Kenyans Earn Marathon Honors

The big news in the distance running world for November was the cancellation of the New York City marathon in the wake of hurricane Sandy. The remainder of the month belonged to Kenyan runners, who won most of the top marathon prizes. Kenya's James Kipsang Kwambai won the Nov. 4 Seoul Marathon in 2:05:50. There were no world class Kenyans in woman's race, which was won by Korea's Hyung-Hee Choi in 2:39:20. Stephen Chebogut scored another Kenyan victory, in Istanbul Nov. 12, winning the men's marathon in 2:11:05. An Ethiopian, Koren Jelela, took Istanbul's women's honors in 2:28:05. On Nov. 18, Kenya's Lydia Cheromei won the Yokohama Women's marathon in a course record 2:23:07, with a victory margin of 3:35. In Italy last Sunday, Sharon Cherop of Kenya won the Turin marathon in 2:23:57, another course record, while fellow Kenyan Patrick Terer won his debut marathon in 2:10:34. The next major international marathon is scheduled for Beijing Nov. 25.