It was a double Kenyan celebration at the sixth Brighton Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, as Duncan Maiyo smashed his personal best to win in 2:10:15 while Pennina Wanjiru won the women&rsquo;s race in 2:34:24 on Sunday (12).The men&rsquo;s winning time represents an improvement of more than a minute for the 25-year-old Maiyo, his previous best dating from 2012 when he recorded 2:11:47 in Nairobi.&ldquo;I enjoyed the race, but the first half was a bit too fast. I got carried away,&rdquo; said the men&rsquo;s winner, who had never raced outside Kenya before.&ldquo;I wanted to prove my ability as a future number one and I feel that I have done that. Brighton is a good course and the crowd really lifted me.&rdquo;Second with a time of 2:11:52 was the 2013 Brighton winner Dominic Kangor, who was also the runner up last year. Completing an all-Kenyan men's podium, Mutai Kipkemei was third in 2:14:41.For most of the race it looked as though the course record of 2:09:25 was in danger as Maiyo surprised his more experienced rivals with constant surges. The half marathon point was ticked off at a lively 1:03:47.With Kangor on his shoulder, the eventual winner was constantly under threat which helped keep the tempo high, but once the former champion had started to slip back and a gap opened, the pace started to slow.&ldquo;At 10 miles the wind started to affect us,&rdquo; explained Kangor. &ldquo;And that was when Duncan started to make his first break.&rdquo;In fact, the story of the race from miles 10 to 20 was one of Maiyo attacking with Kangor and Kipkemei falling back before then closing any gap that had opened. Ominously, it was Maiyo who was maintaining a steady pace with the other two having to vary their pace as they battled to stay with him.After the race, Kangor was anything but downhearted despite being two minutes outside his best time. &ldquo;Nevertheless I feel good and will be back here next year,&rdquo; he promised.<h3>Wanjiru winning marathon debut </h3> Wanjiru arrived in the south of England seaside town as a marathon debutante at the age of 30 but left as the Brighton champion.&ldquo;It was very cold but I enjoyed it. Next time I hope to do much better,&rdquo; said Wanjiru. Bahrain&rsquo;s Asian Games bronze medallist Lishan Dula was runner-up in 2:34:56 with Kenya&rsquo;s former Brighton champion Eunice Kales a distant third with 2:53:50. Kales was clearly in some discomfort and later she revealed that she had been suffering from cramp from 10km onwards. Kales, the 2013 Brighton winner, missed most of last year through injury.The story of the women&rsquo;s race was similar to the men&rsquo;s with Wanjiru on course record pace until 20 miles, when the pace started to slip. For the first eight miles, Wanjiru, Dula and Kales were together before Dula and Kales started to fall behind.Despite her inexperience, Wanjiru was maintaining a lively pace up front as she went through the half-way mark in 1:13:35 and was still within striking distance of the record at 20 miles but that was when the pace started to falter.Prior to her win in Brighton on Sunday, Wanjiru had in her portfolio a half marathon time of 1:12:40 from Marugame eight years ago. Her 15:51:93 5000m time stems from the same year. She also has a 10,000m best of 31:35.Michael Butcher (organisers) for the IAAF

It was a double Kenyan celebration at the sixth Brighton Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, as Duncan Maiyo smashed his personal best to win in 2:10:15 while Pennina Wanjiru won the women’s race in 2:34:24 on Sunday (12).

Kenyan double celebrations as Maiyo and Wanjiru win in Brighton

After five consecutive course records at the Brighton Marathon, the men are looking to make it a sixth at the IAAF Bronze Label Road Race on Sunday (12).The man most familiar with the course is Kenyan Dominic Kangor. The 25-year-old is determined to regain the title he lifted two years ago. He was in the mix last year but after a titanic tussle in the final miles that saw him slash more than a minute from his personal best, he had to settle for second spot in 2:09:36.The fastest man in the field is Kenyan Mutai Kipkemei who at the age of 28 is a recent convert to the distance. But he showed considerable experience last autumn when he finished third in Hengshui with a career best of 2:09:29, an improvement of 37 seconds over his previous best from 2013.Kipkemei&rsquo;s career has taken place exclusively on the roads, the highlight coming over the half marathon when he enjoyed a notable win in Rio five years ago.Inevitably, where there are Kenyans there must also be an Ethiopian. Musa Babo Ido, 27, will be trying to stem the sequence of four Kenyan wins. No Ethiopian has ever won in Brighton.Duncan Kipkurui Maiyo, 24, will be racing for the first time outside Africa when he takes to the Brighton streets. The fact that he trains with the elite trio of 2:06 performers Micah Kogo, Mark Kiptoo and Mike Kigen suggests that he may have an effect on proceedings.On the women&rsquo;s side, like Kangor, Eunice Kales is a former champion returning to a happy hunting ground. Still the course record-holder after her storming finish two years ago when she breasted the tape in 2:28:50, she spent most of last year sidelined with injury.But now she is back to attack a course she knows well and that fact could be decisive. In the same year she won Brighton, the Kenyan took her best down several notches to 2:27:19 when she was second in Melbourne.Lishan Dula of Bahrain has the best credentials. After competing at the Olympics and World Championships, she won her first major medal last year when she picked up bronze at the Asian Games. Her lifetime best of 2:26:56, the second national record of her career, came when she crossed the line in third place in Rotterdam four years ago.An intriguing debutante is 30-year-old Pennina Wanjiru of Kenya who is no stranger to fast running since she trains with sub-2:20 performer Lucy Kabuu. She came third at high altitude in Nairobi over the half distance last year.For 2015 there has been a record number of registrations &ndash; 15,705 &ndash; and the winner can expect to pocket $6,000 plus the same amount for a course record. Sub-2:09 for the men and sub-2:28 for the women would be worth an extra $2,000. European 10,000m champion Jo Pavey sends them on their way.With a forecast low of 6C and a high of 12C, conditions could well be ideal for the 9:15am elite start on the London Road while the mass start gets away from Preston Park.Last year organisers added the BM10km to their portfolio. It was won by Nick McCormick (29:11) and former Brighton Marathon champion Alyson Dixon (32:35). After her recent lifetime best of 32:30 following her return from winter training in Kenya, Dixon will face a stern test from Helen Clitheroe and 2008 world junior 1500m champion Stephanie Twell.On the men&rsquo;s side, Andrew Lemoncello has his first outing since the Commonwealth Games against a clutch of good British runners including Mark Draper and Jonathan Taylor.The first action of the Brighton Marathon weekend takes place on Saturday when a record 2500 youngsters between the ages of seven and 17 take part in the Mini Mile around Steve Ovett&rsquo;s old stomping ground, Preston Park.Michael Butcher (organisers) for the IAAF

After five consecutive course records at the Brighton Marathon, the men are looking to make it a sixth at the IAAF Bronze Label Road Race on Sunday (12).

Kangor and Kales look to regain Brighton Marathon titles

Brighton Marathon organisers have put together their fastest fields ever, at least on paper, for an all-out assault on the course records at the sixth edition of the IAAF Bronze Label Road Race on Sunday 12 April.The elite fields, announced on Thursday (12) has four men with career bests under 2:10 and two women faster than 2:28.On the men&rsquo;s side, Kenya&rsquo;s Mutai Kipkemei leads the contenders.The 28-year-old is a recent convert to the marathon but he established himself as a sub-2.10 campaigner last autumn when he finished third in Hengshui in 2:09:29. The top four are separated by just 12 seconds with fellow Kenyan Josephat Kiprono Leting boasting of a personal best just five seconds slower than Kipkemei. Leting made a great debut in Enschede two years ago when he finished runner up in 2:09:34, which remains his personal best. Last September he went one better by winning the M&uuml;nster event. Another Kenyan, former Brighton champion Dominic Kangor Kimwetich will be looking to regain his title after just missing out last year and coming second. An exciting tussle in the last few miles saw him rewarded with a personal best by over a minute in 2:09:36. There are two representatives from Ethiopia: Birhanu Bekele Berga is a former winner of the Florence Marathon who has a career best of 2:09:41 while Ketema Behailu Mamo claimed his first title in Venice last autumn when he ran away from the pack over the second half of the race. Duncan Kipkurui Maiyo will be racing for the first time outside Kenya when he takes to the Brighton and Hove streets but if the company he keeps is anything to go by then he could surprise as he trains with an elite trio of 2:06 performers: Micah Kogo, Mark Kiptoo and Mike Kigen.The men&rsquo;s course record of 2:09:25 was set last year by Kenya&rsquo;s William Chebor.Champion in the same year as her countryman Kangor, in 2013, Eunice Kales is also making a bid to regain her title. After winning in Brighton two years ago in a course record of 2:28:50, Kales travelled to Melbourne that autumn to establish a career best of 2:27:19 but was frustrated last year by injury.&nbsp; From Bahrain comes Lishan Dula Gemgchu, the fastest amongst the elite women, her lifetime best of 2:26:56 coming when she finished third in Rotterdam four years ago. Precocious Ethiopian teenager Askale Alemayehu, still just 19, is relatively untested but her 2:31:31 from Rennes last year heralds a bright future. The leading British athlete in the women&rsquo;s line-up is Hayley Munn and she is aiming for a 2:34 clocking, an improvement of some three minutes over her current best.Organisers for the IAAF


Brighton Marathon organisers have put together their fastest fields ever, at least on paper, for an all-out assault on the course records at the sixth edition of the IAAF Bronze Label Road Race on Sunday 12 April.


Kenyan double celebrations as Maiyo and Wanjiru win in Brighton

Kangor and Kales look to regain Brighton Marathon titles

Assault on course records expected at the Brighton Marathon