Running News Daily

The 2020 Chongging International Marathon has been postponed

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the 2020 Chongqing International Marathon, which was originally scheduled for March 22, is to be postponed, organisers said on Monday.

Organizers in southwest China's Chongqing municipality said that they will retain the qualification of the runners who successfully registered. Runners who quit the race can get an unconditional refund and keep their qualifications alive until the next marathon race in 2021.

The event, an IAAF race, is sponsored by the China Athletic Association and Chongqing Municipal Sports Bureau.

(02/17/2020) Views: 1,891 ⚡AMP

Peter Kmeli Some of Kenya and Bahrain’s Marius Kimutai will start as favorites at the Hangzhou Marathon on Sunday

Peter Kmeli Some of Kenya and Bahrain’s Marius Kimutai will start as favorites at the Hangzhou Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label road race, on Sunday.

The 29-year-old Some is the fastest entrant with a personal best of 2:05:38 set when winning the 2013 Paris Marathon. He came close to that mark last year when clocking 2:06:49 to finish third in Daegu. It will be Some’s second race in China following his 2:14:49 victory in Shenzhen two years ago.

Kimutai, 26, has also been triumphant in China. The 2:05:47 performer claimed the 2014 Danzhou Marathon title and more recently took the top honors at the Taiyuan International Marathon two months ago with a clocking of 2:09:43.

It will be Kimutai’s third race in China this year and his eyes may not be only set on the top podium but also on the course record of 2:10:33 achieved by Azmeraw Bekele of Ethiopia two years ago.

Kenya’s Sylvester Kimeli Teimet will be running his third straight race in Hangzhou after finishing fourth and fifth in the past two years. The 35-year-old set his lifetime best of 2:06:49 when winning in Seoul back in 2010 and has threatened the 2:10 barrier this season with a sixth-place finish at the Wuxi Marathon where he clocked 2:10:44.

The field also includes Evans Sambu of Kenya, who set his PB of 2:09:05 in 2017 and finished fourth last year in Hangzhou with 2:11:17, and Abraham Kiprotich of France.

Agnes Jeruto Barsosio of Kenya is the star attraction in the women’s race. The 37-year-old has earned podium finishes in eight consecutive marathons since October 2014, including recording a PB of 2:20:59 to finish second in Paris two years ago.

It will be Barsosio’s first race in Hangzhou but she has experience of running in China, including winning at the Guangzhou Marathon in 2014.

Barsosio’s compatriot Rael Kiyara Nguriatukei, 35, is another title contender. She set her PB of 2:25:23 when finishing fourth in Eindhoven in 2011 and has previously won marathons in Shanghai, Lanzhou, Chongqing, Luxembourg and, most recently, the Taipei Wan Jin Shi Marathon in last March.

Nastassia Ivanova of Belarus also has the credentials to make an impact, bringing a 2:27:24 lifetime best to the start line. The 36-year-old came close to her PB when clocking 2:27:49 to finish fifth at the European Championships in Berlin last year.

(11/02/2019) Views: 2,522 ⚡AMP
by IAAF

Former winners Agnes Kiprop and Aberu Mekuria will both return to the Chinese city of Hengshui to compete for the women’s title at the Hengshui Lake International Marathon

The 36-year-old Ethiopian, Mekuria clocked a course record of 2:26:07, her personal best time at that time, to win in 2013. Two years later Kenyan, Kiprop claimed the tile in 2:25:43, which has stood as the course record until now.

However, the 39-year-old Kenyan, whose PB of 2:23:54 was set in Frankfurt back in 2011, hasn’t come close to 2:26 since her 2015 Hengshui victory. She clocked 2:29:04 to finish fourth at the Dongying Yellow River Marathon in April, which was her fastest time in more than four years.

Mekuria, on the contrary, has been enjoying a second wind in her decade-long career, achieving a PB of 2:24:30 to break the course record at the 2019 Chongqing International Marathon. It will be her third race in Hengshui as she also clocked 2:32:53 to finish eighth in 2015.

The organizers have assembled the deepest women’s field in the eight-year history of the race, as other race favorites also include Marta Megra of Ethiopia, who set her PB of 2:22:35 last year in Toronto, as well as her compatriot Tirfi Tsegaye, the fastest woman toeing the line with a PB of 2:19:41 from her massive victory in Dubai in 2016.

