Irina Mikitenko (GER) (© Getty Images)
The women’s events produced the best quality winning times during the traditional Easter Race in Paderborn, Germany (23).
Peninah Arusei (Kenya) improved her 10km personal best to 31:42 minutes while Irina Mikitenko took the Half Marathon. Preparing for the Flora London Marathon on 13 April Mikitenko clocked 68:51 minutes despite cold weather with a mixture of snow and rain coming down. It was a personal best for the 35-year-old German as well. The 62nd edition of the Paderborn race had 7802 entries.
Taking the lead right from the start Irina Mikitenko was never challenged. “It went surprisingly well,” said Mikitenko, who improved her personal best from April 2007 by 55 seconds. London will only be her second marathon after a great debut in Berlin in September 2007 with 2:24:51. Mikitenko’s time also was a course record, which had been held by Joyce Chepchumba (Kenya) with 69:24 from 1997. And for more than ten years no German woman had been as fast as Mikitenko in Paderborn. Emily Kimuria (Kenya) was second in 1:15:43. Joseph Ngolepus (Kenya) was the men’s winner with a course record of 61:24 minutes, improving the former mark by six seconds. His fellow countryman Jonathan Maiyo was second with 61:44.
In the women’s 10km race Peninah Arusei achieved a hat-trick in Paderborn. And she improved her personal best from last year by four seconds. Germany’s Sabrina Mockenhaupt could not match the speed of Arusei but was happy with a second place and a personal best of 32:07. Anitha Kiptum (Kenya) took third in 33:41. There was a surprise in the men’s race, in which Austria’s steeplechaser Markus Pröll beat the favourites from Kenya, who had won this race in every year since 1999. The 28-year-old clocked 28:46 minutes and was one second ahead of Boash Mayaka and John Kales (both Kenya), who were both timed at 28:47.
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
