Temam and Tadesse take Beirut Marathon titles
Mohammed Temam of Ethiopia winning the BLOM Beirut Marathon (organisers)
Beirut, Lebanon - Mohammed Temam revelled in his competitive return to the Middle East when the 20-year-old won the BLOM Beirut Marathon on Sunday, emerging victorious on a day when more than 30,000 took to the streets in the seventh edition of the Lebanese capital’s festival of endurance, including 5 and 10k competitions.
Temam clocked 2:16:12 for victory to beat Eston Ngira by over two minutes. The Kenyan runner-up finished in 2:18:26 with Abraham Yilma of Ethiopia, suffering from vomiting attacks overnight, taking third place in 2:18:34.
This was Temam’s third marathon at the tender age of 20 and all three outings have been this year, beginning with his fifth place debut in 2:16 at the Abebe Bikila Marathon in Addis Ababa. Another fifth place came in Amman in Jordan but today’s Beirut champion described his 2:26:36 in temperatures in the mid-30s Centigrade as “very tough” accompanied by a sorrowful dropping of the head.
Today he can hold his head up high again. Beginning at 7 am with overcast skies and the temperature gauge showing 13 degrees Centigrade, these were made to measure conditions for marathoners on a largely flat course. The former world record holder in the marathon, Paul Tergat of Kenya, watched from the VIP gantry as 550 competitors set off along Jamal Abdel Naser street.
Temam played a waiting game, allowing a quartet to go clear with