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Kenyan Wilfred Kigen and Russian Svetlana Ponomarenko won today's Messe Frankfurt Marathon in warm and windy conditions.
Photos: Wilfred Kigen and Svetlana Ponomarenko, courtesy of the Messe Frankfurt Marathon
Kigen, the defending champion, overwhelmed the field to win by more than a minute in 2:09:06. "I still wasn’t sure of winning until about five kilometres to go," Kigen told the race organizers after his victory. "It was very windy and warm today, but when I accelerated at 35-K, I just wanted to run away from them, and it worked."
Kenyans took nine of the top-10 positions in the men's race. Moses Aruesi (2:10:30) and Francis Bowen (2:10:49), finished second and third, respectively.
Ponomarekno, who is nearly 37 years-old, has to be considered a surprise winner in a personal best 2:30:05. She set her previous personal best in Frankfurt in 2005 (2:31:26), so it seems this event suits her. Pre-race favorites Gulnara Vygovskaya (RUS), Kutre Dulecha (ETH), and Robe Tola (ETH) finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
Ponomarenko came from over minute behind the leaders, Dulecha and Tola. "I started to catch the leaders at 26 kilometres, and at 34 kilomoetres, I still felt very good, so I went ahead," she said after the race. Despite a "pit-stop" at 38 kilmoetres, which cost her around 40 seconds, Ponomarenko, from the south Urals, was so far ahead that she went on to win easily.
Kirsten Melkevik Otterbu of Norway (2:31:20) and Hafida Izem of Morocco (2:31:30) landed the other two positions on the podium.
Both winners earned 10,000 Euros in prize money.
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