Makau takes WMM lead as Kiplagat moves to fifth

It was Kenya's day at the BMW Berlin Marathon today as Patrick Makau broke Haile Gebrselassie's world record to leap to the top of the 2010/11 World Marathon Majors standings while Florence Kiplagat moved to fifth on the women's leaderboard as she became only the 11th women to break the 2:20 barrier.

Makau produced a brilliant performance to retain his Berlin title as he sliced 21 seconds from Gebrselassie's 2008 mark with 2:03:38, adding 25 points to the 15 he picked up when finishing third in London this year. Makau now has 60 points overall, five more than London Marathon winner Emmanuel Mutai with Tsegaye Kebede lying third.

After last year's cold and rain, the famous �Berlin Marathon weather' returned and Makau took full advantage of the perfect conditions to lead home fellow Kenyans Stephen Kwelio, Edwin Kimaiyo and Felix Limo, who were rewarded with 15, 10 and five WMM points respectively.

Makau made the decisive move at around 27km when he kicked away from Gebrselassie, who was suffering with breathing problems, and sped past the 30km mark in a world record time of 1:27:38. Makau went on to win by more than four minutes while the Ethiopian recovered briefly before eventually dropping out around 38km.

�"This was the greatest day of my running life," said Makau afterwards. �"When I woke up today my body didn't feel very good but as the race went on I felt better.

�"At 25km I felt I could break the world record. It's great to have beaten Haile, one of my heroes."

If Kwelio, who started as a pacemaker, was one shock name at the finish, marathon debutant Scott Overall provided another surprise. The Briton gained a spot on the men's leaderboard when he was fifth in 2:10:55, worth one point.

In the women's race, Kiplagat gained her first WMM points as she ran away from world record holder Paula Radcliffe after 15km to take a solo victory in 2:19:44.

The Kenyan, who dropped out of the Boston Marathon in April, now sits alongside fellow Kenyan Caroline Kilel plus Ethiopian pair Aberu Kebede and Teyba Erkesso on 25 points.

Irina Mikitenko overtook Radcliffe before 35km to finish second in 2:22:18, adding 15 points to the one she earned when fifth in Chicago last year. Radcliffe finished third in 2:23:46 and moves to equal 15th on the standings.

Ethiopia's Atsede Habtamu, fourth in 2:24:25, and Russian Tatyana Petrova, fifth in 2:25:01, also gained WMM points.

Another Russian, Liliya Shobukhova, still leads the women's 2010/11 series with 65 points, five ahead of New York champion Edna Kiplagat and 30 more than London winner Mary Keitany.