Zurich, Switzerland - Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Eticha regained the Zurich Marathon title today, in a race which was held in unfavourable weather conditions with heavy rain and unseasonably cold temperatures. The experienced Ethiopian, who is based in Switzerland, won here in 2003 in 2:10:58 and finished runner-up one year later.

In this edition Eticha held off little-known Alfonse Kibor Yatich, 23, of Kenya after a keen battle between the leading two as the race closed on the finish-line in 2:12:39, a time considerably slowed by the rain. Yatich, who ran the first marathon of his career, had to content with second place in 2:12:54 after leading by 37 seconds with just 5km to go.

Eticha led at halfway (1:05:50) with pacemakers Stanley Salil Kipkosgei and Ernest Melly Kimeli, after running in front for most of the first part of the race. Yatich chased this leading group and gradually closed down on their lead after 21km, catching Eticha at 28km and overhauling him at 32 km. The Kenyan then pushed the pace and built up a margin of 20 seconds on Eticha and increased it to 37 seconds by 35km.

Yatich seemed to have sealed the victory but the unexpected happened in the final stages of the race when Eticha, recovered from a stomach problem he suffered at 32km, and closed the gap on the Kenyan. Experience paid dividends for the 32-year-old Ethiopian who caught up the tiring Yatich in the final km and ended up victorious.

“The support from the crowd helped me to overcome my physical problems and to find the strength to push and get the win. Bad weather did not affect my performance because I am used to running in difficult conditions”, said a smiling Eticha.

Women’s race

The bad weather conditions dashed any hopes of fast times in the women’s race but the battle between Russia’s Helena Tikhonova and Denmark’s Annemette Jensen was full of drama in the final 4 km.

Front running Jensen went into the lead at 8km and seemed to be running unchallenged in the first half, reaching the mid-point in 1:17. But her pace faded dramatically after 21km and her hopes of clinching the European championships qualifying standard for Gothenburg were dashed.
 
Tikhonova, who was running from behind in the first half, managed to reduce the gap and caught up with Jensen at 37 km. The Russian then pushed the pace at 38 km and ended up first in 2:39:52. Jensen finished second in 2:41:17.

“I was very tired due to terrible weather conditions. I realised that I could win at 35km when I saw that Jensen was within my reach”, said Tikhonova.

Men:
1 Tesfaye Eticha (Ethiopia) 2:12:39
2 Alfonse Kibor Yatich (Kenya) 2:12:54
3 Lucian Disdery Hombo (Tanzania) 2:18:13
4 John Kipngeno Rotich (Kenya) 2:18:44
5 Alexei Khoklov (Russia) 2:18:54

Women:
1 Helena Tikhonova (Russia) 2:39:52
2 Annemarie Jensen (Denmark) 2:41:17
3 Naja Neuenshwander (Switzerland) 2:44:23