Kenyan star marathoner Eliud Kipchoge bounces back from London disappointment to win the NN Mission Marathon in Netherlands which was his final race before the summer olympic games in Tokyo later in July.
The world record holder today won the race after clocking 2hrs 4mins and 38 secs.Kipchoge was at his dominant best in Enschede, however, going past the halfway mark in a little under 62 minutes before pulling away from Korir around the 95-minute mark to secure a comfortable victory.
His kenyan counterpart Jonathan Korir of Kenya was second with a personal best of 2:06.40.As the clock reached 1 hour and 20 minutes and the pace dropping slightly, Kipchoge took control of proceedings, moving to the front of the group.
The final 10km saw Kipchoge lead from the front, as he opted to push the pace and test his form with a little over three months left until the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
At 1 hour and 35 minutes, the challenge of Jonathan Korir finally faded and he dropped away from the front. It left Kipchoge to kick for the finish alone with just a single lap of the circuit left to run.
In the end, none of the athletes could live with the pace set by Kipchoge as he made a winning return to racing, six months after his eighth-place finish at the 2020 London marathon.
The Kenyan iconic runner was clearly pleased with his performance, describing it as "mission accomplished" in an interview with the marathon organisers straight after the race.
In the women's race it was a dark day for the Kenyan athletes as German Katharina Steinruck finished first in 2:25:59 ahead of Portuguese Sara Moreira 2:26:42 and fellow countrywoman Rabea Schoneborn 2:27:03 who finished second and third respectively.
The Kenyan representative Gladys Chesir finished eighth in 2:29:16 after losing ground with the leading pack halfway through the race. She however remains hopeful of coming back stronger in the next race.