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Peres Jepchirchir leads stellar field to a record in London Marathon

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Peres Jepchirchir leads stellar field to a record in London Marathon

Peres Jepchirchir, the reigning Olympic gold medalist from Kenya, set a women’s-only world record Sunday at the London Marathon, bursting from a pack of stellar runners in the elite field.

Jepchirchir broke Mary Keitany’s women’s-only marathon mark with a time of 2 hours 16 minutes 16 seconds, sprinting ahead of Tigst Assefa, the overall world record holder who set the mark of 2:11:53 last year in Berlin and was second Sunday in 2:16:23. Joyciline Jepkosgei (2:16:24) and Megertu Alemu (2:16:34) also finished ahead of Keitany’s record, and Jepchirchir broke Keitany’s 2017 mark for a marathon that featured no male runners by 45 seconds. London’s elite women’s field starts about 30 minutes ahead of the elite men.

Kenya’s Alexander Mutiso Munyao was the men’s elite winner, outdueling 41-year-old Kenenisa Bekele with about 3k left and finishing in 2:04:01, 14 seconds ahead of Bekele. Britain’s Emile Cairess was third, 2:45 back.

“I’m happy for winning the race today, which is my fastest ever marathon. At 40 km I got some pressure from Bekele, but I had a lot of confidence because I trained for this race,” Munyao, who is 27, told the BBC. “After 40 km I thought I had enough energy to win. That’s why I kicked and I knew I would win.”

It was the women’s field, however, that was considered to be one of the best in distance running history. Three of the world’s four fastest women did not disappoint, with Jepchirchir sprinting the last few hundred meters for the win.

“I am feeling grateful. I am so happy for the victory. I was not expecting to run a world record — I knew it might be beat but I did not expect it to be me,” Jepchirchir said (via the BBC). “I knew the history and the ladies were strong. I was working extra hard. My time was lower, but I’ve come good today and set a [personal best].”

Switzerland’s Marcel Hug, winner of the men’s wheelchair division of last week’s Boston Marathon, won the London race for the fourth consecutive year and fifth time overall, finishing in 1:28:35. American Daniel Romanchuk was second and Britain’s David Weir, in his 25th consecutive appearance, was third.

Switzerland’s Catherine Debrunner dominated the women’s wheelchair race, winning in 1:38:54. Manuela Schar, also of Switzerland, finished second just as she did in Boston, more than six minutes behind.

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