Abel Sikowo got his ultimate encouragement in long-distance running at the weekend thanks to victory at the Singapore Marathon.
Over the past half-a-decade, Sikowo transitioned from running the 3000 metres steeplechase race to road running, often supporting Joshua Cheptegei’s plans.
He moved to half-marathon distance before debuting over the 42km in late 2023, with huge guidance from Ruiter.
And on Sunday, Sikowo emerged victorious at a marathon distance with spikes after posting a time of two hours, 15 minutes and 40 seconds.
‘The race was very good,’ Sikowo told this paper this week. In Singapore, Sikowo came second to Kenyan Geoffrey Yegon last year but he was elevated to number when the Kenyan failed a doping control test six weeks after.
The conditions were so testing for Sikowo that his celebrations involved swimming out in a mass of water with his manager Youri Verbaas and training mate Mathew Chekwurui in Singapore after his race.
‘I’m very happy how mature he was handling the race mentally because in the last four weeks he was struggling with an Achilles injury,’ Sikowo’s coach Ruiter reacted.
Chekwurui came fifth in 2:16:08 while the most experienced Solomon Mutai, who won a bronze medal at the World Athletics Championships in Beijing, China, came eighth in 2:20:07.
Sikowo had initially returned to the training program but the pain returned on Tuesday, but he displayed a stellar mindset, in part thanks to his experience in marathons.
‘Abel is having a lot of experience nowadays in running the marathon,’ said Verbaas, ‘He did a lot of pacing and he knew the course well. Mathew is learning the marathon and did extremely well.’
The conditions, calibrated by high temperatures and humidity, were as well testing. ‘From the beginning they (Sikowo and Chekwurui) were not pushing hard. I told the boys again (and they know) it’s all about saving energy and cooling the body as much as possible and they did,’ stated Ruiter.
In the final 10km, like in 2024, Sikowo began to control the race much more and the lead group was reduced to four racers at 35km.
That cast included Chekwurui and with 4km left, Sikowo enjoyed a solo lead, hanging to bear with the hard conditions before charging to a wide smile at the tape.
SINGAPORE MARATHON
MEN’S 42KM RESULT
1 Abel Boniface Sikowo (UGA) 2:15:40
2 Mathew Samperu (KEN) 2:15:46
3 Wisley Kimeli (KEN) 2:15:53
4 Mathew Job Chekwurui (UGA) 2:16:08
8 Solomon Munyo Mutai (UGA) 2:20:07
SIKOWO AT A GLANCE
Full Name: Abel Boniface Sikowo
Born: Feb 27, 1999
Major Race: 2:10:33
Coaches: Addy Ruiter, Denis Okudach
Manager: Youri Verbaas