Former African champion Davis Kiplangat will lead this year's Singelloop Utrecht 10km road race

Former African junior 10,000m champion Davis Kiplangat will lead a huge East African contingent to this year's Singelloop Utrecht 10km road race in Netherlands on Oct. 7. Kiplangat, seventh at the World Indoor Championships in the 3,000m race, has failed to showcase the huge potential he exhibited as a junior and moving up to the road race will help him rekindle his career, which had been plighted with injuries. "I want to see how I will react to the road race in Netherlands," Kiplangat told Xinhua on Thursday. "I still want to excel in the track and I know the competition there is stiff. That is what makes me train hard and target victory in each race I take up." The former world junior silver medalist will be joined by Dutch favorite Khalid Choukoud, who has run 28:44 on the roads. Kenya's Albert Rop, who was 13th at the World Half-marathon Championships this year, will be a strong threat. Ugandan junior Kevin Kibet, Uganda's Joel Ayeko and Eritrea's Kokob Gebru will also be present for the 68th edition of this event, where the current world best was set in 2010. Another sub-29 runner from the home nation will be Roy Hoornweg. "This caliber of races has top athletes and I seek to run my own race and see how fast I can go. But Kiplangat will be a good motivation to me," said Rop. The Dutch will have hopes of a home win in the women's race, thanks to the appearance of Maureen Koster, who was eighth over 5,000m at the European Championships this year and has run 32:15 on the road.

posted Friday October 5th