Runner-up spot slides Keitany to WMM series chase

ATHLETICS-GBR-MARATHON
Kenyan elite runner Mary Keitany (C) and Ethiopian elite runner Aselefech Mergia (R) compete during the 2015 London Marathon in central London on April 26, 2015. Ethiopia's Tigist Tufa upset the formbook to win the women's London Marathon on Sunday and end a four-year run of Kenyan success in the event. AFP PHOTO

Despite missing a hat-trick at the lucrative Virgin London Marathon on Sunday, all is not lost for Mary Keitany.

Keitany (pictured), a former world 21km record holder and the reigning Africa marathon record holder at 2:18.37, must summon her daring final kicks to reclaim the $500,000 (Sh43m) WMM jackpot she won in the 2012/2013 season.

While staging her comeback from maternity, Keitany chalked up New York City Marathon last November that certainly re-affirmed new mums’ might in distance running.

Keitany has displayed the strength that returnees from maternity exhibit.

“She sent shockwaves to the athletics world the other time she returned from maternity. She just takes a good diet and the training responds well,” said Keitany’s husband Charles Koech.

Koech, her husband and half-marathon specialist, said Keitany always pulls a surprise given her strong comeback from maternity and now has Bupa Great North Run in England and RAK 21km race wins in her legs.

She broke the Bupa Great North Run Half marathon course record, slicing it from 65:40 to 65:39 before setting a new course record of 31.22 at the Lowertown Brewery Ottawa 10km road race.

It was simply a neighbourly women’s battle in London, with Keitany going up against her neighbour Florence Kiplagat, the reigning world 21km record holder.

On the other hand, there was 2013 London Marathon winner Prisca Jeptoo who are separated by a barbed wire fence in their homes in Kapsabet.

 

FINISHED SECOND

Keitany and her neighbour in Iten Wilson Kipsang, finished in second spot at the Virgin London Marathon run on Sunday and, incidentally, the two have invested in hotel businesses.

Keitany owns Winstar Hotel, a five star hotel, within Eldoret Central Business District while Kipsang owns Keellu Resort in Iten.

Keitany lies in fourth place with 16 points in the WMM leader-board behind Kenya’s Caroline Rotich, who share the top spot with Ethiopia’s Birhane Dibaba, who won Tokyo Marathon last February, with 25 points.

Ethiopia’s Mare Dibaba and Kenya’s Helah Kirop, the runner-up finishers in Boston and Tokyo respectively, trail with 16 points as Ethiopians Tiki Gelana and Buzunesh Deba, third-placed in Boston and Tokyo, lie in fifth position with nine points apiece.

Selly Kaptich Chepyego and America’s Desiree Linden, fourth in Tokyo and Boston respectively, are ranked seventh with four points while Kenya’s Flomena Daniel and Sharon Cherop, fifth in Tokyo and Boston, boast a point each.