Solomon Tside (ETH) crosses the finish to win the 2009 Möbel Kraft Hamburg Marathon (© Getty Images)
Ethiopian Solomon Tsige won Sunday's Hamburg Marathon (26) with a personal best of 2:11:47 while Spain’s Alessandra Aguilar took the race improving to 2:29:01.
Around 15,000 runners participated in the event, which Germany’s second biggest marathon. But it produced much weaker results than in the past years due to budget problems.
The Möbel Kraft Hamburg Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.
The men’s race was first dominated by East African runners, though the fastest athlete on the list did not start. Joseph Riri (Kenya), who has a personal best of 2:06:49, had been announced as the top contender at Thursday’s press conference, but he never turned up in Hamburg. Slight hopes of a sub 2:10 performance did not materialise on a fine Sunday morning with 15° Celsius at the start.
Shortly after the 26 kilometre point it was Charles Ngolepus, who opened a gap. Signed as a pacemaker the Kenyan decided to carry on. The only other runner who was able to follow Ngolepus was Solomon Tsige. While it looked as if the Kenyan would be the likely winner it was Tsige who had more energy left at the end. Before the 40k mark he took the lead while Ngolepus had a slight stomach problem. The Kenyan came in second with 2:13:25. Jose Telles des Souza (Brazil/2:14:46) and Jose Moreira (Portugal/2:14:57) took third and fourth places.
Women’s winner Alessandra Aguilar had taken the lead early in the race. With the help of pacemakers she ran a very even pace and Germany’s crowd favourite Ulrike Maisch soon had to let her drift away. Clocking 2:29:01 the Spanish winner has qualified for the World Championships Marathon in Berlin, which was her goal in Hamburg. Ethiopia’s Tigist Abdi Sheni took second in 2:34:01 while Ulrike Maisch was third with 2:34:28, followed by Emily Kimurya (Kenya/2:37:44).
Maisch Germany’s sensational European Marathon Champion from 2006 missed the national qualifying standard of 2:32, but despite this she remained hopeful regarding the global championships. Maisch might indeed still be nominated with the B standard to help the German team in Berlin. She had not finished a marathon in 2008 due to injury and health problems.
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF
