Kenyan friends in marathon dispute

Puzzled? Let the organisers of the London Marathon explain.

Chepchumba’s time of 2 hours 23 minutes and 22 seconds actually was only the 12th fastest by a woman and later in the day became the 13th after Loroupe ran 2:22.49 in Rotterdam. It also was more than 2:30 slower that Loroupe’s official world record of 2:20.47 set at Rotterdam last year.

But the leading marks all were set in mixed races, where the women have the advantage of running alongside the faster men.

The women in the London Marathon start half hour early so they won’t be affected by the men’s race, which was won by Morocco’s Abdelkader el Mouaziz. Organisers offered a bonus of $125,000 for anyone beating Lidia Simon’smark of 2:23.24, which was set by the Romanian in a women’s-only race at Osaka, Japan, in January.

Chepchumba also collected $55,000 for winning yesterday’s race, $25,000 more for a course record and a $25,000 time bonus for finishing inside 2:24.00.“Maybe I’ll buy a new dress,” Chepchumba said after learning of her $230,000 payday. But she was adamant that her performance was better than the official world record Loroupe set last year. “When the women run with men you get a better time,” she said. “But I think it’s better for the women to run on their own.”

Manuela Machado, a Portuguese world champion marathon runner who was placed third behind Chepchumba and Adriana Fernandez of Mexico, agreed the Loroupe’s performance in Rotterdam last year was not as good.

“I believe that Joyce’s time is more special,” she said. “When Tegla ran in Rotterdam she had two pacemakers. I value Joyce’s time better than Tegla’s.”

Fernandez placed second in 2:24.06 and Machado was third in 2:25.09.