“It was completely different than in Japanese races,” he stated. “I am used to greater packs and extra even pacing, however this was a form of racing I hadn’t accomplished earlier than. There’s lots to consider. I did not really feel like I used to be sweating lots, however I received actually thirsty and began skipping my drinks and solely going for water.” Paris Olympics-bound Kenyan-born Bahraini Abdi Ali Gelelchu took the win in 2:09:11 with Gadisa Birhanu subsequent in 2:09:55 in his 4th marathon since December and fellow Ethiopian Abebaw Muniye third in 2:10:27.
Additionally within the males’s race, Japanese-based Mongolian Ser-Od Bat-Ochir was in Copenhagen to attempt to hold on to his Eightieth-place place within the 80-deep Paris Olympics quota. On the cusp of turning into the primary particular person to ever make six Olympic marathons, Bat-Ochir wanted to run no less than 2:09:40 to maneuver as much as 79th, and he was vulnerable to being knocked out of Eightieth in Copenhagen by Canada’s Ben Preisner, who wanted a 2:11:22 to overhaul Ser-Od, Denmark’s Jacob Simonsen, who wanted a 2:10:13 and prime Danish place, and, working concurrently in Prague, Mongolian rival Bjambajav Tseveenravdan, who wanted 2:09:33.
Ser-Od went with the lead group by midway on 2:08:32 tempo earlier than shedding contact, and by 25 km he was over what he wanted to run 2:09:40. Prague had began half an hour sooner than Copenhagen, and when phrase got here by that Byambajav had run 2:13:22 for sixth that took a few of the strain off. Preisner and Simonsen each went out with the two:09:59 second group, and when Preisner, who had DNFd final weekend in Hamburg, dropped off all of it got here all the way down to Simonsen. He stayed within the low 2:10 vary, a couple of minute quicker than his 2:11:22 PB from Valencia final 12 months, by 30 km, however like most others he stalled and in the end crossed the road in 2:11:24 for seventh. With that, Ser-Od held on to Eightieth regardless of his 2:19:25 end in 14th, surviving the day contained in the Olympic quota.
Having already made the Olympics with a then-NR 2:26:32 in Tokyo in March, Ser-Od’s protege Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh had already had Copenhagen on her schedule as a backup in case she missed the mark in Tokyo and opted to make use of it to strive for one thing extra formidable as a dry run for Paris. “I’ll run up entrance and never care about time,” she informed JRN pre-race. By 10 km Khishigsaikhan had a 2-second lead over a chase group of 5 Africans together with CR holder Rodah Jepkorir, and by 20 km that was as much as 1:09, not fairly on CR tempo however with a 2:23:45 projection a full minute below rival Munkhzaya Bayartsogt‘s NR from Seoul in March.
Khishigsaikhan held that lead by 30 km, however as she slowed within the final a part of the race the remnants of the chase group closed, then handed her. Finally she completed 4th in 2:28:48, holding off Kenyan Caroline Jebet Korir however gunned down simply earlier than 40 km by Finnish NR holder Alisa Vainio. Margaret Agai of Kenya took the win in 2:27:31, compatriot Mercy Kwambai 2nd in 2:28:12 and Vainio third in 2:28:21. “Six months in the past I might have been proud of this time,” Khishigsaikhan stated, having run a 2:28:33 PB on the time at December’s Taipei Marathon, “however now….I want I might been capable of maintain on a bit longer.”
forty fifth Copenhagen Marathon
Copenhagen, Denmark, 5 Could 2024
Males
1. Abdi Ali Gelelchu (Bahrain) – 2:09:11
2. Gadisa Birhanu (Ethiopia) – 2:09:55
3. Abebaw Muniye (Ethiopia) – 2:10:27
4. Enock Kinyamal (Kenya) – 2:10:33
5. James Kiplagat (Kenya) – 2:10:58
6. Archie Casteel (Sweden) – 2:11:23
7. Jacob Simonsen (Denmark) – 2:11:24
8. Tsubasa Ichiyama (Japan/Sunbelx) – 2:13:07
9. Adam Lipschitz (South Africa) – 2:13:48
10. Lee Wesselius (Canada) – 2:15:31
—–
14. Ser-Od Bat-Ochir (Mongolia/Shin Nihon Jusetsu) – 2:19:25
Ladies
1. Margaret Agai (Kenya) – 2:27:31
2. Mercy Kwambai (Kenya) – 2:28:12
3. Alisa Vainio (Finland) – 2:28:21
4. Khishigsaikhan Galbadrakh (Mongolia) – 2:28:48
5. Caroline Jebet Korir (Kenya) – 2:30:12
6. Deratu Hailu (Ethiopia) – 2:32:50
7. Sylvia Kiberenge (Denmark) – 2:34:05
8. Heather Townsend (Nice Britain) – 2:37:31
9. Lorena Meningand (France) – 2:38:05
10. Sara Schou Kristensen (Denmark) – 2:38:38
textual content and photographs © 2024 Brett Larner, all rights reserved
