GENEVA, May 8 – Julius Chepkwony and Jane Kiptoo made it a Kenyan double at the Harmony Geneva Marathon on Sunday morning, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race.
With temperatures reaching 20C by the race’s conclusion, the winning times were understandably modest.
Chepkwony, a winner at the Venice Marathon last October, made it two wins in a row at the 26.2-mile distance when crossing the line in 2:11:10, well outside his best of 2:09:00, which was run in Daegu two years ago.
“I tried so hard to push the pace at the end,” said Chepkwony. “I gave it everything, and I’m so happy to win.”
While this was Chepkwony’s first win in Geneva, the same couldn’t be said of women’s champion Jane Kiptoo, who took victory in the women’s race in 2:35:03, well outside her best of 2:31:21, set in Dusseldorf two years ago.
For the 33-year-old Kenyan, it was a sweet sense of deja vu, for she was retaining the title she won last year in 2:35:44. “It’s such a relief to win again,” said Kiptoo. “Last year it was the rain, this year the heat but I held on.”
