Kenyan runners Titus Kipruto, Elisha Rotich and Vivian Cheruiyot will cash in big after their podium finishes at the Paris Marathon on Sunday.
Kenyan runners Titus Kipruto, Elisha Rotich and Vivian Cheruiyot boosted their bank balances significantly following their top three finishes at the Paris Marathon on Sunday April 7.
Kipruto managed second place after clocking 2:05:48 behind Ethiopian Uma Mulugeta who won the race in 2:05:33, and will be taking home the runners-up prize of 30,000 euros (Ksh4,224,340).
The Kenyan runners missed out on the 50,000 euro (Ksh7,040,566) awarded to winners of the Paris Marathon which went to Mulugeta and his compatriot Mestaut Fikir who won the women’s race in 2:20:45.
Paris marathon awards athletes who finish third a cash prize of 20,000 euros (Ksh2,816,226) which went to Kenyans Rotich and Cheruiyot who completed the podiums in both the men and women’s race after clocking 2:06:54 and 2:21:47 respectively.
It was contrasting fortunes for Rotich and Cheruiyot, the former coming into the race among the favourites given he is the course record holder following his impressive 2:04:21 when he won in Paris in 2021, but it was not to be as the Ethiopian proved too hot to handle.
However, for Cheruiyot, it was delight given she looked to be out of the running for a position on the podium before fighting her way back. The former world 5,000m and 10,000m was also coming back after failing to finish the 2020 London Marathon and her third place finish was a morale booster.
Ethiopian Enat Tirusew claimed the women’s runners-up prize of 30,000 euros (Ksh4,224,340) after pushing Fikir to the very last before settling for second in 2:20:47.
Given Paris Marathon organisers have rewards for the top 10 finishers, Kenyans Bethwell Kipkemboi and Cosmas Muteti, who finished fourth and fifth in the men’s race, and Valentina Mateiko, fourth in the women’s category, are also set to cash in.
To claim their prize, male winners in Paris must complete the race in under 2:11:45 while the top female needs a time under 2:23:15.
