2011 World Championship Marathon: Abel Kirui Repeats as Champion
By LetsRun.com
September 4, 2011
Daegu, South Korea
Abel Kirui absolutely dominated Sunday's World Championship Marathon in Daegu, South Korea, winning by a healthy 2:28 in 2:07:38, to repeat as World Champion. Teammate Vincent Kipruto was second in 2:10:06 as Kenya's phenomenal World Championships continued. Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia was third.
In 2009 in Berlin, Kirui set a Championship record of 2:06:54 to win his first world title. His win here was even more impressive, as he destroyed the field the second half of the race.
The first 10km was reached in a modest 31:21. Soon after the race had its first major casualty. In the 39th minute, 2010 New York City champion Gebre Gebremariam, one of the pre-race favorites, sat down on the road. Not sure what the problem was, but he was soon out of the race.
Kirui Runs Away from the Field After Halfway
The pace continued to quicken and 15k was in 46:28 (15:07 from 10k to 15k). The faster pace continued through 20k (splits below this article) and by halfway (1:05:07) the lead pack was down to 16. That would change in an instant. Before you knew it the pack was down to 5 (Kirui, Kipruto, Lilesa, Eliud Kiptanui of Kenya and Abderrahime Bouramdane of Morocco). By 25k Bouramdane had cracked and it was 4. Minutes later, there was one man out in front, Kirui. He was hammering away at the front and
no dared stick with him. He ran 25k to 30k in 14:18 (2:00:40 pace) and was in front by 11 seconds over Kiptanui and Lilesa, with Kipruto a few seconds back.
Would the pace take its toll on Kirui? More than 8 miles of running remained on the humid day in Daegu (74F and overcast with 65% humidity at start, 78F and overcast with 57% humidity at finish).
The pace began to take its toll... on the runners behind Kirui. Kirui's extended his lead to 1:14 on Kipruto and Lilesa by 35k. By 40km Kirui's lead was a whopping 2:34, as Kipruto and Lilesa and the field felt the effects of trying to stay with Kirui.
Abel's hard work was done and he could coast in the final 2km (he only ran 15:56 5km pace from 40km to the finish). Meanwhile Kipruto and Lilesa had to settle the battle for the lesser medals. Together at 40km, Kipruto was best over the final 2km, and he got the silver in 2:10:05 to Lilesa's bronze in 2:10:32
Bouramdane held on for fourth and David Barmasai moved ahead of Eliud Kiptanui for 5th to complete Kenya's scoring in the team competition and win Kenya the World Marathon Cup.
Japan's Hiroyuki Horibata was a respectable 7th in 2:11:52. Horibata, Kentaro Nakamoto (10th 2:13:10) and LRC hero Yuki Kawauchi (led at 10k, 18th in 2:16:11) would lead Japan to silver in the World Marathon Cup ahead of Morocco.
American Men Struggle
The American men did not have a good day. Running together early on, Nick Arciniaga (ran 2:11:30 at Houston this year after pacing Brett Gotcher) and Sergio Reyes (US champ in Twin Cities last year) had fallen off by 10k. The Hanson's Mike Morgan would be the first American in 2:18:30. Four minutes back was the next American, Mike Sayenko, who was 37th in 2:22:49. Jegg Eggleston, Arciniaga and Reyes would all finish and be able to turn their sights
to January's Olympic Marathon Trials in Houston. Afterwards, Morgan said the race was a struggle (interview below), but that he had prepared for the heat and humidity in Florida. He's expecting his first child in October so it's an exciting time for him before the Trials. Sayenko said he has been dealing with plantar fasciitis since last year's Chicago Marathon. Eggleston and Arciniaga needed medical attention and weren't available for comment.
