L.A. Marathon runner loses luggage, wins the race in new shoes
Weldon Kirui's luggage was lost in transit while the Kenyan travelled to the L.A. Marathon this weekend. Kirui won the race wearing brand new shoes.
The winner of the Los Angeles Marathon was forced to break a near-universal race day rule on the weekend wearing a pair of brand new shoes for Sunday morning’s 42.2K race.
Kenyan Weldon Kirui’s luggage was lost in transit forcing him to race in a never-before-worn pair of Skechers racing flats, the race’s main sponsor, according to Los Angeles Daily News. Fortunately Kirui regularly runs in Skechers so he was able to ride the shoes to victory without much problem.
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Kirui, 27, won the race in 2:13:07 pulling away from fellow Kenyan Willy Koitile in the latter stages. Athletes began at Dodger Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a professional baseball team, and finished in Santa Monica. It was the 20th consecutive time that an African has won the L.A. Marathon.
Foggy finish as #WeldonKurui (Kenya) wins @lamarathon! #LAMarathon pic.twitter.com/U99p6MYdnx
— Chris Schauble (@ChrisKTLA) February 14, 2016
Stroller-pushing, record-setting Calum Neff was also in the men’s race on the weekend finishing as the top Canadian, one week after setting an unofficial world record in the half-marathon with a stroller. He finished the L.A. Marathon in 2:27:45.
Neff had a hot start to the race taking the lead over the first kilometre of the race before settling in to a more manageable pace. The photo opportunity (see below) was too great to pass up.
Don’t be afraid to be a leader when no one else will. #zerolimits #lamarathon ?: LA Daily News
A photo posted by Calum Neff (@calneff) on
Nataliya Lehonkova of Ukraine won the women’s race wire-to-wire in 2:30:42.
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