Time: April 15th, 2007
Place: Coolsingel in the very heart of Rotterdam
At exactly 11 AM, the Mayor of Rotterdam started the 27th edition
of the Rotterdam Marathon with a huge bang. For the 12th time,
Ricoh was present as one of the main sponsors of this spectacular
event, supporting the more than 20,000 participants including the
absolute world top.
With over 825,000 spectators cheering on the runners alongside
the course, the 2007 edition once more illustrated the importance
of this largest one-day sporting event in the Netherlands. International
top athletes included Benoit Zwierzchlewski from France and William
Kibiwott, the fast Kenyan who finished third last year. The women’s
starting line-up also featured impressive names such as Poland’s
Malgorzata Sobanska.
During a very intense and particularly exhausting race in temperatures
of over 25°C, it was Kenyan Joshua Chelanga who finished first
in 2:08:21. Registering a personal best in 2:10:04, Takayuki Matsumiya
came in a surprising second. Hiromi Ominami, also from Japan, was
the women's winner in 2:26:37.
This edition of the Marathon, however, was dominated by the exceptional
weather conditions rather than the runners themselves. Due to the
extreme heat and very sunny conditions, the organisers decided
to stop the race after 3.5 hours to protect the runners from health
problems.
The side activities which accompanied this sports event of course
did not suffer from the sunny weather, quite the contrary. The
pasta festival, the runners’ festival and the huge party
all attracted huge crowds. The marathon itself was broadcast live
on Dutch national television and multiple channels around the world.
For more information about the Rotterdam Marathon, please visit
the official site at www.rotterdammarathon.nl.
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