After kicking off her 2018 season in successful fashion with a 2nd place and personal best of 2:28:48 at the Mumbai Marathon in January, Bornes Jepkirui Kitur with her winning time of 2:24:19 in Prague improved her previous best by over 4 minutes for the distance, while ascending into women’s marathon elite territory. In a quality field that included two-time IAAF world championships bronze medalist Belaynesh Oljira (’13 Cross Country, ’13 10000m) and 2:21:51 performer Amane Gobena (’16 marathon world no. 6), Kitur passed the halfway mark in 3rd place (1:12:05), trailing both Oljira and Gobema by over 40 seconds (1:11:22). However, Kitur steadily cut the margin to the leaders over the second half of the race, turning a 14-second deficit at 30 km into a 22-second lead over Oljira by 35 km. Kitur continued to increase her lead and eventually crossed the finish line in 2:24:19 (1:12:05/1:12:14), ahead of Oljira (2:25:13) and Gobema (2:27:43).
Other noteworthy Personae athlete performances from late spring road action include: Caroline Chepkemoi – 1st in Valenciennes 10 km (31:38 Personal Best) and 1st in Roermond City Run 10M (53:31 Personal Best); Kiprotich Peter – 1st in Valenciennes 10 km (28:39 Personal Best) and 1st in Roermond City Run 10M (46:23 Personal Best); Eluid Barngetuny – 1st in Madrid Marathon (2:10:15 Personal Best); Gilbert Yegon Koech in Dusseldorf Marathon (2:13:55); Elijah Kemboi – 2nd in Linz Marathon (2:11:30); and Rose Chelimo – 6th in London Marathon (2:26:03).