Diriba breaks course record as Berhanu comes within three seconds in Amsterdam
Buze Diriba improves her PB by more than three minutes while 2016 Boston champion Lemi Berhanu wins a thrilling men’s race.
Ethiopia’s Buze Diriba broke the course record at the Amsterdam Marathon on Sunday (October 18) with a PB of 2:16:12, while her compatriot Lemi Berhanu won the men’s race in 2:03:33, just three seconds shy of the course record.
Both races were run in wet conditions at the World Athletics Platinum Label event, and both winners produced negative splits.
Diriba and defending champion Aynalem Desta led from the start, joined by Mestawut Fikir and Meseret Belete, and the group went through halfway in 1:08:34. By 30km, reached in 1:37:23, Fikir was struggling and she lost 17 seconds over the next kilometre. Desta and Diriba then pulled away from Belete.
Diriba kicked to open a gap of half a minute by 40km and went on to win by almost a minute. Her time took 40 seconds off the course record of 2:16:52 set by Yalemzerf Yehualaw in 2024 and was a Dutch all-comers’ record. It improved Diriba’s previous best of 2:19:34 by more than three minutes, and she has now broken 2:20 in three marathons in the past 12 months. She moves up to 16th on the world all-time list.
Desta was second in a PB of 2:17:06 and Belete third in a PB of 2:18:06. Leading Brit was Chelsea Stokes in 16th in 2:31:51.
The men’s race started more cautiously than course record pace, but the closing stages were thrilling. A big lead group reached halfway in 1:02:24, with defending champion Geofry Toroitich Kipchumba eight seconds behind before he dropped out shortly afterwards.
Kenya’s Justus Kangogo took over the pace at 30km, reached in 1:28:48, as the pacemakers stepped aside. Patrick Mosin, Nicholas Kipkorir and Jonathan Korir led at 35km in 1:43:23, with Berhanu a stride behind.
Near the Vondelpark, Kipkorir surged and Berhanu went with him. The pair were together at 40km in 1:57:25, 11 seconds clear of Mosin, before Berhanu pulled away and Kipkorir could not respond. Berhanu’s second half took 1:01:09.
The 2016 Boston Marathon champion took about a minute off the PB he set in January. Kipkorir finished six seconds behind in 2:03:39, a PB in only his second marathon after 2:06:07 in Boston in April. The Kenyan was also runner-up at last month’s World Road Running Championships half marathon in Copenhagen. Mosin was third in a PB of 2:03:58.
The depth was remarkable, with the top eight all finishing inside 2:05, only the third time that has happened in a race.
Top Brit home was Marc Scott in 27th in 2:10:14.
Women
Men
