Kenya’s Komen wins Athens Marathon

John Kipkorir Komen of Kenya has won the 37th Athens Marathon.

The 42-year-old clocked 2 hours 16 minutes 34 seconds, beating Rwanda’s Felicien Muhitira, 17 years his junior, by 9 seconds.

Greek runner Costas Gelaouzos finished third in 2:19:02.

Greece’s Eleftheria Petroulaki won the women’s race in 2:39:00, finishing 35th overall.

In the men’s race, Kenyan runners have won the Athens Marathon, run over a hilly and demanding course, 16 times since 2001.

A record 20,041 runners lined up at the marathon’s start in the village of Marathon, near the battlefield where Athenians and their allies beat a far larger Persian army in 490 BC. Legend has it that a messenger who ran the distance to Athens to announce the victory died upon arrival.

[AP]