(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Habtom Welderufael of Eritrea won the mens 10km run while UAEs Ruqiya Alkhaja clinched gold in the womens section of the same category.
Lemi Berhanu Hayle with their trophies at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon 2015 on Friday. — KT photo by Shihab
Ethiopians — Unknown Lemi Berhanu Hayle and former champ Aselefech Mergia Medessa — claimed the men’s and women’s crowns in the 2015 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on Friday.
Mergia won with hardly a second separating her from the spirited Kenyan Gladys Cherono Kipronothis the silver medallist. This was Mergia’s third Dubai title. The champions earned $200000 each the highest prize money available in marathon running.
Habtom Welderufael of Eritrea won the men’s 10km run while UAE’s Ruqiya Alkhaja clinched gold in the women’s section of the same category.
Hayle won in 2hrs:05min:28sec ahead of compatriots Lelisa Desisa Benti (2:05:52) and Deribe Robi Melka (2:06:06) as marathon running power house Ethiopia swept the board with all the top 10 positions. Hayle clinched the Zurich Marathon in 2014 while Desisa was the winner of the Dubai Marathon on his debut here in 2013.
In the women’s category Gladys (2:20:03) and Lucy Wangui Kabuu (2:20:21) won silver and bronze behind course record holder Mergia who hit the tape in 2:20:02. Ethiopia again had a field day in the section with eight of their women stars finishing in the top 10.
Mergia who came out of a long break following the birth of her baby girl said: “Dubai was one my priorities and now I can continue with the finishing part of a guest house I started after the cash I got in 2011. This time another $200000 from today’s (Friday) earnings comes handy for our family and our daughter.”
Hayle is another one of the superstars emerging from the powerhouse in distance running from east Africa. He said: “I do not know what I will do with such a large amount ($200000). The first five kilometres were difficult for me today (Friday) but I just went about it like I would back home so I kept mentally calm concentrated harder on my rhythm and strides. With big names like Desisa and Kenenisa competing and another set of 15 top runners from Ethiopia and Kenya the field was very difficult to keep pace with initially.”
The interesting part of the early phase of the marathon event was the scorching pace set by Bahrain’s Tigist Tufa Demisse which surprised many among the elite in event. However she burnt herself out when the event progressed passed the middle stage as the Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie a three-time winner here (2008-10) pointed out after the race. The first five minutes was all about the official pace makers of five runners shooting ahead and within seven minutes the lead pack was seen closing up to them as Desisa Sisay Lemma Kasaye (Ethiopia) and Ezikiel Kipto Chebii (Kenya) fought hard to gain command in the second pack.
In the mean time pre-race favourites Mergia Lucy and Melkamu Hayleyesus (Ethiopia) were deeply engrossed with their catching up jobs after Tigist departed. An hour after the start the temperature rose slightly to 15 Celcius with 55 per percent humidity and the lead bunch had clocked 21km (halfway mark) in 1:02:02. The men’s world record by comparison was only 0.33 in front for the same distance then.
In the return stretch on the beach road the pace increased rapidly and it was evident that from this stage the separation phase was about to begin (42min:55sec into the race). The leading men had covered 14.5km by then.
At the 30.2km (11km away from the full distance) stage the time consumed for the distance was 1:30:39 by the leading men and it became a four-man strength up front as the official pace makers peeled away slowly.
Robi Lemma and Desisa tried to set up their own pace and rhythm as pre-race favouirite Kenenisa Bekele trailed behind alone in 11th spot almost 800m behind. During this time Hayle and Feysa Lelisa Gemechu caught up brilliantly to join the front five all spaced within hand shaking distances as they tried to go in front.
In the end it was all about Desisa and Hayle and two kilimetres from the finish line they were running parallel to each other till the memorable final burst by Hayle.
The women’s final three-front bunch had veteran Mergia Lucy and Gladys Cherono Kiprono (Kenya) in a ding-dong front battle.
In one of the closest finishes seen in the category at the event Mergia gained the extra metres when Gladys and Lucy deviated to the extreme right of the road for water sachets almost a kilometre away but they were able to catch up as Mergia began to show signs of weariness. However the gutsy Ethiopian mother just about managed to cling on for the gold.
monikhaleejtimes.com
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