Uhuru hosts Paris winners as Kenyans rule Europe

President Uhuru Kenyatta hosted Paris Marathon winners, Visiline Jepkesho and Cyprian Kotut as well as their compatriots after landing in the French capital in celebrating their double at the IAAF Gold Label Race in a weekend where Kenyan distance runners reigned supreme across Europe.

Elsewhere, veteran James Kwambai and former Boston marathon winner, Caroline Kilel also clinched the Kenyan double at the IAAF Silver Label Daegu Marathon by taking the men and women races in South Korea.

And it was a hat-trick of doubles in the ultimate distance competition when Ernest Kiprono Ngeno and Brigid Kosgei scored at the 16th edition of the Suissegas Milan City Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race.

Violah Jepchumba carved almost four minutes off her personal best when taking victory at the Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race. The 26-year-old came home in 1:05:51, the fourth fastest time in history on a record-eligible course.

Richard Mengich capped a resounding weekend when made a booming return to form at the Berlin Half Marathon on returning from injury and taking victory by over a minute in a personal best of 59:58.

The main attraction of the weekend was Sunday’s Paris Marathon Jepkesho, 28, scooped the biggest win of her career to date, coming home in 2:25:52 to take victory ahead of Ethiopians Gulume Tollesa (2:26:14) and Dinknesh Mekasha (2:28:12).

Kotut, meanwhile, followed in the footsteps of older brother Martin Lel – a three-time champion at the London Marathon – when speeding to victory in 2:07:11 ahead of compatriots Laban Korir (2:07:29) and Stephen Chemlany (2:07:37).

“Being the brother of Martin he’s intelligent and very professional. He won when he was not in top shape because he has small injuries and the way he ran was like an experienced runner and it was only his second marathon. Let’s wait and see what happens next, in marathon running, everything should be taken step by step,” his coach, Kotut’s Claudio Berardelli told Citizen Digital on Monday.

With Ethiopians winning the men’s and women’s titles in Daegu for the past two years, the Kenyans were keen to resume their dominance at this year’s event, and pre-race favourites Kilel and Kwambai made good on their reputations, running at the front throughout and dismissing their rivals with impressive turns of speed on the final run to the line.

Kwambai was a three-time champion at the Seoul Marathon between 2011 and 2013, but this was the 33-year-old’s first victory – on his very first attempt – in Daegu, and he needed every ounce of speed available to take the title. He held off compatriot John Langat by three seconds to take the win, with Morocco’s Abdellah Tagharrafet third in 2:11:34.

The women’s race also boiled down to a head-to-head duel, with Kenya’s Caroline Kilel racing together with Peru’s Ines Melchor throughout the race. On the final sprint to the line, it was the experience of Kilel – a champion at the Boston and Frankfurt Marathons in recent years – that told.

At the highest point of her career, back in 2011, Kilel had outsprinted USA’s Desiree Davila to take the Boston title by just two seconds, and Sunday’s finish was strikingly similar, with the Kenyan edging victory by just one second, 2:27:39 to 2:27:40.

In Milan, Ngeno crossed the finish line in Corso Venezia in 2:08:15, missing his personal best set in Hengshui in 2015 by 18 seconds. Ishhimael Bushendich Chemtan finished runner-up in 2:08:20, just five seconds outside his personal best. Last year’s Milan Marathon winner Kenneth Mungara took third place in 2:08:38 improving his world masters over-40 record by four seconds with 2:08:38.

Jepcheschir Kosgei produced the major surprise of the day in the women’s race, crossing the finish line first in 2:27:45 to smash her previous personal best of 2:47:59 set in Porto last year, by 20 minutes.

-Jepchumba stuns in Prague-

On what was a calm, cool day in the Czech capital, the men’s race was won in equally convincing fashion by Daniel Wanjiru, the Kenyan overcoming a mid-race fall to take victory in 59:20 in a race where the top five athletes finished within 60 minutes.

But it was the unheralded Jepchumba who stole the show in Prague with her breakthrough performance. The 26-year-old came into the race as an outsider, holding a best of just 1:09:29, but she had announced herself as a potential star when taking victory over several established Kenyan internationals at the Discovery Cross Country in Eldoret back in January.

Jepchumba held it together well in the final kilometres to come home in 1:05:51, which broke Joyce Chepkirui’s course record of 1:06:18 and moved Jepchumba to third on the world all-time list behind Kiplagat (1:05:07) and Mary Keitany (1:05:50).

At the German capital, Mengich made a resounding return to form at the Berlin Half Marathon returning from injury and taking victory by over a minute in a personal best of 59:58.

His former countrywoman Elizeba Cherono, who has since switched nationality to the Netherlands, edged victory in a much closer contest in the women’s race, her time of 1:10:43 giving her a seven-second winning margin over Susan Jeptoo.

“It was windy during the second half of the race, but I desperately wanted to break the one hour mark,“ said Mengich, who then left behind Tesfay soon after 10km,” the winner told IAAF.

Report compiled from iaaf.org