Kissa sets new national record at Hamburg Marathon

Well done. Kiplangat (L) congratulates Kissa. PHOTO/NN Running

What you need to know:

  • Kissa books Oregon ticket in Hamburg.
  • Meanwhile, in Spain, Geoffrey Kusuro posted 2:09:23 for second place at the Madrid Marathon while Solomon Mutai was sixth in 2:11:01 at the Enschede Marathon in the Netherlands.

Stephen Kissa and his training partner Victor Kiplangat will lead the national men’s marathon trio at July’s Oregon World Championships in the US after a fruitful day at the Hamburg Marathon yesterday.

Kissa blew away any inklings of doubt about his craft over the longest road race by powering to a stellar second place finish in the northern Germany port city. 

Kissa, a debutant, clocked a national record (NR) time of two hours, four minutes and 48 seconds for the silver medal behind Kenyan Cybrian Kotut.
“I am very happy, I enjoyed the race,” Kissa said moments after embracing his manager Jurrie van der Velden of Global Sports Communication.

The times perfectly beat the course record time of 2:05:30 set by Kenyan legend Eliud Kipchoge in 2013. Kissa is the first Ugandan to run a marathon under two hours and five minutes. He took 24 seconds off the previous NR mark of 2:05:12 set by Filex Chemonges at the 2019 Toronto Marathon in Canada.  

The 26-year-old could have won his debut 42km race considering he led for longer spells before Kotut out-sprinted him at the red carpet to finish-line. 

“I should have won this race,” Kissa reminisced. “I’m still happy to qualify for Oregon. I wanted sub-2:04 and I got it.”

Ethiopian Workineh Tadesse beat Kiplangat to third place with a time of 2:05:07. The latter was two seconds adrift, sealing a personal best. 

However, the 2021 Istanbul Marathon champion Kiplangat finished with a bruised left knee and hip. “Someone tripped me as I was getting a drink at 25km,” the 22-year-old said. 
“But I couldn’t give up. If I had not fallen down, I could have done better.”

The Ugandan duo now leads the quest for the three marathon quota places to Oregon, considering those who have run under the qualifying standard of 2:11:30 during the window from November 30, 2020 up to May 29, 2022.

Chemonges, despite struggling at the Daegu Marathon in South Korea eight days ago, is ranked third with 2:07:19.

Meanwhile, in Spain, Geoffrey Kusuro posted 2:09:23 for second place at the Madrid Marathon while Solomon Mutai was sixth in 2:11:01 at the Enschede Marathon in the Netherlands.

WORLD ATHLETICS ROAD RACE

HAMBURG MARATHON
1.Cybrian Kotut    KEN    2:04:47
2.Stephen Kissa    UGA    2:04:48
3.Workineh Tadesse    ETH    2:05:07
4.Victor Kiplangat    UGA    2:05:09
ENSCHEDE MARATHON
1.Julius Tuwei     KEN    2:07:43
2.Enock Onchari     KEN    2:07:52
3.Tadu Abate     ETH    2:07:59
6.Solomon Mutai     UGA    2:11:01

MADRID MARATHON 
1.Abdela Godana    ETH    2:08:44
2.Geofrey Kusuro    UGA    2:09:23
3.Hailu Bekele    ETH    2:09:27