All Smiles for Kenya's New Marathon Ambassador (and Renato Canova Coached Athlete)
The day however clearly belonged to Kirui. He was best today by a lot. When asked if he was worried he had made his move to soon, Kirui indicated he may have had something left in the tank, "If they were to come and overtake me, the (ability to increase the) pace was there. I was not worried." The other competitors knew Kirui was the best and they had to tip their cap to him. When Kipruto was asked if he thought he could catch Kirui after Kirui took off, Kipruto said he knew he was racing for silver.
Kirui clearly excels in Championship marathons, and said he loves loop courses. More than others, his love of country really comes across. After winning in Berlin he was excited at the opportunity to meet Kenyan President Kibaki and after today's win he talked about the opportunity to shake the President's hand. He looks forward to a big party in Kenya. He said, "I am so happy. I wish to fly to Kenya and celebrate a lot." Like in Berlin, he did a dance at the finish and his jovial personality and big smile make him a perfect ambassador for Kenyan marathoning.
The previous ambassador for Kenyan marathoning, the late Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru, who died this spring in a tragic accident, was on everyone's mind Sunday. Kirui said, "It is a very special moment for me to win the second world title. When I crossed the finish line, I remembered Sam Wanjiru." Kirui said the government of Kenya should create a race in Wanjiru's honor and the Kenyan stars would show up.
Despite being World Champion in 2009, after this year's London Marathon (DNF), Kirui switched coaches and began being coached under the great Renato Canova, a LetsRun.com cult hero (Canova is known for posting on LRC's forums). After the press conference, Kirui placed a call to Canova in Kenya where it was the middle of the night. Kirui was excited as he said, "Renato, Renato. Thank you for coaching (me).... I told you, you should not worry." Kirui then wanted to know if the people if Kenya were happy. Most of them were probably asleep, but when they wake up today, they'll know they have a fine champion as their new ambassador to the marathon world.
QT1: Kirui mentioned Gebremariam's name a few times after the race, but a healthy Gebremariam would have had trouble with Kirui today. A 2:28 margin of victory in a competitive marathon is almost unheard of today.
QT2: The bronze by Lilesa was only Ethiopia's 4th medal at the Championships.
QT3: Yuki Kawauchi (the guy who has a real job) was popular with the Japanese media.
Abel Kirui After World Title #2 |
Abel Kirui, Vincent Kipruto and Feyisa Lilesa Press Conference |
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Splits and Results (More here)
5km 15:58
10km 31:21 (15:23)
15km 46:28 (15:07)
20km 1:01:42 (15:14)
Halfway 1:05:07 16 in front pack
25km 1:16:25 (14:43) down to 4
30km 1:30:43 (14:18)
35km 1:45:23 (14:40)
40km 2:00:38 (15:15)
1 | 651 | Abel Kirui | KEN | 2:07:38 | (SB) |
