Yegon and Jifar shine at Singapore Marathon
The 2024 Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon concluded successfully with Kenyan Geoffrey Yegon and Ethiopian Fantu Zewude Jifar claiming victories in the men's and women's elite categories respectively. The event attracted over 55,000 participants from 84 countries, marking a significant increase from the previous year's 44,000 runners.
Yegon secured a narrow victory in the men's elite category with a time of 2:16:06, closely followed by Uganda's Abel Sikowo and Kenya's Korir Laban Kipngetich. In the women's elite category, Jifar dominated the race, finishing with a time of 2:39:04, ahead of Kenya's Agnes Keino and fellow Ethiopian Meleka Meseret Dinke. Both elite winners received prize money of US$45,000.
In the national category, Singapore's Soh Rui Yong claimed his fifth national title with a time of 2:46:05, finishing ahead of Benjamin Khoo and Richard Heng. The victory has strengthened Soh's ambitions to compete in the 2025 Bangkok SEA Games, where he hopes to secure his third gold medal. Currently based in England pursuing an MBA at the London Business School, Soh recently achieved the SEA Games qualifying mark in the Tokai University Long Distance Challenge.
Rachel See retained her women's national title with a time of 3:00:45, followed by Goh Shing Ling and Sharon Tan. See attributed her successful defense to a more relaxed approach compared to her previous year's performance.
The 2024 edition featured a new finish line at Anderson Bridge and attracted nearly 13,000 international participants, highlighting the event's growing global appeal. The challenging weather conditions were noted by the winners, with Yegon specifically mentioning Singapore's heat as a factor in his preparation.
