Gena Siraj of Ethiopia wins rain-lashed Beijing Marathon

Beijing – Gena Siraj of Ethiopia won a rain-lashed Beijing Marathon in 2:14.45, the slowest time in the event’s 30 year history. Gert Thys of South African finished second. 

Sammy Mugo of Kenya, who won last year’s race in 2:08.20, settled for a disappointing 6^th place in 2:17.49. 

Gena’s previous big win came in March of this year when he won the Rome Marathon in 2:08.39. Although this marked the first time that he run a sub 2:10, the remarkable feat of the race is that Gena paid tribute to the great Abebe Bikila by running barefoot the last 500 yards of the race while outsprinting two Kenyan athletes to the finish.