2 | 648 | Vincent Kipruto | KEN | 2:10:06 | |
3 | 375 | Feyisa Lilesa | ETH | 2:10:32 | (SB) |
4 | 742 | Abderrahime Bouramdane | MAR | 2:10:55 | |
5 | 666 | David Barmasai Tumo | KEN | 2:11:39 | |
6 | 649 | Eliud Kiptanui | KEN | 2:11:50 | |
7 | 615 | Hiroyuki Horibata | JPN | 2:11:52 | |
8 | 576 | Ruggero Pertile | ITA | 2:11:57 | |
9 | 1036 | Stephen Kiprotich | UGA | 2:12:57 | |
10 | 627 | Kentaro Nakamoto | JPN | 2:13:10 | |
11 | 749 | Rachid Kisri | MAR | 2:13:24 | |
12 | 381 | Eshetu Wendimu | ETH | 2:13:37 | |
13 | 875 | Marius Ionescu | ROU | 2:15:32 | (PB) |
14 | 238 | Guojian Dong | CHN | 2:15:45 | (SB) |
15 | 464 | David Webb | GBR | 2:15:48 | (SB) |
16 | 1148 | Cuthbert Nyasango | ZIM | 2:15:56 | (SB) |
17 | 317 | Beraki Beyene | ERI | 2:16:03 | (SB) |
18 | 620 | Yuki Kawauchi | JPN | 2:16:11 | |
19 | 928 | Aleksey Sokolov | RUS | 2:16:23 | |
20 | 766 | Ser-Od Bat-Ochir | MGL | 2:16:41 | |
21 | 929 | Aleksey Sokolov | RUS | 2:16:48 | |
22 | 449 | Lee Merrien | GBR | 2:16:59 | |
23 | 678 | Jin-hyeok Jeong | KOR | 2:17:04 | |
24 | 244 | Zicheng Li | CHN | 2:17:35 | |
25 | 341 | José Manuel Martínez | ESP | 2:17:44 | |
26 | 337 | Rafael Iglesias | ESP | 2:17:45 | (SB) |
27 | 740 | Ahmed Baday | MAR | 2:17:59 | |
28 | 691 | Myongseung Lee | KOR | 2:18:05 | |
29 | 628 | Yoshinori Oda | JPN | 2:18:05 | |
30 | 354 | Pablo Villalobos | ESP | 2:18:12 | |
31 | 1102 | Mike Morgan | USA | 2:18:30 | (SB) |
32 | 796 | Urige Buta | NOR | 2:20:16 | |
33 | 254 | Shiwei Wu | CHN | 2:21:12 | |
34 | 300 | Jesper Faurschou | DEN | 2:21:15 | |
35 | 675 | Junhyeon Hwang | KOR | 2:21:54 | (SB) |
36 | 754 | Mike Tebulo | MAW | 2:22:45 | (SB) |
37 | 1121 | Mike Sayenko | USA | 2:22:49 | (SB) |
38 | 622 | Yukihiro Kitaoka | JPN | 2:23:11 | (SB) |
39 | 1076 | Jeff Eggleston | USA | 2:23:33 | |
40 | 676 | Jun-Suk Hwang | KOR | 2:23:47 | |
41 | 1060 | Nicholas Arciniaga | USA | 2:24:06 | |
42 | 947 | Anton Kosmac | SLO | 2:24:16 | |
43 | 318 | Samuel Goitom | ERI | 2:25:42 | (SB) |
44 | 688 | Min Kim | KOR | 2:27:20 | (SB) |
45 | 1113 | Sergio Reyes | USA | 2:29:15 | (SB) |
46 | 894 | Coolboy Ngamole | RSA | 2:30:01 | |
47 | 1025 | Bekir Karayel | TUR | 2:33:20 | (SB) |
48 | 270 | Ruben Sanca | CPV | 2:34:40 | |
49 | 817 | Jhon Lennon Casallo | PER | 2:36:43 | |
50 | 888 | Modike Lucky Mohale | RSA | 2:38:22 | (SB) |
51 | 180 | Sangay Wangchuk | BHU | 2:38:33 | (NR) |
135 | Jeff Hunt | AUS | DNF | ||
210 | Khalid Kamal Yaseen | BRN | DNF | ||
316 | Yared Asmerom | ERI | DNF | ||
320 | Yonas Kifle | ERI | DNF | ||
324 | Michael Tesfay | ERI | DNF | ||
367 | Chala Dechase | ETH | DNF | ||
370 | Gebregziabher Gebremariam | ETH | DNF | ||
382 | Bazu Worku | ETH | DNF | ||
563 | Zohar Zemiro | ISR | DNF | ||
650 | Benjamin Kolum Kiptoo | KEN | DNF | ||
727 | Ali Mabrouk El Zaidi | LBA | DNF | ||
744 | Adil Ennani | MAR | DNF | ||
746 | Abderrahim Goumri | MAR | DNF | ||
893 | David Ngakane | RSA | DNF | ||
1031 | Daniel Kipkorir Chepyegon | UGA | DNF | ||
1035 | Nicholas Kiprono | UGA | DNF |
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