The men’s field also contains a former champion. 24-year-old Ernest Ngeno of Kenya took the top honors in Hengshui four years ago with a winning mark of 2:07:57, which was his PB at the time and 12 seconds shy of the course record set by Markos Geneti in 2014.

Last year, he improved his PB to 2:06:41 when finishing third in Paris, which makes him the second-fastest entrant in the field.

Although Ngeno is keen to end a three-year title drought following his victory in Milan in 2016, he could face a serious threat from Aychew Bantie.

The rising Ethiopian, who turned 24 this month, trimmed more than two minutes off his career best to finish third at the Prague Marathon in 2:06:23 four months ago and is still pursuing his first title since debuting over the classic distance in 2017.

Bantie’s compatriot Fikadu Kebede, who turns 33 on Friday, also arrives in Hengshui in high spirits. He set a PB of 2:08:27 in Dubai in January and came close to that mark three months later with a second-place finish in Dongying in 2:09:38.

The men’s field also includes Kenyan duo Dominic Ruto and Ismael Boshendich Chemtan

(09/21/2019) Views: 1,991 ⚡AMP
by Vicent Wu

The top four women were inside the course record at the Lanzhou Marathon Sunday

Ethiopia’s Worknesh Edesa beat the hot weather and a loaded field to break the women’s course record at the Bank of Lanzhou Cup Lanzhou International Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label road race, on Sunday June 2. 

The top four finishers in the women’s race all finished inside the previous course record of 2:31:22 set by Kenya’s Nguriatukei Rael Kiyara in 2015. The 26-year-old Edesa, whose 2:21:05 PB from Dubai earlier this year made her the fastest entrant for Lanzhou, lived up to expectations as she broke the tape in style in 2:30:22.

The race started under cloudy weather conditions but the sun came out about an hour after the gun and the temperature rose rapidly. A group of eight runners led the race to 15km in 53:31, 25km in 1:29:08 and 30km in 1:47:29.

After 35km, the pack was soon whittled down to just four runners: Edesa, Gutemi Shone, Sifan Melaku and Fantu Jimma. Edesa waited for another four kilometres before launching her powerful surge to pull away from the others.

Although the temperature reached as high as 26C, the in-form Ethiopian kept widening the gap and went on to win in 2:30:22. It was Edesa’s first marathon victory since winning the 2016 Xiamen Marathon in 2:24:04.

Edesa’s compatriot Shone, winner of this year’s Seville Marathon with a PB of 2:23:32, finished second in 2:30:40, while the 31-year-old Jimma, winner of this year’s Wuhan Marathon, lagged nine seconds further behind to complete the Ethiopian podium sweep.

Kenya’s Justus Kimutai upset a strong Ethiopian contingent to win the men’s race in 2:11:47.

Ethiopian runners filled the next six positions with Gizachew Hailu finishing second in 2:12:05 and Afewerk Mesfin third in 2:14:10.

The race saw a crowded leading group in the opening five kilometres and before they went through the 10km water station China’s Guan Yousheng was the first to drop back.

Ethiopia’s Bira Seboka, a 24-year-old with a PB of 2:08:51, made his bold early charge after reaching 20km in 1:03:01. Seboka built an advantage of some 15 seconds at 25km but was later swallowed by the chasers near 28km.

A new leading pack of seven runners paced the race for another five kilometres before the 26-year-old Kimutai, who was running for the first time on the Chinese soil, started his charge.

This time only Hailu and Mesfin managed to keep up with Kimutai’s pace. But the 26-year-old Mesfin, who set a course record of 2:09:49 in Chongqing in 2017 and improved his career best to 2:09:08 in Xiamen five months ago, had to drop behind near the 35km tables.

Kimutai then kept pressing ahead and finally notched the sole lead after 38km. When he reached 40km in 2:05:17, the Kenyan was 11 seconds ahead of the 21-year-old Hailu.

Kimutai’s winning time of 2:11:47 was more than one-and-a-half minutes shy of the 2:10:10 course record set by Ethiopian Abayneh Ayele in 2015.

