Emmanuel Mutai
KENYA
BIRTHDATE:
April 1, 1978
PERSONAL BEST:
2:06:15 (London, 2008)
WORLD MARATHON MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS:
13Apr08 Flora London Marathon 4th 2:06:15
21Oct07 Amsterdam Marathon 1st 2:06:29
15Apr07 Rotterdam Marathon 7th 2:13:06
CAREER NOTES:
Had it not been for Haile Gebrselassie's world record of 2:04:26 at Berlin, Emmanuel Mutai would have been the fastest marathoner in the world in 2007.
Certainly there was no bigger surprise than the 2:06:29 the 29-year-old turned in to win the Amsterdam Marathon as earlier in the year he had run just 2:13:06 to place seventh at Rotterdam. In that race he had gone out at a brisk pace of 1:03:54 for the first half, but on that warm day he slumped to more than 69 minutes for the second half.
At Amsterdam with the weather close to ideal, Mutai actually had a slower first half split (1:03:56) than Rotterdam, and with the competition keeping up the pressure didn't secure the victory until the last kilometer. His second half took just 1:02:33.
Mutai managed to shave 14 more seconds off his PR with his 2:06:15 at the 2008 Flora London Marathon. Despite trailing winner Martin Lel by exactly one minute, Mutai ran the fastest fourth place time ever.
Mutai was fifth at the 2007 Lisbon Half-Marathon (1:00:49) and he also won the Meia Maratona de Portugal in 1:01:54.
