Kenya’s David Makori and Anastasha Ndereba were the winners of the 17th Venice Marathon in 2:08:50 and 2:29:03, respectively.
The Venice race which makes full use of the spectacular St. Mark's Square, has a fine tradition inspired in the late 1980’s by Piero Rosa Salva and the late IAAF President Primo Nebiolo.
Venice is one of the best known Italian marathons with about 6000 entries every year. The record was achieved this year with 6400 entries from all-corners of the world, including the USA, France, Mexico and Australia.
David Makori of Kenya won in 2:08:50 (the course record), an impressive 2:08:50 course record. Impressive, because though it is far off the World best of 2:05:38 set in April by Khalid Khannouchi in London, the course is tricky, crossing thirteen bridges in the last ten kilometres, which significantly slows the pace of the race.
Makori’s compatriot Anastasha Ndereba, the younger sister of the more illustrious Catherine, the former holder of the world’s fastest time (2:18:47), won the women’s section of the race in 2:29:03, which was some way short of the 2:28:16 course record achieved by Ruth Kutol in 2000.
The race started from Stra, a small town a few kilometres east of Padua. Runners crossed the flat course in front of the Villa Pisani, a monumental mansion on the Brenta riverside. The race was lead early on by Salaho Ngadi of Tanzania (fourth, 2:10:36 in 2001), the 27-year-old Giuliano Battocletti who took the Italian Half Marathon title earlier this year, and Ethiopia’s 2001 Turin Marathon winner Alemayehu Simeretu (PB 2:07:45). They passed 10km in 30.36, well inside the course record at a pace of 3:02-3:03 for each kilometre.
The complexion of the race took a dramatic change, as the runners entered the centre of Mestre at 25km, still well inside the course record with four Kenyans in the vanguard - Philip Tarus (PB 2:08:33 in San Diego 1999), the pacemaker Kemei, David Makori and Martin Lel – breaking away as a group along with Simeretu and Battocletti. This pack reached 30km in 1:37.
The flat course over the next 5 km, then made its way towards the heart of Venice, with the Bridge of Freedom (Ponte della Libertà) linking Mestre to Venice traditionally the most challenging and crucial section, where the battle for the win traditionally reaches its climax, and so it did today.
Battocletti, Makori and Lel kept up a very fast pace, though ultimately, the effort of the Italian Battoclett was to prove suicidal, as he began to suffer leg cramps, though he would finish.
As if on cue, Makori, whose personal best before today was 2:11:20 (10th 2002 Paris Marathon), took the lead on the Ponte della Libertà, and reached 35km in 1:46:22.
The stretch of 13 bridges tested the stamina of the 29-year-old Makori, who is coached by Renato Canova and advised by the Italian manager Gianni Demadonna. However, he was still able to build up a substantial lead by the 39km point, and crossed the finish line in a course record time of 2:08:50. This beat the previous best 2:09:26 race clocking of Italy’s Danilo Goffi.
“I became aware that the win was within my reach after 35 kilometres on the Bridge of Freedom, where the pace I kept was very fast. I prepared in Turin with Renato Canova and focused my training on this event in this city I love. My goal for the next season is to come to Venice and win here again,” said Makory.
“Only in April, did David realise his potential as fast marathon runner when he ran 2:11:20 in Paris. The Marathon is the distance over which he can do his best. On the track over the 10,000m distance his PB is a modest 28:24 and his future is on the roads, where he has not achieved his potential completely yet” said Canova.
Another Kenyan runner, 24-year-old Anastasha Ndereba, who won the Turin Marathon in 2:29:25 this year, totally dominated the women’s section in a new personal best of 2:29:03, after having kept a 2:26 pace going for most of the race, and holding on to a 50 second lead as she entered the heart of Venice.
“The race course was very tough. I do not know if the other competitors found the course so hard. I would like to thank Venice for the support I received along the course, where the spectators never stopped cheering me and the other runners,” said Anastasha.
Men
1 David Makori (Ken) 2:08:50
2 Martin Lel (Ken) 2:10:03
3 Moges Taye (Eth) 2:10:07
Women
1 Anastasha Ndereba (Ken) 2:29:03
2 Anne Kosgei (Ken) 2:30:10
3 Lucilla Andreucci (Ita) 2:32:46
Historical context -The tradition of this unique race began in the 1980s when the Marathon experienced an unprecedented boom in Italy, after Orlando Pizzolato won the New York race in 1984 and 1985, and Gelindo Bordin triumphed at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
The Italians dominated the first editions of the Venice Marathon. Salvatore Bettiol, fifth at the Barcelona Olympics, won the first two editions of this race, and was followed in 1988 by Orlando Pizzolato, now an athletics pundit for RAI television.
In 1990, Bordin crowned his successful year with a win in Venice after winning in Boston and capturing the gold medal at the European Championships in Split.
In the mid-1990s, the new generation of Italian long distance runners, including the 1998 European champion and 2001 world bronze medallist Stefano Baldini, the 1996 New York winner Giacomo Leone, and the 1998 European silver medallist Danilo Goffi (who until today held the Venice course record of 2:09:26), continued the long tradition of the marathon in Italy.
In the last few years the African domination began. The first Kenyan to win in Venice was Japhet Kosgei with 2:11:21, followed by John Bungei winner in 2000 with 2:09:50. Abdelkader El Mouaziz, came to light in this city, finishing runner-up in the 1996 Venice race, and going on to take the 2000 New York win which he sandwiched between two London Marathon victories.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