(06/02/2019) Views: 2,158 ⚡AMP
by IAAF

Ethiopian Worknesh Edesa will headline the women field at Lanzhou

The women’s course record of 2:31:22 set by Kenya’s Nguriatukei Rael Kiyara four years ago will  face serious threat.

Worknesh Edesa of Ethiopia improved her PB by nearly three minutes to 2:21:05 in Dubai this January to make her the fastest woman on paper. Since her marathon debut in 2015, the 26-year-old Edesa has never finished outside of the top three in each marathon she’s contested. Even her slowest clocking of 2:31:06 set in 2015 is better than Kiyara’s Lanzhou record.

Edesa’s compatriot Gutemi Shone, 27, is another title contender. The former Ottawa and Seoul marathon winner recorded her career best of 2:23:32 in Houston four years ago and scored a 2:24:28 victory in Sevilla in February.

Fatuma Sado, also from Ethiopia, is the only woman in the field that has competed in Lanzhou before, clocking 2:38:39 to finish fifth in her previous outing in the western Chinese city. The 27-year-old has titles from Hamburg, Los Angeles, Xiamen, Beijing, Warsaw and Osaka on her CV and registered her PB of 2:24:16 from her third place finish in Toronto in 2015.

The 35-year-old veteran Aberu Mekuria is also known for her consistency with victories in Koln, Hengshui, Ottawa and Valencia to her name. Two month ago she added the Chongqing Marathon title to her title collection with a PB of 2:24:30.

Fantu Jimma, 31, will also arrive in Lanzhou with high spirits after taking the victory at the Wuhan Marathon in April. Her winning mark of 2:28:25 is some two minutes shy of her PB of 2:26:14 set in Dubai four years ago.

The field also includes Ethiopian duo Hiwot Gebrekidan, a 2:25:45 performer, and Sifan Melaku, who just improved her PB to 2:26:46 in Sevilla in February, as the women’s race is very likely to see a sweep of podium by Ethiopian runners.

(05/31/2019) Views: 2,139 ⚡AMP
by IAAF

Ethiopians Aberu Mekuria and Jimma Shambel dominated at the Chongqing Marathon

Aberu dominated the women's race, running at the head of the pack from the 10km point on en route to a 2:24:30 victory. The run knocked five seconds from the 35-year-old's previous lifetime best set at the Valencia Marathon last December.

Running alongside Kenyan Lydia Cheromei through the opening five kilometres (17:36), she pulled away shortly thereafter, building a 13-second lead by the 10km point (34:44).

She increased her lead over the Kenyan to 47 seconds by 15 kilometres and to more than a minute-and-a-half by 20.

While Aberu forged on alone, Cheromei dropped back and out of contention by 30km. By that point, Aberu was already more than two minutes clear of the field and eventually won the race by more than three minutes.

Further back, Chinese Li Zhixuan and He Yinli finished second and third, clocking 2:27:56 and 2:29:14, respectively.

Conversely, the men's race came down to the wire, with Shambel out-sprinting Kenyan Edwin Kibet Koech in the waning stages to pull off the narrow win, with both men clocking 2:10:28.

Thirteen men were in contention at 10km (31:27), a pack reduced to ten at 30km covered in 1:33:22, with Kibet running at the front.

Tufa and Marius Kimutai brought the lead pack, now down to five, through 40km in 2:04:10, with Koech a second behind and Kenyan Michael Njenga Kunyuga and Ethiopian Gebretsadik Abraha shadowing the trio another second back.

(04/01/2019) Views: 2,251 ⚡AMP

Marius Kimutai of Kenya will lead a deep field at the Chongqing Marathon aiming to break the course record

The men’s course record belongs to Ethiopia’s 2017 winner Afewerk Mesfin, who clocked 2:09:49 to mark the first ever sub-2:10 result since the race launched in 2011.

Nine sub-2:10 runners will line up for the top honours at the southwestern Chinese city this year and Kimutai is the fastest entrant on paper thanks to his personal best of 2:05:47 set in Amsterdam in 2016.

He came close to that mark two years ago when he clocked a winning time of 2:06:04 in Rotterdam. His only outing over the 26.2-mile distance last year was a fourth-place finish in Seoul in 2:07:45.

It will be Kimutai’s first appearance in Chongqing but his third race in China following a victory in Danzhou in 2014 and a runner-up finish in Dongying in 2016.

