In Nagoya, Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa‘s time of 2:22:40 allowed her to defeat Japanese challengers Tamomi Tahaka (2:23:19) and Rei Ohara (2:23:20), moving her to 8th place on the current 2016 world marathon chart. The mark is also the third-fastest marathon performance of Kirwa’s career, behind 2:21:41 (’12 Amsterdam) and 2:22:08 (’15 Nagoya), the latter also the Bahrain national record for the distance. With her win last month at the Marugame Half Marathon (1:08:06 National Record), Kirwa remains undefeated on the roads in 2016.
Several other Personae athletes performed strongly on the roads during the month of March, including team newcomer Rose Chelimo (1st – Marathon Seoul in 2:24:14 = ’16 World no. 15); Kenneth Kipkemoi (2nd – Lisbon Half Marathon in 1:00:25 = ’16 World no. 4); Agnes Barsosio (3rd – Marathon Seoul in 2:24:59 = ’16 World no. 21); Abraham Cheroben (3rd – City-Pier-City Den Haag Half Marathon in 1:00:35 = ’16 world no. 15); Bernard Kitavi Kimani (4th – City-Pier-City Den Haag Half Marathon in 1:00:41 = ’16 world no. 20); and Leonard Patrick Komon (5th – Lisbon Half Marathon in 1:01:30).