By David Monti
(c) 2009 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
ROMA (22-Mar) -- Benjamin Kiptoo Koulum and Firehiwot Dado wore bib
numbers 36 and F12, respectively, at today's 15th Maratona di Roma,
sure signs that they were not expected to contend for victory. In
fact, Kiptoo, a Kenyan who prepared for this race in the same camp
where Martin Lel is currently training for the Flora London Marathon,
was actually a designated pacemaker. Dado, an Ethiopian who has only
run one marathon, was the last elite woman organizers accepted into the
race.
But here today they beat the odds --and their respective fields-- to
turn in upset victories. Moreover, Kiptoo, who had won both the
Brescia and Beijing Marathons last year in respectable but modest
times, overcame stiff winds, chilly temperatures, and a rough and
winding course to post the fastest-ever marathon in Italy: 2:07:17.
Dado, who has the same coach as last year's Boston Marathon champion
Dire Tune, chopped her personal best time by an unlikely ten minutes to
win in 2:27:08.
"It's normal," commented Kenyan Philip Manyim who marveled at Kiptoo's performance after the race. "It's marathon."
Kiptoo was entered by his coach, Gabrielle Rosa, as a pacemaker. But
top athletes coordinator Max Monteforte informs all athletes that
pacemakers are permitted to finish after they do their contracted
pacing jobs, and Rosa gave his athlete the freedom to go to the finish
if he felt strong. The word out of Lel's training camp in Kapsabet was
that Kiptoo was ready to do something special.
"He decided to run here and push the pace, but his plan was to finish," explained Rosa.
Kiptoo was part of a 20-strong lead pack which hit half-way in 63:54.
He kept close to his teammate, Paul Kirui, the 2004 world
half-marathon champion who was seeded #1. The pace slackened a bit as
the field passed Olympic Stadium and pushed into a stiff headwind at
around 23 km. Little had changed by 30 km as there was still a large
pack of contenders running together.
But at 32 km, Kirui put in a surge down a long hill breaking up the
pack. Kiptoo stayed close to Kirui while another pacemaker, Joseph
Ngeny, and the #6 seed Philip Manyim also managed to stay on the pace.
Another top contender, Hosea Rotich, was dropped.
It looked like the race was setting up for #1 Kirui to get the win, but
Kiptoo knew that Kirui was slightly short on training and sensed an
opportunity. He pushed again, and by 39 km he had sole possession of
the lead, with Ngeny in second and Kirui, looking somewhat distressed,
in third.
"I was thinking that Kirui had not done enough long distance (training)," commented Rosa.
With the Coliseum in the background, Kiptoo looked surprisingly fresh
has he approached the tape alone at the race's magnificent finish on
the Via del Fori Imperiali. Hands raised, Kiptoo smashed Ethiopian
Alemayhu Simeretu's Italian all-comers record of 2:07:45 set in Torino
in 2001, and collected a special 50,000 euro bonus. He also broke
Alberico Di Cecco's course record of 2:08:02 set in 2005.
"I have improved my best level and my best time," said a
stunned-looking Kiptoo moments after finishing. "Because, first I had
2:09, but now I am somebody different. I am 2:07."
Ngeny faded a little in the last three kilometers, enough to allow
Kirui to pass him and place second in 2:08:23. Ngeny kept his gap over
Hosea Rotich to take the last podium spot in a personal best time of
2:08:41. Manyim faded badly, needing about nine minutes to cover the
last two kilometers, and finished ninth. Rotich got fourth in 2:09:47.
Monteforte assembled a deep field, and 20 men broke two hours and 20
minutes.
LAST IN, DADO FIRST TO FINISH
All eyes in the women's race were on the top-seeded Anna Incerti of
Italy. Expectations were high after her victory at the marathon in
Milano last December, and her personal best 1:09:24 half-marathon at
the Roma-Ostia on March 1. Indeed, Incerti was tucked in a lead pack
of five athletes at 30 km, but so was Dado who decided the time was
right to strike. She stepped on the gas and by the time she hit 35 km
she had a 25-second lead. Incerti was no longer feeling strong; the
pressure had gotten to her.
"I was disappointed," she said after the race. "I felt the pressure.
The expectations were high because of recent results in Ostia and
Milano."
Dado, who is from Ethiopia's Arsi region but who now lives and trains
in Addis Ababa, continued to open her lead all the way to the finish,
much to the delight of her manager, Hussein Makke. Makke was only able
to get her into the race at the last minute; elite coordinator
Monteforte was reluctant to take Dado with a modest 2:37 personal best.
"We didn't know where to go," said Makke who knew his athlete was ready
to race. "He doesn't want to take her. She just got her visa on
Wednesday, she flew to Rome on Thursday, and now she is a winner."
Ukraine's Tetyana Filonyuk got second in 2:27:43, and Dado's training
partner Haile Lema Kebebush got third in 2:28:03, a personal best.
Incerti had to settle for fifth in 2:29:33.
Monteforte, who accompanied the men's lead pack on a bicycle, was
pleased with his race, especially given the difficulty of the course
which has many cobblestone sections and a lot of sharp turns.
"It's like Paris-Roubaix," Monteforte said, referring to the famous bicycle race which has long cobblestone sections.
