Moses Mosop runs China’s fastest marathon in Xiamen

Former Chicago Marathon champion, Moses Mosop just won and set a record at the Xiamen Marathon on the weekend. His 2:06:29 is the fastest marathon ever ran on Chinese soil.

While the marathon star had an impressive start to his career, in recent years his success has waned. Racing in Prague in May, he placed 12th and in 2013 he came 8th in Chicago. In both races, he was considered a heavy favourite, but Mosop has struggled with injuries in recent years.

Mosop’s win could signify that the 29-year-old Kenyan is on his way back to being one of the world’s top marathoners. He is one of a few runners to ever break the 2:04 barrier. At the 2011 Boston Marathon, he ran 2:03:06 for second place, which, at that time, was the fastest marathon race in history. Later that year, Mosop won Chicago with a then course record of 2:05:37.

In the last few kilometres of Saturday’s race in China, he was able to break away from Ethiopian runner Tilahun Regassa. He crossed the finish line taking more than a minute off the previous course record set by Ethiopian star Getachew Terfa Negari.

The race was also a hit in the women’s category. Ethiopian runner Mare Dibaba won for the second year in a row, also breaking a record. She clocked in at 2:19:52, smashing her 2014 record by over a minute and a half. This is the first time since 2003 that records in both categories were broken.

Conditions were Saturday were ideal for the runners – between 11 and 15 degrees celsius.

The award for first place was $40,000, with an additional $20,000 given for breaking the course record.