Marathon man /Kiptoo’s triumph over trauma

Joel Kipkemboi Kiptoo has been through infinitely tougher days than yesterday’s Edinburgh Marathon. The residue of trauma haunts him at each step. And, emotionally, it was hard not to celebrate his victory in the capital as he took the spoils in a course record of 2:13:33.

The 32-year-old Kenyan scampered away from the outset at the head of more than 12,000 runners to finish almost eight minutes clear of American competitor Jeffrey Stein with Michael Crawley third. Enjoyable, yet trivial compared to four years ago when he was caught up in the crossfire of an armed ambush that left two of his training partners dead inside their vehicle and his fleetness of foot a priceless factor in escaping with his life intact.

“I was abducted by robbers who shot at our car when we were travelling home from training,” he revealed. “It was in the middle of a forest. We did not see them coming. The car overturned and my two friends were killed. They shot at me but I got away but I broke my knee. And I’ve had to nurse it ever since.”

Kipkemboi’s compatriot Caroline Jepchirchir was the leading female in 2:47:36, with local favourite Shona

0 Joel Kipkemboi crosses the line to win the Edinburgh Marathon in a new course record time. Mcintosh 92 seconds behind and Birtley’s Tracy Millmore taking third.

“It was really windy on the way out,” Mcintosh said. “That made it pretty tough. I felt I should have done better than that but it was nice to get out and do a good marathon. I feel I should have gone quicker. I pushed the pace at the start but I ended up too slow.”

Severino Felipe Gomez narrowly won the adjoining halfmarathon from Spanish rival Arturo Quijada Gonzalez in 1:10:37 with Irish Olympian from Rio 2016, Breege Connolly, the first female in 1:16:09, 22 seconds ahead of Annabel Simpson, among more than 30,000 runners taking part in the two-day Marathon Festival.