ABU DHABI, (Pakistan Point News - 06th Dec, 2019) Kenya’s Reuben Kipyego and Vivian Kiplagat secured emphatic victories in the second ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon on Friday morning.
The elite wheelchair category was won by Emirati Ayed Al Ahbabi in a time of 1:51:12 followed closely by fellow countrymen, Husain Al Mazam and Ali Al Saadi.
The event attracted over 16,500 professional and novice runners who took part in the second ADNOC Abu Dhabi Marathon across four race categories – 42k, 10k, 5k and 2.5k – and were able to take in the capital’s iconic landmarks including Emirates Heritage Village and Qasr Al Hosn. In a special awards ceremony held outside the headquarters of the marathon’s title sponsor, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC, the event’s trophies were presented to first, second and third place male and female finishers in the 42k, 10k and wheelchair races. All participants who took part also received a congratulatory medal.
Kipyego, the 23-year-old Kenyan, made marathon history, starting as the pacemaker to take first place in a time of 2:04:40, smashing his personal best set earlier in the year at the Buenos Aires Marathon by 38 seconds. In an extraordinary athletic display, Kipyego ran a negative split, running faster in the second half of the race than the first. He was followed one minute and 41 seconds later by fellow Kenyan Joel Kimurer who also broke his personal best by well over a minute with a time of 2:06:21. The marathon’s third place award went to Ethiopia’s Fikadu Teferi Girma who secured a time of 2:09:16.
Vivian Kiplagat stormed to victory in a time of 2:21:11, setting another new personal best, shaving over a minute off the time set in her victory at the Milano Marathon earlier this year. She was followed two minutes 52 seconds later by Ethiopia’s Wude Yimer Ayalew who crossed the line in 2:24:03. The marathon’s third place award went to Ethiopia’s Yeshi Chekole Kalaya who secured a time of 2:24:28.
Ethiopians, Teresa Nyakola Gela and Sintayehu Tilahun Getahun, were victorious in the male and female 10k race respectively with times of 28:05 and 32:47, followed by second place male and female finishers, Andrew Kwemoi and Joselyn Brea and third place finishers Noaman Elassaoui and Zenash Bekele Mamo.
