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Kenyan Abel Kirui won the men's World Championships marathon today in Berlin, setting a championship record in the process. Kirui's winning time was 2:06:54. He was followed across the finish line by countryman Emmanual Kipchirchir Mutai, in a time of 2:07:48. Ethiopian Tsegay Kebede took the bronze medal in 2:08:35. Kenyan men took 3 of the first 5 spots to beat Ethiopia in the marathon team scoring, with Japan coming in third.The US contingent of five runners did not fare nearly as well as the American marathoners who participated in last year's Beijing Olympics. Dan Browne was the top American, in 24th, with a time of 2:16:49. Browne was the top selection to the team, based on his 2:13:23 sixth place finish at the 2007 Olympic Trials. Matt Gabrielson finished 36th, in 2:18:41. Matt was selected to the team based on his second place finish at the 2008 US Marathon Championships. Nate Jenkins, who qualified with a seventh place at the Olympic Trials, in 2:14:56 finished a dismal 63rd in 2:32:16.
Edwardo Torres, who had just recently been named to replace the injured Fernando Cabada, was forced to withdraw from the race due to injury as well. Fernando had been the winner of the 2008 US Marathon Championships. Justin Young, who was selected to the US team based on his 2008 Rotterdam Marathon performance did not finish the race.
Today's performance by the Americans saw their team finish 13th in the World Marathon Cup. This was quite a disappointment compared to last year's American finishers in 9th, 10th and 22nd place (Dathan Ritzenheim, Ryan Hall, Brian Sell respectively), which had given hope to a resurgence in performances at the world level by Americans.
It is hoped that this will be a temporary setback and that men American marathoners will soon be running with the leaders in the World Championships at Olympics of the future. Tomorrow we will see if Kara Goucher and the rest of the US women's marathon team can perform better than their male counterparts did today.
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