John Kyalo Kyui of Kenya won the Zurich Marathon with a top time of 2:09:59.6, ahead of Russia’s Aleksey V. Solokov and Abraham Tandoy. Daniel Kiptum (Kenya) came in fourth, beating his world record among deaf runners with a time of 2:11:31.1.
John Kyalo Kyui - Zurich 2011
The Ukrainian Svitlana Stanko took first place among the women, ahead of the fastest female Swiss runner Patricia Morceli and Salome Biwott of Kenya.The 77-year-old Wesley Love (USA) reached the finish line with a time of 6:03:35.5, marking the end of his 200th and final marathon.
Bruno Lafranchi, President of the Organizing Committee, is very pleased with the number of participants and the flow of the event, commenting, “We had excellent weather, as usual. The runners, spectators and helpers savored the race’s ideal conditions and fantastic mood. I am especially happy that the runners posted such good times today. We are also delighted that the interest in the relay marathon was doubled.
The runners and the entire city of Zurich can really look forward to the anniversary edition!” Martin Narozny, the race doctor from SportClinic Zurich, also gave a positive report, saying, “We treated 89 people on site, and only one person was admitted to the hospital with cardiovascular problems.” Of the 3,900 registered marathon runners, 3,321 were at the start on Sunday, and 3,175 were ultimately classified. For the Teamrun, 2,652 participants were registered, 2,592 started, and 2,572 (643 teams) made it to the finish line.
Kenya’s John Kyui wins marathon in under 2:10:00
Kenya’s Kyui broke away at the 30-kilometer mark and never surrendered the lead, dominating the second half of the race all the way through the finish line. The Russian Aleksey V. Solokov led the chase group, securing a second-place finish. Abraham Tandoy of Kenya also made it onto the podium. The 27-year-old winner,
Kyui, was very happy with his achievement, stating, “I am thrilled. I beat my best time by about five minutes today. I have a feeling that so much is still possible!” Fourth-place Daniel Kiptum was also proud of his finish, improving upon his world record among deaf runners by about two and a half minutes with a time of 2:11:31.1.
The Ukrainian Svitlana Stanko dominates among the women
A strong duo led the women through the first half of the race; but at the 35-kilometer mark, Ukraine’s Svitlana Stanko managed to charge ahead of Switzerland’s Patricia Morceli and Kenya’s Salome Biwott and kept the lead through the finish with a time of 2:33:24.5. Patricia Morceli is very pleased with her performance in the race and with her title as Swiss Champion. “The final twelve kilometers were really hard. But I’m very pleased with my personal best time of 2:37:28.0,” explains the Cham native.
Celebrities participate in the marathon and Teamrun
Laurent Dufaux, former Swiss bike racing professional, took 25th place with a time of 2:43:48.8. The “NIKE LunarStars,” composed of figure skating stars Sarah Meier and Stéphane Lambiel, as well as Alain Sutter and Jonathan ‘Jontsch’ Schächter, crossed the finish line in 95th place among the 643 classified teams (3:16:34.3).
The “Nike Running Team” took first place in the relay marathon with a time of 2:29:43.2 and is thus the proud holder of the “Golden Muscle Ache” traveling trophy.
Since Zurich begins with the last letter of the alphabet, 77-year-old Wesley Love traveled from the United States to Zurich in order to compete in his 200th and final marathon. He happily crossed the finish line with a time of 6:03:35.5, appearing only slightly winded. A truly impressive achievement.
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