Sharon Cherop and Wilfred Kigen taking victory Hamburg (25 april 2010)

Wilfred Kigen and Sharon Cherop took the 25th edition of the Möbel Kraft Hamburg Marathon on Sunday. The two Volare Athletes clocked winning times of 2:09:22 and 2:28:38.

After a fast 10 k split time of 30:02 the pace settled in the men’s race. Five runners were still in the leading group after 30Km. Then Urige Arado Buta (Norway) and Beyene Zerea Beraki (Eritrea) increased the pace and opened a gap. But Kigen managed to get back to them, overtook Beraki and had something left. On the long finishing straight end he kicked perfectly and passed Buta to win in 2:09:22. Buta clocked a personal best of 2:09:27 while the next three runners achieved sub-2:11 times: Beraki ran 2:10:06, followed by Kenyans Justus Kiprono (2:10:16) and Matthew Kibowen (2:10:57).

In the women’s race Cherop started building a considerable gap after 20Km and was never challenged. Sharon clocked a personal best of 2:28:38.