Venice, Italy – Eyob Gebrehiwet Faniel wins the 32nd Huawei Venicemarathon! The Venicemarathon Club athlete outperforms a great performance (2h 12’16 “, down by more than 3 minutes the previous personal record) and comes first to the finish line of Riva Sette Martiri.
The race started as expected with Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes leading the race, and the group with Eyob Gebrehiwet was lingering about a minute off the pace. Shortly after the half marathon mark, however, the leading group with the Kenyan Chumba, Kipkemei Mutai and Metto and Ethiopian Dawud unfortunately took the wrong route, after following the motorbikes instead of taking the subway meant for the runners, this cost them at least 2 minutes. Eyob Gebrehiwet found himself at the 25th kilometer in the lead, along with the Eritrean Mohammed Mussa, who would later drop off the pace. For the Venicemarathon Club’s athlete it was a long, solitary moment, starting in San Giuliano Park, continuing on to the Liberty Bridge and ending at Riva Sette Martiri among to the public’s exultation. Second and third respectively arrived Mohammed Mussa (2h 15’14 “) and Moroccan Tariq Bamaarouf (2h 16’41”). It had been 22 years since the last Italian athlete won the Venicemarathon, since Danilo Goffi triumphed in 1995 in 2h09’26 “. Faniel also, with 2h12’17 “gets the second Italian performance of the year after 2h 10’56” of Daniele Meucci.
Eyob Gebrehiwet Faniel, the Italian runner of Eritrean origin, became an Italian citizen in October 2015 and was introduced to athletics by Marco Maddalon. He was previously coached by Giancarlo Chittolini (the trainer of 3000m steeplechase Alessandro Lambruschini). He is now trained by Ruggero Pertile, who has recently a coaching career after hanging up his running shoes last year.
“On the eve of the race I felt pressure but I managed to stay calm as I knew that I had worked well,” said Gebrehiwet, who is coached by Ruggero Pertile, the fourth-place finisher in the marathon at the 2015 IAAF World Championships. “Ruggero is not only my coach, but also a good friend. He dedicated a lot of his time to train me. Today he gave me a lot of support along the course.
Among the women, Sule Utura Gedo’s net victory with a good 2h 29’04 “, improving his personal record of more than 5 minutes. Second, very detached, Kenyan Priscah Jepeting Cherono (2h 41’08 “) and third Aynalem Woldemichael (2h 42’12”). With this victory, Ethiopia leads with 5 women’s successes in Venicemarathon’s history. Among the Italians, the best was Maurizia Cunico, 5th at the finish in 2h56’23 “.
In the Garmin 10K, Natascia Meneghini was the Women’s winner for the third consecutive year, with Simone Gobbo the Men’s winner.
The 32 ^ Huawei Venicemarathon saw big numbers. An event that involved the whole territory for 4 weeks, first with the three Alì Family Run of San Donà di Piave, Riviera del Brenta and San Giuliano Park, and then with the marathon and Garmin10K. Events that attracted more than 26,000 people and contributed nearly 90,000 Euro to solidarity thanks to the Charity Program linked to the marathon and donations of the three Alì Family Run.
Apologies from Venicemarathon Club
“We are so sorry for what happened. There was a negative but casual circumstance – the words of the President of the Venicemarathon Club, Piero Rosa Salva – I can explain it better: at that point of the course the athletes and the means of assistance that precedes the head of the race are divided. The motor vehicles take the overpass while the athletes are diverted by the staff to the pedestrian subway, then they rejoin. Yesterday, unfortunately, something did not work. Probably the vehicles were too close to the runners and the track recorders did not have enough time to give them the proper direction and then followed the cars on the overpass. Fortunately, the group of athletes was stopped before something serious could happen, infact in that street, after a few dozen meters, was open to the traffic. The race was heavily compromised for the group consisting of Bett, Kemei, Kiplimo, Dawud, Chumba and Metto, and some of them preferred to retire. The pursuers, including Eyob Faniel, who had a detachment of about 1 minute, found the gate closed regularly and then went on the marathon course. “