Edna Kiplagat
On the opening day of the IAAF World Championships on 10 August, Edna Kiplagat of Kenya successfully defended her marathon World Championship title in 2:25:44, making history as the first female marathon runner to retain back-to-back world titles. Valeria Straneo of Italy was second in 2:25:58 while Kayoko Fukushi of Japan took third in 2:27:45.
In sunny and hot weather conditions it was Straneo who took the lead until 40k when eventual winner Edna Kiplagat passed her having conserved energy during the early stages of the race. It was a tough race, with 23 DNFs.
Kiplagat is now leading the World Marathon Majors leaderboard 2012/2013 with Priscah Jeptoo just 5 points behind her. Rita Jeptoo is currently third with 40 points. If Kiplagat enters a fall marathon, she will have a good chance at winning the World Marathon Majors 2012/13 series. Priscah and Rita Jeptoo, however, will most likely compete in a fall race, which will change the leaderboard. All focus will be on the fall marathon season at the BMW BERLIN, Bank of America Chicago and ING New York City marathons for the naming the 7th World Marathon Majors Female Champion.
Decision on WMM crown in fall races
Uganda’s Olympic champion, Stephen Kiprotich, won the men’s marathon at the IAAF World Championships by pulling away late in the race, clocking 2:09:51. 2013 Boston Marathon winner Lelisa Desisa (ETH) took second place in 2:10:12. Tadese Tola of Ethiopia came third, 32 seconds behind the World Champion. Tola, tried to break away early in the race, but couldn’t withstand the late surge of the Kiprotich the Olympic Champion. Current World Marathon Majors 2012/13 series leader and 2013 London winner, Tsegaye Kebede, came fourth. No Kenyans were in the top five for the first time at the World Championships since 2005.
Kebede’s 65 points in the 2012-2013 WMM Series standings gives him a 15-point lead over Uganda’s Stephen Kiprotich. Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa is currently third with 40 points. The final standings for the year now depends of whether any of the top three of the WMM leaderboard are able to get additional points the fall races coming up.
As for the women’s race, the men’s race title decision will be also made at the fall marathons. The fall race season will start with the BMW BERLIN-MARATHON on September 29th, then move on to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 13th and the conclusion of the 2012/13 season will be at the ING New York City marathon on November 3rd.
2012–2013 WMM Series Leaderboards
Top 5 Men
1. Tsegaye Kebede ETH 65 pts.
2. Stephen Kiprotich UGA 50 pts.
3. Lelisa Desisa ETH 40 pts.
4. Wilson Kipsang KEN 36 pts.
5. Wesley Korir KEN 27 pts.
Top 5 Women
1. Edna Kiplagat KEN 55 pts.
2. Priscah Jeptoo KEN 50 pts.
3. Rita Jeptoo KEN 40 pts.
4. Sharon Cherop KEN 35 pts.
5. Atsede Baysa ETH 30 pts.
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