Agnes Kiprop wins the 2009 Turin Marathon (© Giancarlo Colombo)
Benson Barus and Agnes Kiprop won the Turin Marathon Gran Premio La Stampa producing solid performances despite the rainy day and the cold temperature on Sunday 19 April.
The Turin Marathon Gran Premio La Stampa is an IAAF Silver Label Race.
Barus clocked 2:09:07 beating Italian Ruggero Pertile who also dipped under the 2:10 barrier finishing runner-up in 2:09:53, a new PB. Paul Samoei finished third in 2:11:37.
Kiprop dominated the women’s race from gun to tape improving the Turin course record with a time of 2:26:22. The previous course record was held by Estonian Jane Salumae who won in 1997 in 2:27:04. Tirfi Beyene finished second in 2:29:04, while former Tokyo Marathon winner Bruna Genovese took third place in 2:30:51 despite some physical problems in the final part of the race due to the cold and wet temperature.
MEN
Pacemakers Hillary and Mark Bett led the first group which included Benson Barus, 2007 Turin Marathon winner Philemon Tarbei and Ruggero Pertile. The Italian, who spent two periods of training with Kenyan athletes in Kenya in January and March, was the only European runner who managed to keep the pace of the African runners.
The leading group went through the 10 km mark in 30:21. The pace slowed a bit in the 15km which the leading group passed in 45:54 along an uphill section of the course but the pace was still inside 2:09 at 18 km when the leading group reached Orbassano, an industrial town on the outskirts of Turin.
After passing the 20km in 1:01:13 and the halfway mark in 1:04:40, a Kenyan trio formed by Bett, Barus and Paul Samoei broke away from the second group which included Pertile and Abdellah Falil from Morocco.
Barus changed gear increasing the pace at 25km and launched his decisive kick at 27 km. Bett finished his task as pacemaker at 30km mark. After going through 30 km in 1:31:27 Barus built up a gap of 38 seconds over Samoei and 1:05 over Pertile (1:32:42).
In the downhill section of the course at 38 km Barus increased his gap to 1:16 over Pertile who in turn caught up with Samoei dropping him by 37 seconds.
Weather conditions became worse preventing Barus from dipping under 2:09. The Kenyan, who prepared for the Turin Marathon training with 2:04:27 performers Duncan Kibet and James Kwambai, ran at a 3:03-3:04 pace in the final kilometres despite the conditions and crossed the finish-line in Piazza Castello in the heart of the city in 2:09:07.
In better conditions he could have probably improved his PB of 2:08:34 set in Milan in 2006.
“The race was fine. I made a good job. I expected to run 2:08 but I cannot complain because it is my job to run in these weather conditions”, said Barus.
Barus is married to Valentine and has two daughters Daisy and Valentine. He hails from the same Tugen tribe as Paul Tergat and is coached by Italian Claudio Berardelli.
Pertile dipped under 2:10 for the first time in his career with a very good race. His 2:09:53 is the 12th fastest time in Italy in history. Pertile’s result was a ray of hope for italian marathon running which is looking for a future star able to follow in the footsteps of former Olympic champions Gelindo Bordin and Stefano Baldini.
“I knew it was going to be a difficult race,” said Pertile. “I wanted to race but I suffered from a minor problem in the uphill section of the race but I managed to push the pace in the end. In better conditions I could have run one minute faster. I found perfect conditions in Kenya. I want to enjoy this result and then talk with my coach Massimo Magnani about my participation at the World Championships in Berlin. I will become father in September and this will give me extra motivation to do well in marathon.”
WOMEN
Agnes Kiprop set a fierce pace from the beginning going through the 10 km in 33:58 carving out a gap of 18 seconds over Bruna Genovese, who ran her first marathon since her 17th place at the Olympic Games in Beijing. It was just the third Italian marathon for Genovese who ran mainly abroad during her career winning in Tokyo in 2004 and set her PB in Boston in 2006 with 2:25:28.
Kiprop ran at a 2:24 in the early part of the race increasing her gap over Genovese. The Kenyan passed the 25km in 1:26:14 to Genovese’s 1:27:48. The pace slowed at 30km (1:44:04) along the toughest uphill section of the race but Kiprop still kept a 2:26 pace.
Behind Kiprop, Tirfi Beyene, a 2:35:31 runner from Ethiopia caught up with Genovese who suffered from the cold weather conditions in the uphill part of the race.
Kiprop still ran strongly in the final part of the race at a average of 3:23-3:24 for each km despite the conditions and crossed the finish-line in 2:26:22, which smashed her previous 2:32:37 PB set in Reims in 2008.
“I broke the course record running alone,” said the winner. “I thank my coach Gabriele Nicola and my training partners Lidia Cheromei, Helena Kirop, Mary Keitany and Selian Kosgei who trained with me in Kenya. I could have run 2:25 in better weather conditions.”
Tirfi Beyene also smashed her PB from 2:35:31 to 2:29:04.
Genovese finished limping across the finish- line in 2:30:51, a result which left her disappointed. “I felt pain in my calves. The bad weather affected my race. I was about to drop out but I desperately wanted to finish the race because I have never given up in my career. I will not take part in theWorld Championships because I am planning a marathon next autumn”, said Genovese.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
RESULTS
Men
1 Benson Barus (Kenya) 2:09:07
2 Ruggero Pertile (Italy) 2:09:53
3 Paul Samoei (Kenya) 2:11:37
4 Abdellah Falil (Morocco) 2:12:37
5 Rege Negusse (Ethipia) 2:14:05
6 Thomas Chemitei (Kenya) 2:16:31
7 Urige Buta (Ethiopia) 2:18:08
8 Amare Mulu (Ethiopia) 2:19:45
Women
1 Agnes Kiprop (Kenya) 2:26:22
2 Tirfi Beyene (Ethiopia) 2:29:04
3 Bruna Genovese (Italy) 2:30:51
4 Natalia Sokolova (Russia) 2:31:52
5 Oksana Sklyarenko (Ukraine) 2:39:42
