Milkesa Mengesha and Brigid Kosgei powered their way to statement wins at the Shanghai Marathon on Sunday in Shanghai, China.
With a final sprint in the closing moments, Mengesha took the men’s race in 02:06:25 while Kosgei was dominant in her victory in 2:16:36 — setting a new course record.
Mengesha was part of lead pack that included Dawit Wolde, Deresa Geleta and Haftu Teklu that held stead through 30km and opened a sizable gap on the chase group. But at the 38km mark Mengesha, Wolde and Geleta seemingly made a move in unison that would ultimately decide the race.
Just after the 41.5km point, Mengesha and Wolde surged ahead as Geleta faded.
Mengesha took what appeared to be a odd maneuver as he pulled wide on a turn as he held a narrow lead on Wolde. But with the finish in sight, Mengesha glance over his shoulder for a quick look and began to kick along the winding final stretch as he took the win. Wolde was second in 2:06:27 and Geleta took third in 2:06:36.
Meanwhile, Kosgei pushed the pace from the start in an aggressive group that was a mix of male pacers and male elites and by the 25km point only Irine Cheptai remained from the lead pack of women’s field. But Kosgei was not to be denied her shot at the podium as she widened her gap over Cheptai as the race reached 35km.
In the closing moments, Kosgei was glued to her pacer and cruised into the finish with the new course record in place. Cheptai was second in 2:18:51 while Tiruye Mesfin took third in 2:20:38.
“I’m very happy because I improved my best time,” Kosgei said after the race. “I was targeting at 2 hours and 17 minutes, but I did even better. I want to say thanks to everyone cheering for me along the way.”
Kosgei’s mark was four minutes ahead of the previous record of 2:20:37 set by Yebrgual Melese Arage in 2018.
Shanghai is now at a pivotal point in its strategy to convince the world that it is ready to elevate its status on a global stage.
Race officials hoped to show that their event can sustain a large scale marathon and become the next “major” like Sydney when it debuted as a new crowned top tier Abbott in August. Sydney joined Boston, London, Tokyo, Berlin, Chicago and New York as Abbott World Marathon Majors and Shanghai looks to be the eighth member of the prestigious — and growing – family of big stage races.
This year’s event fielded over 23,000 participants, with more than 2,000 International runners and would see a significant boost in applications if it is raised to major status. Shanghai will have to meet the criteria of over 100 standards if it hopes to join the Tokyo Marathon as another Asian destination major race.
Organizers also confirmed that next year’s race will move to December 6, a week past the current late November date and registration will begin in April.
