Kenyan Basweti wins 2nd Q-C Marathon

Font Size:

By Shannon Heaton | Sunday, September 28, 2008 4:42 PM CDT | () comments

Novice marathoners occasionally might need a bit of luck to complete a marathon. That same luck can bring elite runners a victory.

With the 11th annual Quad-Cities Marathon men’s race well in hand Sunday, all Ethiopian Worku Beyi had to do was finish. With a half-marathon time of 1 hour, 5 minutes, 40 seconds, a new event record all was but assured.

That is, until Beyi sustained a pulled hamstring between mile No. 20 and No. 21 and had to drop out of competition. That allowed Kenyans Jynocel Basweti — the 2006 champ — and Geoffrey Kiprotich to battle for the victory.

Ndambuki also sustained a injury that wasn’t serious enough for him to drop out but was serious enough to no longer challenge Basweti, 21, who won his second title with a time of 2:18:04, almost 2 minutes over his own course record on a perfect day for distance running (cool, with overcast skies).

“Conditions were almost perfect, the course was good, weather was nice. I appreciate the day it was,” Basweti, who trains in New Mexico, said after the race.

Basweti said that he and Kiprotich knew Beyi had dropped out. “We started leading,” he said of that point. “He (Kiprotich) was leading at ... mile 23, and then I came to pass (him).”

From there, Basweti pulled steadily away as Kiprotich began to tighten. Defending champion Genna Tufa of Ethiopia was third, a couple minutes back. Russia’s Alexey Korobov dominated the masters men’s race, ensuring that Quad-Citians Jerry Lack and Russ Boore would not be able keep the title at home, and finishing in 2:31.

East Moline’s Matt Mattews was the highest Quad-City area finisher, taking 10th in 2:48.27.

With 2007 women’s champion Irene Mogaka of Kenya not in this year’s field, a new champion would be crowned, and it wound up being Russian Nadezhda Tuptova who sprinted away from a pair of other women’s elite runners to win in 2:43:13.

“I think she is very strong, she felt very good for distance,” fellow Russian Larisa Mikhaylova, who finished fourth, said in translation for Tuptova. “After the 22nd mile, she speeds faster and left, and she now is first.”

Tuptova, who picked up her second marathon victory of the year after winning the Kentucky Derby Marathon in April in a time that was almost 5 minutes slower than Sunday, battled with Meseret Kotu of Ethiopia — who had the fastest time in the women’s field coming into the day. Kotu was second, unable to keep up with Tuptova’s finishing 10 kilometers.

“The course was very well, the weather is very fine for the marathon today,” Mikhaylova said for her countrywoman.

Contact the sports desk at (563) 383-2285 or sports@qctimes.com.