Lel takes third London crown
Martin Lel has won the Flora London Marathon for the third time in four years. Lel outsprinted Sammy Wanjiru to take victory in a course-record time of 2 hours, 5 minutes and 15 seconds, after the two Kenyans, together with Abderrahim Goumri, had pulled out a gap after 23 miles.
Lel, who also won in 2005 and 2007, finished nine seconds ahead of Wanjiru, with Goumri third in a time of 2:05:30.
With another Kenyan, Emmanuel Mutai, clocking 2:06:15 in fourth, USA’s Ryan Hall fifth in 2:06:17, and the Ethiopian Deriba Merga sixth in 2:06:38, this was also the first time that six men have run under 2:07. All six set new personal bests.
“To win this race you have to work extra hard,” said the delighted Lel afterwards. “There were lots of runners in the field who could come first. So the chance of winning two in a row is very long. “This is one of the best races I have done.
Now I want to come back next year and make it three in a row.” With five of the elite field all from Kenya, the race was dubbed an unofficial Kenyan Olympic trial, and afterwards Lel learned that he’d sealed selection. With his performance here Wanjiru must surely have won his place on the Beijing start line too.
He certainly thinks so. “I’ve got 2:05 so now I can go the Olympics,” was the smiling 21-year-old’s response. For Goumri, second last year and again in New York last November, there was ample compensation in knowing he had broken Khalid Khannouchi’s Moroccan record.
Wami beaten
Irina Mikitenko sprung a shock to win the women’s Flora London Marathon in only her second race at the distance, beating the much-fancied Ethiopian pair of Gete Wami and Berhane Adere and lowering her personal best by 37 seconds.
Gete Wami limped home third in 2:25:37 after earlier falling at a drinks station. The race took a slight detour from its scheduled route because of a gas leak on a road just over Tower Bridge - the first time in the 27-year history of the race there has been a diversion.
Shortly afterwards Wami, wearing long white socks, made the first move of the day as the runners strode through Wapping. Shadowed by Adere and Ait Salem, and matched by the ever-present Mikitenko, she struck out for the Docklands running 5:13 for mile 14, the second quickest of the race. It looked significant, but misfortune was waiting just around the corner for Wami.
Just as the runners approached the 30km drinks station near Canary Wharf, Ait Salem fell in front of Wami and the Ethiopian’s face, hands and knee struck the tarmac. She lost 100 metres, about 30 seconds on the leaders, as Petrova, Mikitenko, Adere, Kosgei and Zakharova pushed on.
“When I got up the first thing I did was check my teeth,” she said later. “It felt as if they had fallen out.” Her recovery was anything but toothless, however. Slowly she made up the ground and joined the leading five as the runners turned east and headed back towards the centre of London.
Now the race was on and Wami, remarkably, began to push the pace. Wami, who defeated Mikitenko in Berlin last September, had to be satisfied with third after her second place last year.
“I have never fallen before,” she said. “If I hadn’t fallen I would have run much better. I am disappointed but pleased that I recovered to finish third.”
Result from the men's London Marathon:
1. Martin Lel (Kenya) 2 hrs 05 mins 15 secs
2. Samuel Wanjiru (Kenya) 2:05:24
3. Abderrahim Goumri (Morocco) 2:05:30
4. Emmanuel Mutai (Kenya) 2:06:15
5. Ryan Hall (U.S.) 2:06:17
6. Deriba Mergia (Ethiopia) 2:06:38
7. Yonas Kifle (Eritrea) 2:08:51
8. Felix Limo (Kenya) 2:10:34
9. Aleksey Sokolov (Russia) 2:11:41
10. Hendrick Ramaala (South Africa) 2:11:44
Result from the women's London Marathon:
1. Irina Mikitenko (Germany) 2 hrs 24 mins 14 secs
2. Svetlana Zakharova (Russia) 2:24:39
3. Gete Wami (Ethiopia) 2:25:37
4. Salina Kosgei (Kenya) 2:26:30
5. Ludmila Petrova (Russia) 2:26:45
6. Souad Ait Salem (Algeria) 2:27:41
7. Berhane Adere (Ethiopia) 2:27:42
8. Constantina Dita (Romania) 2:27:45
9. Liz Yelling (Britain) 2:28:33
10. Adriana Pirtea (Romania) 2:28:52
