Lel, Mikitenko Win 28th Flora London Marathon
Ryan Hall finishes 5th in 2:06:17 - #3 U.S. performance all-time

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By Ryan Lamppa, Running USA wire
Posted Monday, 14 April, 2008

LONDON - (April 13, 2008) - At the 28th Flora London Marathon on Sunday, Martin Lel of Kenya defended his title with a stirring and fast win over countryman Sammy Wanjiru and Morocco's Abderrahim Goumri. Lel, 29, effortlessly pulled away at the end to finish in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 15 seconds, a course record, with Wanjiru and Goumri following 9 and 15 seconds later. Team Running USA's Ryan Hall of Mammoth Lakes, Calif. ran another impressive marathon to finish 5th in 2:06:17, only former course and world record holder Khalid Khannouchi has run faster (twice) as an American. In the women's race, Irina Mikitenko of Germany in only her second marathon beat Russian Svetlana Zakharova, 2:24:14 to 2:24:39.

The men set off in near perfect conditions - 52°F and sunny. The pacemakers Dieudonne Didi of Rwanda and Cuthbert Nyasango from Zimbabwe had been asked to run at 2:05 pace (62:30 at half way), and they passed half way in a spectacular 62:14, well inside world record pace, and one of the quickest first halves ever seen in the event.

The pacemakers slipped away at 30K (1:28:29) and Hall, 25, began to slow. Wanjiru, 21, took up the front-running duties, reducing the leading group to five, with Lel, Goumri, Emmanual Mutai and Yonas Kifle on the young Kenyan's heels. At 18 miles, they were still seven seconds inside Haile Gebrselassie's world record pace, with 4:45 miles needed during the run-in to beat his mark.

But the long run for home would be into a headwind, and oncoming cold rain.

The weather clearly had an affect as the 21st mile was the first to slip outside five minutes (5:05), allowing Hall to rejoin the leaders. With the rain in their faces, the pace slowed through the 5K to 35K (1:43:54) as the pace fell outside world record schedule for the first time.

Hall's efforts were to no avail as he and Mutai lost touch while Goumri, Lel, Wanjiru and Deriba Merga powered on along the rain-sodden Highway towards the Tower and down onto the Embankment.

Lel made his first move in Birdcage Walk, and Goumri lost two meters as the two Kenyans geared up for the sprint. Lel led round the corner past Buckingham Palace and struck for home. Wanjiru was finished as Lel blasted for the line like a fast-finishing miler to break Khannouchi's 2002 course record (2:05:38) and to win his third London crown.

Lel's last 385 yards was timed at 57 seconds as the first three set the fifth, sixth and seventh quickest times ever. Lel, already well-known as a champion racer, is now one of the world's fastest, sitting fourth behind Gebrselassie, Paul Tergat and Sammy Korir on the world all-time list. In addition, the top six men broke 2:07, the first time that has ever happened at the same marathon on the same day.

"To win this race you have to work extra hard," said Lel afterwards. "There were lots of runners in the field who could come first. So the chance of winning two in a row is very long. This is one of the best races I have done."

For Hall, in his third marathon, his fifth place - last year at London he was 7th in a U.S. debut record of 2:08:24 - was another stepping stone to his marathon development as he showed well against the world's best. The Stanford grad who won the Olympic Marathon Trials last November in New York City will now concentrate on his Beijing Olympics preparation.

Hall's Team Running USA coach Terrence Mahon commented post-race, "Ryan ran a courageous race today. After committing to the front pack, he followed a near suicidal early pace being set at the front. He held strong thru 17 miles before getting dropped by a 4:35 mile. Sticking to his guns, Ryan held strong and rejoined the front pack just after 21 miles. Had the rain and wind not come hard at 22 miles he may have scared the U.S. record. He worked really hard to hold onto a 2:06:17 finish fighting all the way to the line to get 5th place. He definitely left it all out there on the race course today. Ryan is doing fine now and is excited to recover and get back to work."

In the women's race, Mikitenko battled through the wind and rain in the closing stages to become the first German winner at London since Katrin Dorre took the third of her trio of titles in 1994. Leading for much of the race, the 35-year-old shrugged off the challenge of Zakharova and Gete Wami, the World Marathon Majors champion, over the last three miles to cross the line with a 25 second advantage. Zakharova held second and Wami who earlier fell was third (2:25:37).

The Flora London Marathon also opened the 2008 World Marathon Majors (WMM) racing season, and Lel and Wami sit atop the 2007-08 standings. WMM series points are collected for top five finishes with 25 points for first, 15 for second, 10 for third, 5 for fourth and 1 for fifth. The WMM series features a $1 million purse with $500,000 for the men's and women's overall champions.

This year's WMM series continues with the 112th BAA Boston Marathon on Monday, April 21. For more WWM information and current standings, go to: WorldMarathonMajors.com

28th Flora London Marathon
London, GBR, Sunday, April 13, 2008

MEN
1) Martin Lel (KEN), 2:05:15*, $130,000
2) Sammy Wanjiru (KEN), 2:05:24, $80,000
3) Abderrahim Goumri (MAR), 2:05:30, $72,500
4) Emmanual Mutai (KEN), 2:06:15, $65,000
5) Ryan Hall (USA / CA), 2:06:17, $60,000
6) Deriba Merga (ETH), 2:06:38, $57,500
7) Yonas Kifle (ERI), 2:08:51, $15,000
8) Felix Limo (KEN), 2:10:35, $5000
9) Aleksey Sokolov (RUS), 2:11:41, $3000
10) Hendrick Ramaala (RSA), 2:11:44, $2000
11) Luke Kibet (KEN), 2:12:25, $1500
12) Stefano Baldini (ITA), 2:13:06, $1000
*course record (previous record, 2:05:38, Khalid Khannouchi (USA), 2002)

WOMEN
1) Irina Mikitenko (GER), 2:24:14, $65,000
2) Svetlana Zakharova (RUS), 2:24:39, $40,000
3) Gete Wami (ETH), 2:25:37, $27,500
4) Salina Kosgei (KEN), 2:26:30, $13,000
5) Ludmila Petrova (RUS), 2:26:45, $10,500
6) Souad Ait Salem (ALG), 2:27:41, $6000
7) Berhane Adere (ETH), 2:27:42, $4500
8) Constantina Dita (ROM), 2:27:45, $3500
9) Liz Yelling (GBR), 2:28:33, $1500
10) Adriana Pirtea (ROM), 2:28:52, $1000

Complete results at: www.London-Marathon.co.uk

Related info:
> IAAF Recap of London Marathon

> Flotrack Video Interview: Ryan Hall, Post-London

> Watch The London Marathon Free – Live & On-Demand

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