Kenyan marathon runner Peter Kimeli Some (© AFP / Getty Images)
Peter Kimeli Some lived up to expectations at the Shenzhen Marathon on Sunday (17), winning the IAAF Bronze Label road race in 2:14:49.
While the men’s race was won by the pre-race favourite, Kyrgyzstan’s Viktoria Poliudina defeated some of the more favoured athletes in the women’s race to win in 2:33:25, her third personal best of the year.
Although Some didn’t have the fastest season’s best heading into the race, his 2:05:38 clocking from 2013 made him the fastest man of the field based on personal bests. The 27-year-old didn’t have to reproduce those kind of times to win on Sunday, though, as he broke away from a large pack to take the victory.
Behind him, just eight seconds separated the next six finishers. Ethiopia’s Temesgen Gonfa had the best finish of the chase pack, taking second place in 2:18:01 to finish two seconds ahead of Kenya’s Edwin Kimaiyo Kangogo, the fastest entrant based on 2017 times.
In the women’s race, Poliudina held off a quintet of Ethiopian runners to take her second consecutive international marathon victory. The 28-year-old Olympian had set a PB of 2:40:28 when finishing 42nd at the World Championships in August and then improved on that mark with 2:37:45 to win in Astana. She took a four-minute chunk off her personal best on Sunday with her winning time of 2:33:25.
Mulu Seboka, one of the pre-race favourites and owner of a 2:21:56 PB, had to settle for second place in 2:35:28 ahead of compatriots Nigist Muluneh Desta and Shuru Diriba Dulume.
Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF
Leading results
Men
1 Peter Kimeli Some (KEN) 2:14:49
2 Temesgen Gonfa Hirpa (ETH) 2:18:01
3 Edwin Kimaiyo Kangogo (KEN) 2:18:03
4 Haimot Mateb Muluneh (ETH) 2:18:04
5 Debela Tadese Yadete (ETH) 2:18:05
6 Thomas Esito Ekiru (KEN) 2:18:07
7 Teame Habte Tekle (ETH) 2:18:09
8 Alemayo Tola Debela (ETH) 2:18:22
Women
1 Viktoria Poliudina (KGZ) 2:33:25
2 Mulu Seboka (ETH) 2:35:28
3 Nigist Muluneh Desta (ETH) 2:36:54
4 Shuru Diriba Dulume (ETH) 2:41:19
5 Marta Markos Ayele (ETH) 2:43:02
6 Urge Dechasa Eresa (ETH) 2:43:02
