Kenyans cruise to conquer Colombo Marathon

By Madushka Balasuriya

Kenyan runners once again dominated the Colombo Marathon, with their legion of long distance runners sweeping the podium positions on a wet and muddy Sunday. 

17th LSR Colombo Marathon 2017 Full Marathon (men) 1st place winner James Tallam (Kenyan) receives the award from Western Province Chief Minister Isuru Devapriya. From left: SriLankan Airlines CEO Capt. Suren Ratwatte, Sports Deputy Minister H.M.M. Harees, Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Udaya Nanayakkara and Lanka Sportreizen Chairman Thilak Weerasinghe are also present

James Tallam, on his first visit to Sri Lanka, sauntered home finishing the 42 km course in a time of 2 hours 23 minutes and 37 seconds for the men, while Mercy Too (2:59:46) won it for the women in a close run finish with compatriot, and last year’s winner, Margaret Wangui Njuguna, who officially clocked the same time.

For Sri Lanka in the men’s side G.K.K.S.T. Gunasekara (2:28:58) finished fourth in a touch under three hours, equalling his best ever finish at the Colombo Marathon, while on the women’s side V. Krishanthani also came fourth in 3 hours 6 minutes and 59 seconds.

The Half Marathon however gave the home crowd more cause for cheer, with the US-based Sri Lankan Hiruni Wijeyaratne winning the women’s event in 1 hour 23 minutes and 21 seconds, ahead of Kenya’s Naum Jepkosgei (1:25:43). It would turn out to be a day to savour in the Wijerathna household as her husband, Venezuelan Luis Orta (1:10:39) also won the men’s half marathon. Sri Lanka’s B.U. Vijitha Kumara (1:11:10) came in a close second. 

Despite the muddy nature of the course - from the Racecourse Grounds in Colombo to Dungalpitiya - the race itself was run amidst bursts of sunshine. This combination, along with the novelty of having to run alongside traffic, brought some unique challenges for many seasoned runners.

“It was tough, I’m not used to running in this heat and humidity. And also running alongside the traffic was a new experience for me,” said Wijeyaratne, running in her fifth ever marathon. 

Women’s full marathon winner Too, on her first visit to Sri Lanka, echoed Wijeyaratne’s thoughts. 

“I love Sri Lanka and I will definitely come back again. The road wasn’t bad, but there was some traffic, which was a little disturbing. But the training facilities were really good, and I hope to be back next year,” she told Daily FT

Wijeyaratne meanwhile holds the Sri Lankan record in the half marathon with her time of 1:17:34 at the Evansville Half Marathon in 2014, while on Lankan soil she has a best of an hour and 20 minutes. Despite failing to beat either of those times, she was chuffed with her day’s work.

“You know some days you come to set a record, some days you come to win the race. At about 10km I realised the record was probably not going to happen today, and then my main aim was to win the race.”

Teething issues for Colombo circuit

While the main marathon events were held on the Colombo-Negombo road as usual, this was also the first year in which there was a special route confined to just Colombo. Utilised for the 5 km and 10 km fun runs, the event saw over 6,000 participants come together, with excitement surrounding the first ever use of a circular circuit around Colombo.

However, following weeks of assurances from several government ministries, as well as the Police, that traffic would be restricted around the circuit, police were seen constantly letting traffic flow intermittently during the race. Organisers LSR, for their part, had stressed on numerous occasions as to the importance of closing down roads on which the race was taking place, both for safety and professional reasons.

Under the stewardship of LSR the Colombo Marathon has gained both Association of International Marathons and Distance Running (AIMS) and International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) certification. It also has its own spot on the global marathon calendar on the first Sunday of October. However, publicity for the Colombo Marathon on the part of the Government has left a lot to be desired. A source within LSR told Daily FT that this lapse could be attributed to an event of this magnitude not getting the appropriate recognition from stakeholders in the country. “This is has the potential to be a great driver of tourism,” said the source, pointing out that runners from 47 different nationalities had flown into Sri Lanka for the race. 

“Some of them are staying even longer, and spending time with their families who came to support them. We hope that next year this event is taken more seriously by the police and government ministries.”

During the race itself Sachendra Ramesh and P. Shashikala Sewwandi won the kids 5 km Fun Run event in the boys and girls categories respectively, while K.A. Manula Wijeratne and H. Iresha Sadarenu Fernando won in the 5 km men’s and women’s categories. The wins are the second in a row for Ramesh and Fernando. Meanwhile M.T.M. Eranda Tennekoon and P.D. Nilani Priyadarshani came out winners in the 10 km Fun Run in the men’s and women’s categories respectively.

Notable finishes in other categories were as follows: 

Veteran Half Marathon Men’s: 

1st - Anil Fernando (1:29:20)

2nd - H.A.D.C.P. Hathurusinghe (1:30:25)

Veteran Half Marathon Women’s:

1st - Sharmini Wickremasinghe (2:42:28)

2nd - G. Chandra Perera (3:07:45)

Veteran Full Marathon Men’s: Sunil Pemarathna (3:32:03)

Veteran Full Marathon Women’s: Patricia Doreen Gomez (3:54:45)

Pix by Ruwan Walpola