Kenneth Mungara wins Singapore Marathon in 2:14:06 to gain US$50,000 payday

The Padang, Sunday, December 5, 2010 — Kenyan Kenneth Mburu Mungara came home first in the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore in a time of 2 hours 14 minutes and 6 seconds.

He was followed closely behind by fellow Kenyans Thomas Cherogony and Vincent Krop in 2:14:32 and 2:14:57 respectively.

Mungara was part of an Kenyan eight-man front running pack before he broke away for a US$50,000 (S$66,500) payday.

Said Mungara: “The Singapore race is good and enjoyable but also very hot. I broke away at the 30 km mark and I knew that if I maintained my pace, I would win. I tried to clock a good time but it was difficult as the first half of the race was quite slow but I’m happy with the win. The prize money is not just for me but for my entire family.”

In the women’s open category, another Kenyan, Irene Jerotich Kosgei, won in 2:35:22, a mere nine seconds ahead of Ethiopia’s Ayelu Lemma Geda who finished with a time of 2:35:31. South Africa’s Annerien van Schalkwyk was third in 2:35:32. Kosgei broke away at the 25km mark with only Geda keeping pace with her.

Kosgei, who recently won the marathon gold at the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, also pocketed US$50,000 (S$66,500). Said Kosgei: “I can say the race is really nice although it was a little bit humid. The course is very, very stable. I have no problems with my run. However, I couldn’t run under 2:29:00 because of the weather.”

20,000 runners registered to run the full marathon at the event, up from 17,500 in 2009. There were also two additional categories — 21 and 10km. 15,000 signed up for the 21km while 20,000 signed up for the 10km categories at the event. According to the results page, 14,853, 11,274 and 15,444 finished the 42, 21 and 10km respectively.

The organisers had different start points for the three categories this year to address overcrowding in the latter part of the race, an issue that cropped up over the last few years as more people signed up for the race.

This time, runners for all three categories — 42, 21 and 10km — only merged for the last 5km of their respective categories starting from the Benjamin Sheares Bridge. However, once the three categories merged, it became, in the words of a runner, like a ‘Big Walk’. Last year, the 42km runners hit the other category runners with 10km to go.

The 42km runners were flagged off at 5am while the 21km runners started at 6.30am. 15,000 runners signed up for the 21km category and some 21km runners expressed pleasure that the route took them through Universal Studios for the first part of their race, with resort staff out in force to cheer them on.

For marathoners, apart from hitting the crowd of 21km and 10km runners, the last 5km proved to be the defining killer stretch as they had to take the steep slopes of the Benjamin Sheares Bridge in the rising morning heat.

The 21km and 42km runners then had to endure a little bit more pain after crossing the finish line along Andrew Road. They had to trek back all the way to the F1 Pit Building to collect their personal belongings, a location the organisers had felt was suitable to handle the logistics of baggage collection.

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