The field had started with 22 marathoners in the lead pack, and by the half marathon, it was down to nine, and then, eight, and then, six, five, four, and finally, it was down to Mark Kiptoo and Vincent Kipruto.
The leaders hit 1:03.07, a bit slower than they wanted, but battling, wind gusts up to 20 miles per hour and rain, the gods of weather and gods of running played games with the 15,000 runners on the streets of Frankfurt today.
From 32 kilometers on, Mark Kiptoo, in his debut marathon at the ripe old age of 37, and Vincent Kipruto, at the age of 26, were dueling. Kipruto would get ten meters, and Kiptoo would fight back, and take the lead.
When the two hit 42 kilometers, I did not think that Kipruto could hold on much longer. Vincent Kipruto charged to a short lead and sprinted down into the FestivHall and took the win by one second.
Better than a record, this race was competitive!
In the end, our sport is about competition. The 2013 BMW Frankfurt Marathon reminded us of that today!
2013 BMW Frankfurt Marathon, fighting wind and rain, it came down to a sprint! by Larry Eder
On the very swift BMW Frankfurt Marathon course, the nearly fifteen thousand runners had to battle wind gust surging to 15 to 20 miles an hour, and rain on the second half as well.
But, if you were Vincent Kipruto, you had to battle debut marathoner Mark Kiptoo, who, at the age of 37, battled Kipruto from 30 kilometers to the finish. There were several times when KIprutu would make breaks, but Kiptoo was there, not giving up.
Kipruto and Kiptoo hit the halfway point, with fifteen others, in 1:03.08, and in wind and rain, ran nearly even splits, but , as they hit 40 kilometers, one did not know who would win.
” I was worried about his track speed” noted the smiling, but tired Kipruto after the race. As they hit 42 kilometers, Vincent Kipruto put in one more sprint, and low and behold, he held off the 37 year old Kiptoo, who in his debut, may have set a world age best for his age!
Vincent Kipruto won in 2:06.15 with Mark Kiptoo at 2:06.16. Elijah Kemboi was third in 2:07.34.
BMW Frankfurt Men, top 10, with corrected top two times, 1. Vincent Kipruto, KEN, 2:06.15, 2. Mark Kiptoo, KEN, 2:06.16 (debut, 37), 3. Elijah Kemboi, 2:07.34, 4. Jacob Chesari, KEN, 2:07.46, 5. Albert Matebor, KEN, 2:08.17,6. Feyisa Bekele, ETH, 2:09.17, 7. Dino Sefir, ETH, 2:09.22, 8. Lani Rutto, KEN, 2:10.01, 9. Richard Segel, KEN, 2:10.23, 10. Abdellatif Meftah, FRA, 2:11.05, #bmwfrankfurt
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Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys.
Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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Vincent Kipruto, photo by PhotoRun.net
Kiptoo, Kipruto, Kemboi, photo by PhotoRun.net 
