Asrar Abderehman and Alemu Megertu, both Ethiopians, won the Zurich Maratón de Sevilla on Sunday. The two clocked new course records and personal bests going 2:04:43 and 2:18:51 respectively.

Six of the top-10 men and the first four and six of the top-10 women are Ethiopian.

The fields were accurately paced through 20-miles (32kms), where the usual breaks happen.

From World Athletics’ report, “Perfectly paced by Hassan Aouchar, the women’s contest opened at a brisk pace with opening splits of 16:13 (5km) and 32:44 (10km), suggesting a finishing time well inside 2:20, which would smash the course record of 2:23:13. By then the leading quintet was formed by Ethiopians Megertu, the fastest entrant thanks to a 2:21:10 PB, Meseret Gola, runner-up at last November’s Barcelona Marathon in a PB of 2:24:09, Kalayu Chekole, Chimdesa Kumsa, and Alema Gebremedhin. Behind them, Britain’s Jess Piasecki, eager to improve on her marathon best after smashing her half marathon PB with 1:07:20 last month, passed through 10km in 33:24.”

Seven of the top-10 women and nine of the top-10 men were east African.

Of note, British runner Jess Piasecki ran a big new personal best to finish in the time of 2:22:27. Her previous best was from Firenze, Italy in 2019, where she clocked a 2:25:29 performance. In Spain last month Piasecki demonstrated her new level of fitness by running a PB in the half-marathon event finishing in the time of 67:20. In October 2021, she ran a strong pair of road races running 31:20 over 10K in Leeds, UK, and a 51:50 in Portsmouth, UK. The marathon is yet another step forward in performance level for the 31-year-old.

Piasecki’s improvement is impressive, however, 26-year-old Mexican athlete Citlali Moscote leaped forward demonstrably with a massive debut marathon clocking a 2:26:13. Nothing that she has run in the past has indicated this level of performance. Her current personal best in the half-marathon is 73:08, while her 10,000m (35:50.79) and 5000m performances are even less impressive (16:36.71). It appears that Mexico has a world-class marathon runner again.

Men

1 Asrar Abderehman (ETH) 2:04:43

2 Adeladlew Mamo (ETH) 2:05:12

3 Ghirmay Ghebrelassie (ERI) 2:05:34

4 Adugna Takele (ETH) 2:05:52

5 Awet Habte (ERI) 2:06:25

6 Ayad Lamdassem (ESP) 2:06:25

7 Maru Teferi (ISR) 2:06:58

8 Abdi Gelchu (ETH) 2:07:15

9 Amare Girmaw (ETH) 2:07:35

10 Haimro Alema (ETH) 2:08:15

Women

1 Alemu Megertu (ETH) 2:18:51

2 Meseret Gola (ETH) 2:20:50

3 Kalayu Chekole (ETH) 2:21:17

4 Chindesa Kumsa (ETH) 2:22:13

5 Jess Piasecki (GBR) 2:22:27

6 Alema Gebremedhin (ETH) 2:22:28

7 Adawork Aberta (ETH) 2:23:39

8 Majida Maayouf (MOR) 2:24:09

9 Gladys Puchuaranga (PER) 2:25:57

10 Citlali Moscote (MEX) 2:26:13

Full report available here>>