Kipketer siblings now hold Mumbai Marathon course records

Kenyan Kipketer siblings Gideon and Valentine now hold the course records in the men's and women's categories respectively in the Mumbai Marathon.

Pacemaker Gideon (brother of Valentine) came up with a dominating show to clinch victory and also set a new men's course record here on Sunday.

He took the lead at the midway stage and from there on extended it to finish in two hours, eight minutes and 35 seconds. En route to victory, he bettered the previous record of 2:09:32 set by Ugandan Jackson Kiprop in 2013.

With this win, Kipketer earned a prize money of $41,000 along with the course record jackpot of $15,000 to grab a whopping $56,000 amount from the event.

"This was my first time running in India, and the course was quite challenging. However, once I passed the 32-km mark, I was confident that I would be able to finish strong. It was great to see so many people cheering for us at the finish line. This is also the biggest prize money I have won, and I hope to build a house for my family," Gideon said at a press conference.

On the other hand, although Gideon's sister Valentine finished third on Sunday in the women's section, she had earlier won here in 2013 with a course record of 2:24:33, which still remains unbeaten.

Valentine finished with a time of 2:34:07 on Sunday. Ethiopian Shuko Genemo (2:27:50) came first while Kenya's Bornes Kitur (2:32:00) came second.

Following her third place finish, Valentine said she could not train for over a year and a half because she gave birth to a baby girl. She looked confident of giving her best in the coming days to better her performance.

"I could not train for more than one and a half years as I gave birth to a baby girl. If I had done that I could have bettered my performance. I hope to get back to intense training and give my best in days to come," Valentine said.

She congratulated her brother Gideon for the new course record. "He ran very well. He has done an excellent job. We train together and I am very happy with him."