Runner-up last year, this time the number one: the Ethiopian Kelkile Gezahegn won the 37th edition of the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon in cool and at times extremely windy conditions in 2:06:37. After a thrilling duel he broke away from Martin Kosgey of Kenya who finished in 2:06:41. Fellow Kenyan Alex Kibet finished third on his marathon debut in 2:07:09.
A World Record for Masters or Veteran Runners was broken when Mark Kiptoo finished sixth in 2:07:50, improving the men’s Over-40 record by 48 seconds. Arne Gabius showed strong form to finish ninth in a high-quality field when the 37-year-old crossed the line in 2:11:45, the fastest time by a German this year.
The top result of the day was achieved by the women’s winner as the 33-year-old Ethiopian Meskerem Assefa broke the course record with 2:20:36. That was 25 seconds faster than her compatriot Meselech Melkamu had run here in 2012.
In a women’s field which produced high-quality performances in depth, Haftamnesh Tesfay of Ethiopia ran 2:20:47 for second place, also faster than Melkamu’s former course record of 2:21:01. Ethiopia achieved a clean sweep of the women’s podium when Bedatu Hirpa crossed the line for third in the Festhalle in 2:21:32. The leading German finisher among the women was Katharina Heinig who finished impressively in 14th place, just inside 2:30. Her time of 2:29:55 was the second fastest by a German woman this year.
13,934 runners from 102 countries took part in this year’s Mainova Frankfurt Marathon and, taking into account participants in the various parallel events, 26,826 were running in total. The Mainova Frankfurt Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label race, the highest category in international road running.
Please note: A more detailed press release and photos will follow in the afternoon.
