Robert Ngeno led a Kenyan sweep at the 30th edition of Run Rome the Marathon, marking a historic race on Sunday (16) at Fori Imperiali in Rome, Italy.
The 30 year-old who was making his debut in the city, led a group of eight runners that included, Luke Kiprop, Brian Kipsang, Robert Ngeno, Dominic Kiprono, Leonard Bor, Joshua Kogo, Fredrick Kibii and Samwel Kiptoo as they set an aggressive pace, going through the 5km in 14:50, 10 km in 29:54, and reaching the halfway point in 1:03.25.
When they reached the 30km mark, seven runners remained in contention and at 36km, a quartet of Ngeno, Kipsang, Kogo, and Kibii—broke away from the rest of the field.
Ngeno who won silver last year at the Stockholm Marathon, further dropped the three as they reached the 37km, quickly creating a 10-second lead over his compatriot Kipsang, which he extended to over 20 seconds by 40km mark.
Ngeno accelerated further solo and cut the tape first in a new personal best of 2:07:35, claiming his first career marathon victory. Ngeno who led a 1-2-3 Kenyan podium finish was followed in second place by Kipsang in 2:07.58 with Kogo wrapping up the podium in 2:08.01.
“I am very happy with this victory, I took the lead after the 35km and I managed to keep the pace. It was beautiful to run on the streets of Rome,” said Ngeno.
Race favorite and the reigning Stockholm Marathon champion, Kibii came home in fourth in 2:08.10 and followed by Hammington Cherop in 2:09.21 with Kiptoo crossing the finish line in sixth in 2:09.44.
