Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot, on his first trip outside Kenya, broke the course record to win the Frankfurt Marathon yesterday in his first race over the distance as Kenyan runners took the top ten spots and made up 17 of the first 20 finishers.

The 20-year-old Cheruiyot, practically unknown outside his home country, was surprised and elated by the win.

“When the field began to break up, I thought that I might be third, but I’m very happy to win,” Cheruiyot said.

Cheruiyot finished in 2 hours, 7 minutes, 21 seconds on an overcast but relatively mild day on the street course through Germany’s financial capital.

Cheruiyot is not related to Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot, a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon.

Wilson Kigen was second in 2:08.16 and Stephen Kiogora placed third in 2:08.24, after falling shortly before the finish line in Frankfurt’s Festhalle indoor concert hall.

The three emerged from the field and Cheruiyot pulled away after 35 kilometres of the 42.195-kilometre race to finish nearly a minute ahead.

Cheruiyot’s only known performance was a 20th place in a half-marathon in Kenya earlier this year, when he ran just over 64 minutes. He was such a late entry to the 27th edition of Germany’s oldest city marathon that he had to buy his own air ticket, with race organisers promising to reimburse him if he broke 2.14 minutes. Now, Cheruiyot will collect €50,000 for slashing more than half a minute off the course record.

According to his manager, Jos Hermens, Cheruiyot was persuaded to make a late bid to enter the race on the advice of a training partner, William Kiplagat, who thought Cheruiyot was more than ready to go the distance. Kiplagat finished 10th.

Sabrina Mockenhaupt of Germany ran a personal best of 2:26.22 to win the women’s race ahead of Olesya Nurgalieva of Russia.

Nurgalieva, the 2004 winner, clocked 2:27.37 and Melanie Kraus of Germany, last year’s winner, was third in 2:28.20.