Kenyan, Ethiopian athletes win 41st Istanbul Marathon

Kenyan athlete Daniel Kipkore Kibet on Sunday won the 41st Istanbul Marathon men's title breaking the 42-kilometer (26-mile) track record. The women's title was won by Ethiopian athlete Hirut Tibebu.

Kibet finished the transcontinental race in 2:9:44. Ethiopian athlete Yitayal Atnafu Zerihun came second at 2:9:57 and Kenyan Peter Kwemoi Ndorobo third at 2:10:9.

Tibebu won the women's title finishing at 2:23:40 with Ethiopian athlete Tigist Abayechew trailing at 2:24:15. Kenyan Maurine Chepkemoi came third at 2:24:16.

Turkish athletes Polat Kemboi Arikan came sixth at 2:12:57 in the men's title and Busra Nur Koku came eighth in the women's title.

A total of 63 elite athletes joined the Vodafone 41st Istanbul Marathon, which started at 9 a.m. local time [0600GMT] from Istanbul's Asian side and ended in the European part of the city.

The sports event has three categories -- 42.2-kilometer (26.2-mile) marathon, 15-km run (9.3-mi), 8-km (4.9-mi) FunRun as well as a wheelchair competition.

Some 37,000 runners from 106 countries competed in the marathon, with 100,000 people attending the 8-km FunRun.

Wife of Paraguay's ambassador to Turkey Ceferino Adrian Valdez Peralta also joined the 15-km race.

Celestina Diaz de Valdez said that it was her first time at the Istanbul Marathon and it was a "wonderful" feeling to cross to Europe from Asia.

She recalled that she previously joined the races in many countries such as Paraguay, Korea, U.S. and South Africa, adding that she also plans to take part in next year's marathon.

Valdez is the first woman who competed in Istanbul's race from Paraguay.

Another athlete attending from Italy and competing in the Istanbul marathon for the third time, Claidio Mizii, 64, said: "It is a good competition in Turkey. The last race that I joined was in Chicago. It was cold there. Here the atmosphere is quite warm."

The motto of the 2019 marathon is "Istanbul is yours. Don't stop, run!"

The winners of the 2019 marathon in men's and women's categories will earn $50,000 each. In the Turkish athlete's category, winners in both genders will bag 50,000 Turkish liras ($8,760) each.

The Istanbul marathon has been in the Gold Label Road Races list of the international governing body for athletics, the IAAF since 2012.

The champions in recent years such as Elias Kemboi Chelimo from Kenya (2015), Evans Kiplagat from Azerbaijan (2016), French athlete Abraham Kiprotich (2017) and Kenya's Felix Kimutai (2018) are running to win the 2019 title.

In the women's category, Ethiopian Fatuma Sado, who came third in 2018 and famous Turkish athlete Elvan Abeylegesse, who ranked fifth in 2018, are the favorites for the marathon.

In addition, the roller skate running made its debut in Sunday's Istanbul marathon. Detailed information about the sports event can be viewed on https://en.maraton.istanbul/