL 2012: METRO GROUP MARATHON DUSSELDORF, GERMANY
MEN: 1 Seboka Diriba TOLA ETH 2:08:27 2 Duncan KOECH KEN 2:08:33 3 Abraham KIPROTICH FRA 2:08:35 4 Marcin CHABOWSKI POL 2:10:07 5 Evans RUTO KEN 2:10:10 6 Nahashon KIMAIYO KEN 2:10:28 7 Abraham KIPKOSGEI KEN 2:10:40 8 Yuki KAWAUCHI JPN 2:12:58 9 Joseph NGENY KEN 2:13:39 10 Mitei KIPLANGAT KEN 2:13:52 WOMEN: 1 Agnes Barsosio JERUTO KEN 2:25:49 2 Natasha STARAVOITAVA BLR 2:27:24 3 Melkam GISAW ETH 2:27:50 4 Volha DUBOVSKAYA BLR 2:28:08 5 Haile Kebebush LEMA ETH 2:29:02 6 Anna HAHNER GER 2:30:14 7 Tantu Eticha JIMMA ETH 2:30:53 8 Jane ROTICH KEN 2:31:06 9 Ummu KIRAZ TUR 2:38:06 10 Katerina BERESOVA SVK 2:41:31