Kenyans dominate Belgrade Marathon - Chumba and Ndiwah snap the ribbons

To say it mildly, Kenyans completely stormed the 37th annual Belgrade Marathon - almost no other flag was being paraded at the Serbian capital podium.

Gilbert Chumba and Emmah Ndiwa emerged as winners - Chumba reached the finish line in 2:11:48 hours, while Ndiwa snapped the ribbon after 2:31:31 hours.

For almost 40 kilometers, Chumba had a better time than the course record held by compatriot Japheth Kosgei set in 2006 (2:10:54), but in the last 2.5 kilometers, his pace dropped significantly and in the end he was almost a minute behind the best ever performance in Belgrade.

Second place among male runners was won by Chumba's compatriot Gilbert Muge with 2:12:20, while third was another Kenyan, Emmanuel Kipkogei, who climbed the podium with a time of 2:20:41.

As far as the ladies' competition, Ndiwa practically ran a solo race and won convincingly. However, the Romanian Cristina Pomacu's record of 2:29:44 set in 2001 remained untouchable.

Her compatriot Vitalyne Jemaiyo finished in second place (2:34:32), and Ethiopian Tadesse Bedada (2:36:39) was third.

In the half marathon, the Moroccan Mohamed El Ghazouany was the first to cross the finish line. He achieved so with a result of 1:05:25. He was followed by two Kenyans Bernard Wambua at 1:05:43, while Hillary Kimaiyo ended the race after 1:05:49.

The most interesting 'fight' was seen in the ladies' half-marathon race. Kenyan Valentine Jebet finished one second faster than compatriot Teresiah Omosa in a great finish. Jebet's winning time was 1:15:11. Phyllis Kipkerio completed the Kenyan women's all-around triumph by winning third place with 1:17:21.