Berlin, GERMANY: Kenya’s marathon finest Eliud Kipchoge has blamed poor weather conditions for not breaking the World record during the 44th Berlin Marathon held in Berlin, Germany on Sunday.
Kipchoge who has won eight out of the last nine Marathons he participated in, crossed the line in 2 hours, 03 minutes and 32 ahead of Ethiopian Guye Adola who came second.
The winning time saw Kipchoge fall short by 35 seconds of the World record 2:02:57 set by fellow Kenyan Dennis Kimetto in 2014 at the same venue.
Speaking after the race Kipchoge rued bad weather coupled with heavy downpour that marred the Berlin city slowing down the pace of the race hence drop in time.
The biggest setback of the race, however, came when former World record holder Wilson Kipsang of Kenya and the greatest distance runner in history Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia both dropped out.
Meanwhile, it was all Kenyans affair as Gladys Cherono also triumphed in the women’s race.
Gladys successfully retained the title she won last year after stopping time in 2 hours, 20 minutes and 23 seconds.