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Bernard Kipyego and Betelhem Moges secured victories at the 2014 Amsterdam Marathon, winning the men’s and women’s races respectively.
The results were confirmed via the official Amsterdam Marathon Twitter account:
Kipyego finished in a personal best time of 2:06:20 to lead home a men’s race dominated by Kenyan athletes; he was joined on the podium by compatriots Lucas Rotich and John Mwangangi, who finished in second and third place respectively.
Here’s Kipyego crossing the line, courtesy of TCS News:
In the women’s race it was Moges who emerged as comfortable victor, and she was followed home by Kenya's Ogla Kimalyo in second place. Burundi's Diane Nukuri Johnson finished in third.
The Ethiopian Moges came home in a time of 2:28:35; here she is finishing the race, courtesy of TCS News:
Ahead of the race, all eyes were on the man dubbed as “Mr. Amsterdam”, Wilson Chebet. The Kenyan had won this race the last three years, setting the course record with a time of 2:05:36 last time out. But Chebet insisted that given the hot conditions, it would be difficult to better than mark this year, per the-star.co.ke:
I prepared well and I am in good shape to make me compete well. My focus is to defend my title and I have my plan on how to do it.I am expecting to run well but the weather here is hot. It is not easy to run fast in such conditions but I will try my best.
It was no surprise that Chebet was in the mix early on, and after 10 kilometres, the leading pack had already been whittled down to less than 20 athletes. The pace was relatively brisk, and the likes of Chebet,Kipyego and Abel Kirui appeared unwilling to give an inch in the early stages of the 26.2-mile distance.
Given the quick early pace, the athletes near the front began to drop off a lot earlier than in a typical marathon, but it was a big surprise to see Chebet—who had otherwise looked comfortable in the early stages—fall off the back of the group. As noted here by KatamiMichelle, the three-time winner was struggling to go the pace:
