Mark Kiptoo won the BMW Frankfurt Marathon with 2:06:49 outpacing fellow-Kenyans Mike Kigen and Gilbert Yegon, who ran 2:06:59 and 2:07:08 respectively.
In the Woman category Sharon Cherop of Kenya was second with 2:23:44.
Men’s Race: Kiptoo comes from behind in final stages
In almost perfect conditions with temperatures of around 13 Celsius, almost no wind and dry weather but relatively high humidity, the leading group passed the half way mark in 62:32 minutes. It was exactly the 2:05 pace planned beforehand. And there were still 14 runners plus two pacemakers in the leading group. However the athletes had run an uneven pace, which cost some energy and made them pay in the final section of the race. Soon after the 25 k mark it was Tsegaye Mekonnen who dropped back. The Ethiopian, who won Dubai in January with 2:04:32 to set a world junior best, was considered one of the favourites. But the 19-year-old became entangled with another runner before the 10 k mark, fell and subsequently dropped out.