Running News Daily

Why Sifan Hassan is highly charged to triumph in Tokyo Marathon

Chicago Marathon champion Sifan Hassan has explained why she is motivated to compete at the Tokyo Marathon.

Reigning Chicago Marathon Sifan Hassan is bubbling with excitement as she gears up for the Tokyo Marathon scheduled for Sunday, March 3, next year.

Hassan is particularly excited to be one of the top runners to be announced alongside former world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge, her mentor.

“Alhamdulillah, I’m good and my preparations have just started…maybe I celebrated too much after Chicago and I took a long break and just started training a week ago.

“But I’m physically and mentally fresh, which for me is the most important and I’m really happy to be with Eliud because he is my greatest role model in running,” Hassan said.

The reigning London Marathon champion noted that she is training in Ethiopia since African countries tend to have great altitude. She added that at the moment, the Netherlands and America usually have a lot of snow during the winter period, making it impossible for her to train.

“I’m currently training in Ethiopia because of the high altitude and the weather in Africa is good…during the winter, I can’t train in the Netherlands or America because we have snow,” Hassan said.

Meanwhile, Hassan made her full marathon debut earlier this year and has been unbeaten in all her two marathons. She started with a win at the London Marathon and later went to end her season with a win at the Chicago Marathon.