Shure Kitata Tola and Vivian Cheruiyot take Frankfurt, sub 2:10 debut for Dewi Griffiths

Ethiopian Shure Kitata Tola and Kenya’s Vivian Cheryuiot took the 36th edition of the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon. There were strong results by European men, headed by Britain’s Dewi Griffiths who produced a 2:09:49 finish for fifth place in his debut. In difficult conditions with some strong wind Shure Kitata Tola produced an impressive time of 2:05:50. He was followed by fellow-Ethiopians Kelkile Gezahegn Woldaregay (2:06:56) and Getu Feleke (2:07:46). While Welshman Griffiths unexpectedly headed the European challenge he was followed by Arne Gabius. The German took sixth place with 2:09:59. Poland’s Henryk Szost was seventh in 2:10:09.

In her second marathon Olympic 5,000 m champion Vivian Cheruiyot dominated the race. The Kenyan clocked a personal best of 2:23:35. She had long been well on course for a course record (2:21:01), however she slowed in the heavy wind during the final section. Ethiopians Yebrgual Melese and Meskerem Assefa took second and third with 2:24:30 and 2:24:38 respectively.

14,513 runners from 108 nations entered the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon which is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.