2011 Volkswagen Prague Marathon: Lydia Cheromei smashes Women’s CR, runs 2:22.34 by Andy Edwards, with Pat Butcher

Lydia
Cheromei smashes women’s Prague course record

By
Andy Edwards

Twenty
years after she amazed everyone by winning a world title at the age of 13, Lydia
Cheromei of Kenya has re-established herself at the forefront of world distance
running, winning the Volkswagen Prague Marathon on Sunday morning in 2.22.34, a
personal best by half a minute, while smashing the course record by three
minutes.

Cheromei
is equally fast on the way to achieving cult status in the Czech capital, having
won the Prague half-marathon title, again in record time, here five weeks
ago

The
pre-race prognostication was that if the Kenyan, training partner of this year’s
London Marathon champion Mary Keitany was on form, the clock would be her
toughest competitor. As the race began at 9 a.m from Prague’s Old Square, the
temperature was 16 degrees centigrade and rising, promising testing
conditions.

Cheromei
was undaunted, going through 10km in 33:20 which offered the tantalising
prospect of a finishing time just outside 2:20. With a pedigree which included a
World Cross Country junior title – at the age of 13 in Antwerp in 1991 – Cheromei
has long been considered to have the potential to join what is now a select
group of ten women who have cracked the 2:20 barrier. Keitany was the latest to
join the club with her victory in London last month.

By
halfway the course record was under threat but the prospect of a sub 2:20 was
fading: Cheromei went through in 1:10:41, still on course for what was her
priority, improving the personal best set in January of 2:23:01 when finishing
runner-up in Dubai.

With
Ethiopia’s Belainesh Zemedkun almost
a minute and a half behind at that point, Cheromei had a comfortable margin over
her nearest rival.

“I
never looked back, I was confident. My target today was to run 2:22 and break
the course record and I did that – I’m not disappointed that I didn’t run under
2:20. The course is not easy and the weather was warm”

Although
she slowed over the second half, Cheromei remained in control to stretch the
margin of victory to almost six minutes. She remains circumspect about the
challenge of breaking 2:20 but there was certainly a hint that after celebrating
with her husband and 5-year-old daughter Faith, she’ll be setting her sights
even higher.

“Once
I am home in Kenya I shall meet my training
partners, including Mary (Keitany) and plan for the
future.”

In
far from easy conditions, Tadesse Yeshimebet finished second in 2:28:33 and her
Ethiopian compatriot Belainesh Zemedkun was only two seconds outside her
personal best with 2:32:15. South Africa’s Rene Kalmer made a successful
competitive marathon debut to finish inside the qualifying time for this year’s
World Championships and Serena Burla of the USA improved her best by almost two
minutes in fifth place.

For
the men’s race, Benson Barus arrived in Prague on a mission: to break his
personal best of 2:08:34 which has stood since he finished fifth in Milan in
2006.

Mission
accomplished and the Kenyan is a champion into the bargain. A group of 14 went
through halfway in 1:03:47, a tempo which offered the prospect of a finishing
time in the mid-2:07s. As ever, the marathon is a slow-burning contest and the
group was whittled down to a quartet by 25km: Barus, his fellow Kenyans Kenneth
Mungara and Sammy Kosgei, the latter making his marathon debut and Ethiopia’s Gudisa
Shentema.

The
Ethiopia was the first to falter,
leaving the Kenyan trio to jockey for position. Kosgei, a world record holder
from winning the Berlin 25km last year, looked as smooth as
anyone but at 39km Benson Barus made the decisive break.

“I
knew then that I could win, when I broke away from the other two. I’m delighted,
my ambition was to break 2:08 for the first time and I did that. When you have a
smooth build-up to a marathon, as I did, you can achieve good
times.”

Barus
soon had a lead of ten seconds over Kenneth Mungara and extended that to 31
seconds at the finish. Mungara himself was delighted to set a personal best at
the age of 38 while Sammy Kosgei graciously acknowledged after his debutant’s
third place that: “Running Prague is not easy!”

Morocco’s
Rachid Kisri hung on to finish fourth after dropping off the lead group and
Kenya’s Robert Mwangi finished just outside 2:09 as the temperatures continued
to rise for the 8,400 competitors from 90 countries who were taking part in the
17^th edition of the Volkswagen Prague Marathon.

Leading
Results:

(Pos
/ Name / Nat / Bib No / Time / Prize Money)

Men:

1.   Benson BARUS (KEN) 2:07:07 (pb) – 25k Euro

2.   Kenneth Mungara (KEN) 2:07:39 (pb) – 17.5k

3.   Sammy Kosgei (KEN) 2:07:47 (debut) – 15k

4.   Rachid
Kisri (MOR) 2:08:40 – 2.5k

5.   Robert
Mwangi (KEN) – 2:09:03 – 1k

6.   Samuel
Woldeamanuel (ETH) – 2:09:47 – 800

7.   Emmanuel
Samal (KEN) – 2:11:36 – 500

8.   Samson
Ramadhani (TAN) – 2:13:13 – 400

9.   Edwin
Kimaiyo (KEN) – 2:13:30 – 200

10.
Yemane Tsegaye (ETH) – 2:13:41

Women:

1.   Lydia
Cheromei (KEN) 2:22:34 (course record & pb) – 65k Euro

2.   Yeshimebet
Tadesse (ETH) 2:28:33 – 7.5k

3.   Belainesh
Zemedkun (ETH) 2:32:15 – 5k

4.   Rene Kalmer (RSA) 2:34:47  –
2.5k

5.   Serena Burla (USA) 2:35:08 (pb) – 1k2