Mary Keitany shatters the women’s-only world record at the London Marathon

From the gun, no one was going to catch Mary Keitany at the London Marathon.

The Kenyan broke away from the lead pack, even leaving the pacers in her dust as she aggressively went after the world record on Sunday. 

By the halfway point, Keitany was on pace to run under 2:14, splitting 21.1K in a staggering 1:06:54. Paula Radcliffe’s overall women’s world record is 2:15:25, which she set in 2003 in London. Many consider it to be one of the great records in all of sports.

A chase group including Ethiopian Tirunesh Dibaba formed in the wreckage of Keitany’s blistering opening half. Dibaba, who debuted in London in 2014 in 2:20, held pace with Keitany as she slowed in the last 10K, but wasn’t able to close the gigantic gap. 

Keitany crossed the finish line in 2:17:01, to shatter the women’s-only marathon world record, which Radcliffe also held at 2:17:42 from London in 2005.

Keitany’s splits

The reason why there are two different women’s world records is due to debate about whether or not women’s elite races that start with men provide an unfair advantage. Radcliffe’s 2003 time was run with men, whereas her 2005 performance was achieved with a women’s only start.

Dibaba began to significantly slow in the final kilometres of the race, fighting either cramping or an upset stomach. She even briefly stopped at one point and appeared to vomit. But she regained her form and managed to become just the third woman in history to run under 2:18, finishing in 2:17:56. That is also an Ethiopian record. 

By contrast, the rest of the field suffered after the fast first half. Aselefech Mergia of Ethiopia took the third podium spot in 2:23:08. She was not a favourite going into the race. Olympic 5,000m gold medallist Vivian Cheruiyot debuted in fourth, finishing in 2:23:50. She was with the chase pack for some time, running close to 2:18 pace before Dibaba and Helah Kiprop broke away. Kiprop paid the price, finishing in seventh. Australia’s Lisa Weightman was fifth in 2:25:15. 

The lone elite Canadian in London, Krista DuChene, had a tough race. After a quick opening 10K well under Canadian record (splitting in 34:59, which is around 2:27 pace, whereas Lanni Marchant’s record is 2:28:00), she began to slow, getting dropped from a group of American and British women. She finished in 2:43:31, well off her 2:28:32 PB. She is the second fastest female marathoner in Canadian history, finishing just behind Marchant during her record-setting Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2013. She did win the masters category in London, however. DuChene turned 40 in January, a year after becoming an Olympian for the first time.

Here are her splits: