Kenyan athletes dominated the Mizuno Kaohsiung International Marathon yesterday, with five runners from the East African country winning a total of NT$670,000 (US$22,600) in the event.
Kenyan Pius Muasa Mutuku, who was competing in Taiwan for the first time, crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 21 minutes and 39 seconds, followed by three of his countrymen in second to fourth places in the male marathon category. A Kenyan runner also took sixth place in the 42km race.
In the women’s marathon, Taiwan’s Chen Shu-hua (陳淑華) was first to finish, logging a personal best of 2 hours, 49 minutes and 7 seconds.
No Kenyan athletes took part in the women’s marathon this year.
Taiwanese competitors took the top five places in the men and women’s divisions of a 23km half-marathon that was held at the same time.
Ho Chin-ping (何盡平), a physical education teacher at a high school on Kinmen, won the men’s event, while his brother, Ho Chin-wen (何盡文), placed fifth.
Liao Pei-ling (廖佩苓), an athlete from Yunlin who placed fourth last year, won the women’s half-marathon.
About 30,000 people from Taiwan, Japan, China, Kenya, Belgium, Canada and the US competed in the Greater Kaohsiung marathon, which carried winnings totaling NT$1.5 million.
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