by Larry Eder
PARIS (FRA, Apr 12): Mark Korir and Meseret Mengistu were the winners of the 39th Schneider Electris Paris Marathon. The men’s race saw a dramatic conclusion, with Mike Kigen of Kenya opening up a gap and looking set for victory until his compatriot Mark Korir closed the gap and made his own bid for the title inside the last 5km. There was a negative split after 63:23 first half then 62:26 second. Korir, who finished second at the Paris half marathon last month, ran to his first marathon victory in a big PB of 2:05:49. Kigen suffered in the latter stages and was passed by Luke Kanda (2:07:20 PB) and Seboka Tola (2:07:33), eventually finishing fourth in 2:07:42. In fifth was Gilbert Kirwa with 2:07.42. During the cutting edge of the women’s race, the lead group was made up of Mengistu of Ethiopia, her compatriot Amane Gobena and Visiline Jepkesho of Kenya. With Gobena setting the pace, Jepkesho was the first to drop. Gobena forged ahead in the last kilometres, but Mengistu was not done and caught and passed her compatriot in the last 500m to take the title in 2:23:26 PB, almost 6 minutes better than her previous best. Gobena followed in 2:23:30 PB, with Jepkesho improving to 2:24:44 in third. The race was dominated by Ethiopians, with 7 in the top 8. Meskere Assefa (2:25:58), Marta Megra (2:26:20 PB), and Bruktayit Eshetu (2:26:48) rounded out the top 6, with one of the pre-race favourites Emily Ngetich of Kenya only 9th in 2:30:47. Best French and Europeans in 11th position Abdellatif Meftah 2:11:13 and Martha Komu as 10th in 2:33:33. European CC Champion Sophie Duarte gave up after 33 km. New impressive record of 41 342 participating runners including 18 000 international ones representing 150 nations. With the help of Alberto Stretti.
