Hamburg – Last year’s winner Bernard Koech triumphed again at the marathon in Hamburg. The Kenyan won in the unofficial time of 2:04:24 hours, but missed his course record time of 2:04:09 from last year. Haymanot Alew from Ethiopia came second in 2:05:30 hours. The best German was Sebastian Hendel from LG Braunschweig, who reached the finish line at the exhibition halls in the Hanseatic city in tenth place in a personal best time of 2:08:50 hours.
The leading group around Koech had set a high pace in the first ten kilometers and was heading for a final time of just under 2:03 hours. Up to the half marathon mark, the race became a little slower and was a little above the course record, but last year’s winner finally took the initiative at the 30 kilometer mark, increased the pace again and steadily pulled away from a small chasing group. In the last few kilometers, however, the 36-year-old had to pay tribute to going it alone.
In the women’s race, debutante Irine Cheptai from Kenya beat her compatriot Winfridah Moseti in the sprint and won in 2:18:21 hours. Katharina Steinruck experienced an unfortunate end. The top German runner from Frankfurt ran into a table at a waterhole shortly before the half marathon mark, then fell and gave up the race injured. The best German runner was Rabea Schöneborn in 13th place in 2:35:07 hours.