Mutai, Keitany dominate London Marathon

Kenyans Emmanuel Mutai and Mary Keitany are now the fourth fastest male and female marathoners ever, following their dominant wins in London on April 17. Both runners used similar tactics, running with the pack through half way before throwing down huge surges to break apart the field.

Keitany made her move just after the halfway mark, duking it out for a few kilometres with eventual second place finisher Liliya Shobukhova before pulling away for a decisive win. Keitany’s second half was almost two minutes faster than the  first half, as she buried the rest of the field to establish herself as the one to beat heading into next year’s Olympics.

In the men’s race, Mutai waited a little longer to make his move. But at 30K, he hit the front and was just as dominant as Keitany. Only previous London champion Martin Lel was able to hang with Mutai for any length of time, and by 35K Mutai was well clear of the rest of the field. Mutai ran the final 12K of the race as 2:02 pace, showing that he is not only one of the world’s top marathoners, but also a potential threat to the current World Record of 2:03.59.

Full results are up here.