2011 BMW Frankfurt Marathon: Wilson Kipsang runs 2:03:42, Mamitu Daska runs 2:21:59 , by Pat Butcher, note by Larry Eder

Frankfurt,
sunday, oct 30, 1300gmt

Despite
a magnificent effort over the final five kilometres of the BMW Frankfurt
Marathon this morning, when he could see that his promised world record was
slipping away, Wilson Kipsang of Kenya fell just four seconds short of his
compatriot, Patrick Makau’s world mark of 2.03.38, set in Berlin five weeks
ago.

There
was some scant consolation that his repeat victory in Germany’s finance capital
was a new course record, over a minute faster than his 2.04.57 here last year,
and that this time will situate him firmly alongside Makau as a front runner for
Kenya’s Olympic marathon trio for London 2012.

The
race went exactly as Kipsang had planned it, until just after 30 kilometres of
the 42.195k. An early morning shower had given way to a still, slightly misty
morning, with temperatures rising from 11C at the 10am start to around 14C at
the finish (52-58F); just about perfect conditions for a marathon.  A group of 15 men went through 10k in
29.25, diminishing to a sextet at halfway in 61.40, four seconds faster than
Makau in Berlin. Deriba Merga of Ethiopia, who finished fourth in the Beijing
Olympics, was still in the lee of the pacemaker, Peter Kirui of Kenya, who was
reproducing his metronomic feats from Berlin last month; but so were relative
unknown Kenyans, Levy Matebo and Albert Matebor.

Wilson Kipsang, 2:03:41, 2011 BMW Frankfurt Marathon, photo by PhotoRun.net

But
it was clear that the pace was dropping when Kipsang went up onto Kirui’s
shoulder at around 33k, and when the defending champion saw at 35k that he was
heading for a 2.04 finish, he took off by himself. If the winner had ever been
in any doubt, that issue was settled right then. It was Kipsang against the
clock. And what a race he made of it.

Kipsang
sailed away from his pursuers, and clawed back two or three seconds per
kilometre on the record chase, with the crowds out on the streets, and watching
on the big screens at the indoor finish in Frankfurt’s Festhalle willing him on.
Fireworks and floodlights greeted him for the final metres on the red carpet in
the Festhalle, but the world record effort was just in vain, by four seconds.
Kipsang had promised a world record, but given the way he chased it in the final
stages, no one was going to cavil that he failed to deliver.

And
if Kipsang was disappointed, he didn’t show it. “It’s OK,” he said at the
finish, “I’m very happy with the time. The pacemaking was fine, they did a good
job. I’ll try to do it (break the record) next year, this has given me even more
motivation”.

The
near namesakes Matebo and Matebor revised their bests by over two minutes and
close to four minutes respectively; and pacemaker Kirui hung in to finish sixth
in 2.06.33, no mean feat in itself. There were nine Kenyans in the first ten,
Siraj Gena of Ethiopia being the interloper in eighth place. Another record was
the 14 men under 2.10, the most in any marathon.

Kipsang’s
2.03.42 is clearly the second fastest in history, behind Makau, but 17sec ahead
of the great Haile Gebselassie, whose 2.03.59 has taken a bit of a battering in
recent weeks. Incidentally, all three sub-2.04 times have been set in Germany,
Makau and Geb in Berlin, and now Kipsang in Frankfurt, an appropriate
30^th anniversary present for Germany’s oldest city marathon. And the
lesson seems to be, if you want to run a fast marathon, come to Germany; or to
put it another way, Deutschland Unter
Alles.

It
worked in the women’s race too, with Mamitu Daska of Ethiopia taking almost a
minute and half off Kenyan, Caroline Kilel’s record of 2.23.25 from last year.
For more than half the race, Daska was preceded by her young colleague, Merima
Mohammed. But the 19 year old fell away in the latter stages, while Agnes Kiprop
of Kenya rallied, to finish second in 2.23.54, with another Kenyan, marathon
debutante, Flomena Chepchirchir third, in 2.24.21. Mohammed was fourth in
2.24.34. (ends)