Presna Latina
November 9,2014
Beirut, 9 Nov (Prensa Latina)Ethiopia’s Fikadu Girma and Mulahabt Tsega triumphed at the 2014 Banque du Liban Beirut Marathon, winning at the IAAF Bronze Label Road Race in 2:12:26 and 2:29:15 respectively on Sunday.
Girma, in just his second marathon after finishing third in 2:09:34 at the Dusseldorf Marathon earlier this year, clocked the second fastest winning time in the Beirut Marathon’s 12-year history, while Tsega took more than two minutes off the former course record of 2:31:38, set by her compatriot Seada Kedir in 2011, in what will have been a highly satisfying debut over the classic distance, especially in warm conditions.
In the men’s race, a three-man all-Ethiopian trio of Girma, Abdela Godana and Legese Adungna went through 20km in 1:01:53 with Morocco’s Mohammed Blal and another Ethiopian Damte Taye just 20 metres in arrears, giving rise to hopes that the course record of 2:11:14, that had belonged to Ethiopia’s Tariku Jufar since 2011, might fall.