Kipkemboi, Jebet clinch Nairobi City Marathon victories

Robert Kipkemboi and Naom Jebet stormed to victory in the men and women’s races at the Nairobi City Marathon under delightfully cool conditions on Sunday morning.

Kipkemboi won in 2:07:38 and Jebet timed 2:23:33 to win with the pair winning Sh3.5 million each in prize money, the biggest payout for a running event in Africa.

Both times were new course records for the continent’s richest marathon after Brimin Misoi and Agnes Barsosio won in 2:08:30 and 2:24:45 respectively during the last year’s inaugural competition.

Former Standard Chartered Marathon winner Kipkemboi made his move at the 36km mark and ran out front for the rest of the race to seal a dominant victory ahead of Charles Yosei (2:08:04).

The 29-year-old Jebet, a second place finish at the Hamburg Half Marathon just one week ago, won by close to a minute in her first attempt of the Nairobi Marathon.

Sharon Chelimo (2:25:20) and Judith Jerubet (2:27:01) came in second and third place.

“I wasn’t very well prepared for the race but I’m happy to win. Indeed anything is possible if only you try. I felt some kick in me so I decided to go for it without any idea I was going to win,” Jebet, who trains in Iten, said.

Ugandan Maxwell Rotich won the half marathon race in 1:00:10 ahead of Kenyan pair Vincent Kipkorir (1:01:13) and Kennedy Kimutai (1:01:22).

Gladys Chepkirui took home the women’s 21km race in 1:09:06 ahead of Susan Chembai (1:10:05) and Nancy Chepleting (1:10:17).

The running course snaked through the iconic Nairobi Expressway and brought together close to 9,000 of runners from Kenya and beyond.

The start and finish line for the marathon was at the Nyayo National Stadium with the 42km run winding through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Central Business District, ABC Place in Westlands. It covered 33km of the Nairobi Expressway and 9km of the rest of the city.