Kenyans shine in Barcelona, Istanbul Marathons

Kenya’s Samuel Kosgei equaled the course record as he won the Barcelona Marathon in Spain on Sunday.

The race that attracted a good number of athletes saw Kosgei run a tactical race before breaking at the 37km mark leading all the way to the tape to finish in 2:06:06.Ethiopia’s Tadu Teshome won the women's race

Moroccans Othmane El Goumri (2:06:03) and Mohamed Ziani (2:06:33) came in second and third positions respectively.

“The course was tough because it was sloppy towards the end, but I’m happy to have won the race which was competitive,” said Kosgei.

It was an Ethiopian affair in the women's category after they scooped the first four positions with 20-year-old Tadu Teshome winning in 2:23:53 ahead of Meseret Gola (2:24:09) and Meseret Belete (2:24:26).

Kenya’s Vane Nyaboke (2:25:32) and Esther Chesang (2:26:11) finished in fifth and sixth positions respectively.

In the Istanbul Marathon in Turkey, Kenya’s Sheila Jerotich bagged victory after timing 2:24:15 ahead of her compatriot Jackline Chepngeno, who clocked 2:24:21, while Ethiopia’s Ayantu Abdi finished third after clocking 2:24:45.

In the men’s category, debutante Victor Kiplangat of Uganda won the race after crossing the line in 2:10:18 ahead of Kenya’s Robert Kipkemboi, who timed 2:10:23, while another Ugandan Solomon Mutai came in third after clocking 2:10:25.

And during the Urbain Trail Lille event in France, Ethiopia’s Dawit Seyaum took two seconds off the world record for 5km in a mixed race on Saturday.

Dawit shaved two seconds from Beatrice Chepkoech’s record of 14:43, after winning the race in 14:41 ahead of Kenya’s Norah Jeruto, who timed 14:43, while Africa 5,000m bronze medalist Meskerem Mamo sealed the podium in 14:55.

This comes two months after Senbere Teferi from Ethiopia set a women-only world record time of 14:29 in Herzogenaurach.

In the men's race, Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi clocked 12:52, just missing the world record set by Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei in Monaco in February 2020 by one second with Uganda’s Hosea Kiplangat coming in second in 13:25 while Yassin Haji finished third clocking 13:29.

The 10km races were won by Ethiopia's Chimdesa Debele Gudeta (27:16) with Kenya’s Kenneth Kiprop (27:25) and Ethiopia’s Mamo Adeladlew (27:27), while in the women category Kenya's 3000m steeplechase specialist Celliphine Chespol won the race timing 30:21 ahead of her compatriots Daisy Cherotich (30:33) and Glorious Jepkurui (30:50) were in second and third places respectively.