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Kenya’s Mary Keitany and British long distance runner Mo Farah are the winners of the 2017 Great North Run. This is after producing historical performances in their respective races that took place in England on Sunday.
Keitany, the 2017 London Marathon champion became the Great North Run’s third three-time winner of the women’s race in South Shields. She led other Kenyans for a top-five sweep. Keitany produced a master class, beating Olympic 5,000m champion Vivian Cheruiyot by posting a time of 1:05:59, just two minutes ahead of Cheruiyot. Meanwhile, Caroline Kipkirui, who pushed hard to keep pace with Keitany dropped to third in 1:09:52.
Keitany has so far enjoyed a successful year that saw her post a half-marathon PB of 1:05:13 before claiming the London Marathon in a women-only world record of 2:17:01.Other Kenyans who filled the top five slots include Magdalyne Masai who came fourth in 1:10:39, whereas, Betsy Saina finished fifth in 1:11:25.
However, Gemma Steel, who was the top British finisher, settled for sixth in 1:11:32. Mo Farah, the multiple Olympic gold medalist and world 10,000m and 5,000m champion set history by beating Jake Robertson of New Zealand to the men’s title.
Farah posted a time of 1:00:06 to claim the title. He finished just six seconds ahead of the New Zealand international.
Olympic marathon silver medalist Feyisa Lilesa came third in 1:01:32, while Jake’s brother Zane Robertson settled for fourth place in 1:01:42. However, this was the first time Jake defeated Zane in a competitive race. Japan’s Hiroyuki Yamamoto was placed fifth in 1:02:03.
Farah’s win means he now becomes the first athlete to win four consecutive titles at the simply healthy Great North Run.