An army officer Alhaji Mohammed Kassim beat his Kenyan rival and defending champion Alex Kimeli while Elizabeth Bortsor, 22, a police officer, successfully defended her title in style. Men's race After placing second in 2010 and 2011, Alhaji Mohammed Kassim displayed a spirited performance at the 27th edition of the Accra Milo Marathon, to make Ghana proud, as he wrestled the title from his closest rival from Kenya, Alex Kimeli. Mohammed, 29, ran alongside eight elite runners including Alex Kimeli and Akakiya Atampiro, who were second and third respectively. He ran with seven other main contenders at a furious pace immediately the race judge signalled them to action. The elite bunch of runners successfully completed the grueling 42km distance from Nungua Barrier to Dansoman round about (suburbs in Accra). “It took a lot of training and determination, to beat the Kenyan, I was just waiting for the right time to change into my 5th gear” said Mohammed, who is also a soldier with the Ghana Air force. The army officer alternated between the 8th and 7th position for most part of the race, whilst the defending champion Alex Kimeli stayed comfortable in the lead. Most of the spectators and pundits who watched Alex in action last year did not anticipate any change in the status quo, as they watched and cheered. “He’ll win again, these Kenyans they are long distance champions” said one of the spectators, in response to a question about his expectation of the final outcome. Mohammed moved into the 7th position at Cede House, at ‘Novotel’ he placed 6th, at High Street he was 4th, just before ‘Tudu’, Mohammed gained grounds on the champion. At Korle-Bu, Alex‘s lead was under siege as Mohammed and Atampiro chased on. At Dansoman First Light, about 3km to finish line, the two time runner up (2010,2011) had his ‘eureka moment’ after overtaking Alex, as he sped to his first win, with a time of 1:27:11 seconds. “I was in pain, very serious pain when he (Mohammed) passed me, because of my foot wear”, said Alex Kimeli, after the race. When asked why he decided to use a faulty foot wear for such an important race, “I gave my main foot wear to a friend to compete abroad”, he said.