Yomi Omogbeja (24/10/2004)

Kenya's star athletes were surprising beaten by lesser known competitors, on a chilly Sunday morning, at the Standard Chartered Nairobi International marathon.

Newcomer Chimokil Chilapong Benjamin, beat a strong field that include three-time London marathon champion Joyce Chepchumba and former Paris marathon champion Beatrice Omwanza in the women’s 42km race.

The mother of four, who was running her first-ever marathon, upset the bookmakers to win the women’s race in 2:39:09.

Chepchumba was second in 2:39:27 with Delilah Asiago finishing third in 2:45.16. Omwanza ended up in fifth place in a disappointing 2:49:42.

Unheralded Benjamin Kipchumba Kemboi also shook off a strong challenge in the men’s full marathon, to win in 2:11.50.

Festus Kioko was second in 2:14:08 while Peter Ndegwa finished in third position in 2:14:35.

Kemboi's previous known international performance was a fourth place finish at the 2003 World Military Games in Catania, Italy.

Impressive turnout

The second edition of the Standard Chartered marathon attracted more than 10,000 participants and a special category for people on wheelchairs also attracted a huge turnout.

The race, flagged off by President Kibaki at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre at 7.30am, involved participants running either the full 42km race, the half (21km) or the 10km.

The male and female first place finishers received Sh1 million ($12,500) for their efforts while the runners up in both categories were each given Sh600,000 ($7,500) .

Chilapong was aslo instantly signed on by sportswear giants Fila, who also gave her an extra US$6,000 (Sh480,000).

Unilever and other sponsors also contributed to the successful hosting of the event with donations of huge sums of money.

The world 5,000m silver medalist, Isabella Ochichi, took the women’s 10km race in 35:48. Helen Chelagat was second in 35:52 and Ruth Mutia came third in 35:54.

Evans Kiprop won the men’s 21-km half marathon title in 1:04.21 while Philemon Kipsang and Karioki Njoroge were second and third in 1:04.28 and 1:04.36 respectively.

The first non-Kenyan to finish was Tanzania's Faustin Sakstay who was placed 26th in 2:20.59.

Gabriel Ouma won the wheelchair category with Dennis Muga and Tom Mboya second and third respectively.