{"id":2800,"date":"2016-01-17T03:43:51","date_gmt":"2016-01-17T09:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/?p=2800"},"modified":"2016-01-17T03:43:51","modified_gmt":"2016-01-17T09:43:51","slug":"kiprotich-mutai-wins-hong-kong-marathon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/events\/hong-kong\/kiprotich-mutai-wins-hong-kong-marathon\/","title":{"rendered":"Kiprotich Mutai wins Hong Kong Marathon"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mike<\/a><\/p>\n

Top finishers in the the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon early Sunday morning were unanimous in declaring the conditions the worst they had run in. But despite the monsoon rain, the men in particular put on a storming finale, which came down to a duel in the last two kilometres, with the lead changing up to the final 400 metres when Mike Kiprotich Mutai finally pulled clear of his Kenyan colleague, Lawrence Cherono, to win by two seconds in 2.12.12.<\/p>\n

Given the conditions, that was an excellent time, less than a minute shy of the course record of 2.11.27, set two years ago by this year\u2019s third placer, Feyera Gemeda of Ethiopia, who clocked 2.12.20 this time.<\/p>\n

Hong Kong Marathon Elite<\/h3>\n

The Hong Kong organisers welcome independent elites making their own way to the race, and several have pulled off surprise wins in the past, notably Gemeda. But this year\u2019s selection of uninvited guests had a twist to the tale. Former Kenyan marathoner, Thomas Kiprotich has been living and coaching in Hong Kong for the last eight years. A relatively recent decision to go into athlete management of young friends from his celebrated hometown of Eldoret resulted in the trio finishing first, fourth and seventh, Dickson Tuwei and Julius Maisei being the others.<\/p>\n

With unusual lack of circumspection for a Kenyan, Cherono – who also comes from Eldoret – had declared himself a likely winner, whatever the conditions, prior to the race. He was warned of the impending rain, but clearly hadn\u2019t reckoned on Mutai.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know each other well,\u201d said Kiprotich immediately after the race, \u201cand I was confident I could beat him in the finish. I knew I would win from 40k\u201d. That was not evident to the spectators who still turned out in force, despite the weather. They witnessed the two men pass and re-pass each other in the last five minutes of the race, to make it a nail-biting finish.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still thought I was going to win,\u201d said Cherono, \u201cbut he was too strong for me in the end\u201d. Feyera dropped off the pace at the point where Mutai and Cherono began their duel, but he hung in to finish just eight seconds adrift of the winner.<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s race in contrast was far more sedate, although, like the men, the half dozen leaders stayed together throughout the majority of the race. \u201cNobody really wanted to take the lead, because of the rain,\u201d said eventual winner, Letebrhan Haylay Gebreslasea, who hails from Tigre in northern Ethiopia. \u201cBut I decided to try from 36k, and the group split up\u201d.<\/p>\n

Only her colleague, Ayelu Lemma Geda responded, and although, as in the men\u2019s race, the gap at the end was just two seconds, Geda never got on terms with Gebreslasea, and the winner wasn\u2019t threatened down the finishing straight, as had happened in the men\u2019s race. Gebreslasea won in 2.36. 51, with Geda on 2.36.53, and another Ethiopian, Ehite Bizuayehu Gebireyes third, in 2.37.28.<\/p>\n

Probably the best run of the day in the women\u2019s race came from Yu Kit Ching of Hong Kong. She has already been selected for the Rio Olympics, and with a sixth place, hard on the heels of five quality Ethiopians (one running for Bahrein), she clocked 2.38.38, only 14 seconds slower than her best, set in far more clement conditions in Prague nine months ago.<\/p>\n

HONG KONG MARATHON RESULTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

PLACE\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0NAME\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0COUNTRY\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0TIME\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0PRIZE\/US$<\/p>\n

MEN
\n1 Mike Kiprotich MUTAI\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0KEN\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.12.12\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a065,000
\n2 Lawrence CHERONO\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0KEN\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.12.14\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a030,000
\n3 Feyera GEMEDA\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0ETH\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.12.20\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a015,000
\n4 Dickson TUWEI\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0KEN\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.12.29\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a010,000
\n5 Fikre ROBI\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0ETH\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.12.47\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 6,000
\n6 Megersa BACHA\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0ETH\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.13.02\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 3,000
\n7 Julius MAISEI\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0KEN\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.13.20\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 2,000
\n8 Melaku BIZUNEH\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0ETH\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.17.27\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 1,600
\n9 Mulatu REGASA\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0ETH\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.17.39\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 1,200
\n10 Samuel MWANIKI\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0KEN\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.19.27\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 1,000<\/p>\n

WOMEN
\n1 Letebrhan GEBRESLASEA\/ETH\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.36.51\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a065,000
\n2 Ayelu L GEDA\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0ETH\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.36.53\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a030,000
\n3 Ehite B GEBIREYES\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0ETH\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.37.28\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a015,000
\n4 Koren JELALA\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0ETH\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.38.01\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a010,000
\n5 Lishan D GEMCHU\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0BRN\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.38.19\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 6,000
\n6 YIU Kit Ching\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0HKG\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.38.38\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 3,000
\n7 Aster TILAHUN\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0BRN\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.39.09\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 2,000
\n8 Askale T HURISA\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0ETH\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.40.04\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 1,600
\n9 Naomi MAYO\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0KEN\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.40.44\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 1,200
\n10 Meseret G AGAMA\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0ETH\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a02.41.26\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 1,000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Top finishers in the the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon early Sunday morning were unanimous in declaring the conditions the worst they had run in. But despite the monsoon rain, the men in particular put on a storming finale, which came down to a duel in the last two kilometres, with the lead changing up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2802,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,17,18,26,29,1],"tags":[456,616],"class_list":["post-2800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-events","category-featured","category-hong-kong","category-kenya","category-news","tag-hong-kong-marathon","tag-mike-kiprotich-mutai"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/marathon\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}