Kenya’s dominance in the Singapore Marathon continues after David Tumo’s win

Kenyan men continued with their dominance at the Singapore Marathon on Sunday morning 3 December 2023 when David Tumo led his compatriots to a clean podium sweep.

The hard-earned win ensured that Kenyan men remain unbeaten at the high-profile marathon since 2002 when Joseph Riri bagged the title. 

Tumo ran a calculated race to cross the finishing line in 2:14.16 ahead of fellow countrymen Geoffrey Birgen and Anderson Seroi who clocked 2:14.31 and 2:16.00 respectively.

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Reacting after clinching the prestigious title, Tumo revealed that his performance at the recently held Jakarta Marathon played a huge role in his victory.

“The truth is that the Jakarta win gave me motivation again. I wanted to come here and do my best again. The pandemic stopped everything for me in terms of running but now that everything is back to normal, I am competing and racing again.

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Today shows that my training is going well, I am very motivated by it,” he was quoted by The Straits Times.

In the women’s category, Kenyan-born Bahraini international Rose Chelimo eloped with the title in a time of 2:37.19.

Chelimo, who switched her allegiance to the Asian nation in 2015, was closely followed by Kenya’s Beatrice Cherop whose time was 16 seconds slower. Ethiopia’s Meseret Dinke settled for a third position in a time of 2:37.50.

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Chelimo stated during the post-race interview that she faced a myriad of challenges during her preparation for the event. 

“I knew I will be back (at the top of the podium). If you train hard, you will come back and be strong. 

There were challenges. To cut the weight is hard but you just need to keep training. Today, I am very happy and I feel confident,” explained the 34-year-old.

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Tumo and Chelimo will return to their respective homes with a cheque of $ 30,000 (approximately Ksh 4,570,287) with the money expected to be subjected to the taxation process.

More than 44,000 participants graced the race which was flagged off by Edwin Tong, Singapore’s minister for culture, community and youth.