In what became an examination of resolve and perseverance, Peter Wanjiru and Joan Kigen stayed the course in the Edinburgh Marathon yesterday while others around them buckled or simply blew up.
The strong winds which buffeted the East Lothian coast proved a drag to a cluster of their fellow Africans but the Kenyan duo withstood the conditions to take, respectively, the men's and women's titles in the 14th edition of Scotland's largest road race.
It was a close-run thing, Wanjiru admitted, as he blocked out an ever-increasing sense of fatigue in his legs over the closing stages to win in two hours, 19 minutes and 34 seconds. By the end, the 32-year-old was barely jogging but he had enough of a cushion to permit some deceleration. For a long spell, a leading pack of three - also including compatriots David Toniok and Japhet Koech - threatened to make it a tripartite sprint for supremacy. Yet as they passed the 30-kilometre mark, the eventual victor pushed forwards and then saw his pursuers rapidly regress.
"I wasn't expecting to win because you had the defending champion in David," Wanjiru said. "But it was my day today. We were talking during the race and saying we should help each other to get through it with the conditions and land a good time. But it was just too tough. I had to move in front and then soon, the others were kaput."
With Koech, the 2014 runner-up, all but spent, Scotland internationalist Neil Renault overtook Toniok in the closing stages to claim second place in 2:24:36, five weeks after his 2:20 effort at the London Marathon.
"I did a 30-miler around this course a few weeks ago so I knew what I was getting into," the Edinburgh AC veteran said. "And then I won a half-marathon last weekend so I had some confidence. The only thing that surprised me was the placing. That time doesn't normally get you on to the podium but you take it."
Kigen was a commanding winner in the women's race in two hours, 39 minutes and 43 seconds after prevailing in her own push against the conditions. The 37-year-old was well clear of the female field with English pair Charlotte Firth and Samantha Amend adrift in second and third. "From 17 miles onwards, it was really tough," she said. "I can't say I enjoyed it. The course was good but it was brutal."
Thomas Porter of the USA (1:08.58) and Kilbarchan's Gemma Rankin (1:17.21) won the adjoining Edinburgh half-marathon.
Lynsey Sharp, meanwhile, delivered her quickest 800m of 2015 so far to come seventh at the Diamond League meeting in Oregon. Glasgow 2014 gold medallist Eunice Sum took victory but the Scot was well inside the standard for August's world championship. "I'm happy with a season's best of 2.00.61 and a world qualifier in a crazy fast race," the 2012 European champion said.
Meanwhile, Jessica Ennis-Hill underlined that she remains a force to be reckoned with by qualifying for Rio 2016 with fourth place on her heptathlon comeback in Gotzis yesterday, less a year after giving birth to son Reggie. The 29-year-old scored 6520 points at the Hypo-Meeting, inside the Olympic standard, as Canada's Commonwealth champion Brianne Theisen-Easton topped the standings. However the London 2012 champion is unsure whether she will chase the world title this summer. "If I am a medal contender I will go and if I can get the work done," she said. "I don't want to go to the world champs underprepared."
Elsewhere, Mark Dry saw off fellow Scot Andy Frost to win the hammer at the Bedford International with Kirsty Law victorious in the discus.
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