PRESS RELEASE: TUI MARATHON HANOVER WITH THRILLING FINISHES
PRESS RELEASE: TUI MARATHON HANOVER WITH THRILLING FINISHES
PRESS
RELEASE: TUI
Joseph
Kiptum and Natalya Puchkova
take
Two
thrilling finishes that went right to the wire marked the TUI
A record total of 15,456
runners had entered the various running events of the TUI Hanover
Marathon. Around 150,000 spectators lined the course in very good
weather conditions for marathon running. The TUI Hanover Marathon is an
IAAF Bronze Label Race.
In the menÂ’s race somehow the
pacemakers did not stick to the schedule. It had been planned to attack
the course record of with a half marathon split
time of around 64:00 minutes but the pace was much too slow. A leading
group of nine runners passed this point in 65:45 minutes. At 30 k
() all
nine were still in the group and it was only in the final seven
kilometres that the Kenyans and Ethiopians really started racing. While
split times suggested a finishing time of just under at this point in the end the
first two still managed to go sub .
Soon
after 35 k four runners were in the lead: Kenyans Joseph Kiptum and
Peter Kirui as well as Ethiopians Megersa Bacha Chikuala and Abdisa Sori
Bedada. It was then Kiptum who surged ahead at 41 k and opened a gap of
almost
For Joseph Kiptum it was somehow good fortune that the pace
had been much slower than expected. “I had a stomach problem and if they
would have run faster I would not have been able to go with the leading
group,” explained the 24 year-old, who had to vomit twice during his
race. Despite this he not only won but also improved his personal best
in his second marathon by eleven seconds. “Last night I could not sleep.
So at around in
the morning I ate some bananas. Somehow something went wrong. But I am
very happy that I still won,” said Joseph Kiptum.
In
the womenÂ’s race Natalya Puchkova was well ahead early in the race. In
contrast to their normal race tactics the Ethiopians opted for a much
slower start. At the half marathon mark the 25 year-old Russian had an
advantage of exactly one minute, when she passed this point in
. A
group with five Ethiopians only started chasing her after the gap had
increased to
minutes at 30 k. While Puchkova, who had entered the event with a
personal best of , slowed her advantage was
getting smaller and smaller. When the Russian entered the finishing
straight she was still quite a bit ahead of Aberume Mekuria. The
Ethiopian then mounted a final attack and sprinted towards Natalya
Puchkova. But she could not quite overtake her in the end.
Behind Puchkova and Mekuria two Ethiopians took third and
fourth: Halima Hassen Beriso () and Zeineba Hasso Hayato
().
Bernadette Pichlmaier was the fastest German in tenth place
(),
followed by Katharina Heinig () in eleventh. The 22 year-old
daughter of Katrin Dörre-Heinig broke for the first time. She had
been on course for a time of around , but then had problems in the
final 10 k.
More information about the TUI
Please
note: You may use the attached photo for online purposes, showing Joseph
Kiptum (right) and Megersa Bacha Chikuala. Credit essential:
www.photorun.net
Service by: www.race-news-service.com
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