Finalist record smashed at the “Maratona do Porto”
There were two national records promised at the 12th edition of the EDP Maratona do Porto this past Sunday, November 8th: that of the number of finalists of the 42,195m race, and that of the course, which in this case meant obtaining the best score on national soil under similar conditions. Only one record was broken, but this fact did not lessen the enormous success of the race, which left everyone satisfied, since for the first time in a marathon in Portugal, over 4,500 persons finished the race. The previous national maximum came from last year's edition in Porto, with 4,042 runners crossing the finish line, but this year the final number went up to 4,558 persons, making the “Maratona do Porto” an extraordinary festival of light and color.
It was believed that the 5,000-person barrier could be reached, but the event found itself facing an unexpected "adversary". The strong heat that prevailed in Porto and its suburbs continued into Sunday. When the race began at 9am, it was still a bit cool, but the thermometers quickly started rising, and at the end the mercury once again recorded 24 degrees Celsius, which greatly delayed the final times for the elite and caused many athletes to drop out.
On the other hand, that of pure spectacle, the nearly summer-like sun provided beautiful images, particularly because of the new course, beginning and ending at the queimodromo next to the Parque da Cidade (City Park) and the Atlantic Ocean, with a deep blue background, and then the water of the Douro running next to Foz like a mirror reflecting rare beauty.
The men's race had more outstanding names than the women's, as far as foreign athletes were concerned, and they gave their utmost from the starting shot. There were soon only Africans in front, along with Rui Pedro Silva while he ran his 15km Family Race, led almost always by the Eritrean Kidane Tadasse, brother of the half-marathon world record holder Zersenay Tadese. The latter ran like a hare and rushed through the first 10km 30:44 and the half marathon in 64:08. Mathematically, one could have expected a final time below 02h08m, which would be resounding, but the truth is this rhythm could not be kept up in the second half when inevitably the heat would have a greater impact. So much so that even the winner finished this second half practically ten minutes slower than the first half!
The winner was the Kenyan, Gilbert Kollum Koech, who has now won eleven victories for his country in the men's section of the event. Koech pulled away from his also well-known compatriot Jacob Cheshari as soon as he crossed the D. Luís Bridge to the Gaia side at the 25km mark of the race. Around this time he was still going strong, but further on he would also end up struggling with the difficult conditions and the final kilometers were really quite arduous, with the African taking over eight minutes to complete the last 2,195m, to finish with 02:14:04. Even so, his advantage was huge, since Cheshari finished with 02:18:15 more than four minutes behind, while the Ethiopian Gemechu Worku reached the podium with a time of 02:19:15.
Stephen Tum, the next Kenyan who came in, finished so exhausted that he required medical assistance as soon as he crossed the finish line, and came in sixth, right behind Paulo Gomes (02:23:13). Although he was far from being able to aspire to an Olympic minimum, he benefited from the slowdown of many Africans in front of him and was by far the best Portuguese runner.
The havoc provoked by the heat among the foreign competitors allowed various other Portuguese to remain in the top ten, with José Carvalho coming in eighth (02:36:02), Carlos Lopes in ninth (02:37:20) and Luís Pereira (02:38:05) right behind.
The women's race was not much for the history books, since the two Kenyans whose last names were Kosgei, and who made their debut at the marathon, put in very different performances. Brigid Kosgei stood out early, while Everline Kosgei just as early fell behind, and two Portuguese finished between them, Joana Nunes and Rosa Madureira. Brigid Kosgei ran the race almost completely alone, accompanied only by one other athlete from the pack, acting like her guardian angel. Even so, the Kenyan alternated slow periods with new bursts of strength, and would achieve a discrete finish of 02:47:59 for a still impressive victory.
Joana Nunes (02:51:45) came out ahead of Rosa Madureira (02:55:50) with a good finish, rising from fifth place for the year to second. Rosa, in turn, who had been in fourth place in 2013 and 2014, now reached the podium with a time of 10 minutes, much, much slower than previously.
In the Family Race, the clear triumph of Rui Pedro Silva showed that he had recovered after a period of injury, while Doroteia Peixoto stood out on the women's side.
Finally, the entire event was a great popular festival and the “Maratona do Porto” continued to be the largest in Portugal, by a wide margin.
The weather was the biggest irony. Last year the eve of the race was marked by one of the strongest wind storms in recent memory in Porto, which put many things in question in terms of organization, although ultimately it was only a scare. This time summer returned in November, setting the second “record” for the race, i.e., holding a marathon in Porto on the eighth day of the eleventh month with temperatures of almost 25 degrees Celsius…