Ethiopia’s Gebretsadik Abraha could be the biggest challenge to Kimutai. Although his career best of 2:06:21 was set back in 2012 from his third-place finish in Amsterdam, the 26-year-old Marrakesh and Prague marathon winner has an impressively consistent record over the classic distance, registering a sub-2:10 result each year for the past seven years.

Kenyan veteran Philip Kimutai Sanga is another man to watch on Sunday. The 35-year-old has a lifetime best of 2:06:07 from the 2011 Frankfurt Marathon but has not bettered 2:10 since 2017.

The field also includes Asbel Kipsang, whose PB of 2:07:30 was set in Seoul three years ago, and Edwin Koech, a 2:08:17 performer who set the course record in Dalian last May.

The women’s field is led by Lydia Cheromei of Kenya, who will carry on the hope of breaking the long-standing 2:22:41 course record set by local runner Wang Jiali in 2012.

Although usually competing with runners just half of her age, the 41-year-old Cheromei is still highly competitive. Last December she ran 2:22:11 to finish second at the Valencia Marathon, 41 seconds shy of her PB recorded back in 2012. She also clocked 2:28:48 to win in Rabat 12 months ago and four months earlier she clocked 2:23:31 to finish as the runner-up in Shanghai.

Aberu Mekuria also competed in the Valencia Marathon last year and improved her PB by nearly one minute to finish fourth in 2:24:35. It will be the third race on Chinese soil for the 35-year-old, who won the 2016 Hengshui Lake Marathon in 2:26:07.

Flomena Chepchirchir is the second fastest on paper in the field with a PB of 2:23:00 set in Frankfurt in 2013. But the 37-year-old Kenyan is struggling to return to her best form in recent years as her best performance last year was a sixth-place finish in Prague in 2:32:10. Chepchirchir will be contesting the race for the first time.

(03/29/2019) Views: 2,695 ⚡AMP

The strongest fields ever assembled for the New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon will be gunning for race records

On the men's side, four entrants with sub-2:10 credentials will be on the start line targeting the 2:13:05 standard set by Kenyan Josphat Too in 2013.

Among the favourites is Kenyan Mike Mutai, the winner of the 2016 Hong Kong Marathon who also boasts podium finishes from marathons in Singapore, Hangzhou and Hefei. Mutai, 36, clocked his 2:09:18 lifetime best in Dubai in 2012.

Another contender is Ethiopian Abraham Girma whose 2:06:48 personal best set in 2012 makes him the fastest in the field. More recently, he clocked 2:12:46 in Porto last November, finishing fifth.

A third contender is Philip Kangogo of Kenya, who set his 2:08:16 lifetime best when winning the 2015 Barcelona Marathon in his debut over the distance.

Mathew Kipsaat, who clocked 2:09:19 at the 2017 Rome Marathon, is also in the field. 

Similarly in the women's race, five women with sub-2:30 credentials have been recruited to set their sites on Kim Jong-hyang's 2:34:53 race record set in 2014.

He Yinli (marathon world ranking: 164) of China is the fastest in the field with a personal best of 2:27:35 set at the 2015 Chongqing Marathon where she's finished on the podium twice. She clocked 2:31:14 at the Osaka Women's Marathon in January, her most recent race.

Kenyan Nancy Koech (marathon world ranking: 318) is another contender. She arrives armed with a 2:29:30 career best set at the 2017 Daegu Marathon, with wins at the Malaga, Copenhagen and Munster marathons to her credit.

Another Kenyan, Sylvia Medugu (marathon world ranking: 201), has a 2:29:09 personal best, set at the 2017 Frankfurt Marathon. 

(03/15/2019) Views: 2,289 ⚡AMP

Kenya’s Paul Kios Kangogo wants to win and break the course record at Beijing Marathon

Kangogo who has a best time of 2:09:20, said he has overcome his injury concerns and is ready to return to the winner's podium in the Chinese capital. However, it will not only be the win he is targeting but to improve on his best time and attack the course record of 2:07:16, which was set five years ago by Ethiopia's Tadese Tola. My training has gone well and everything is fine. I have pushed my body to the limit and am happy, I have come through without any problems. I can say am in-form. I know there will be a strong Ethiopian challenge including the past champions, but running a marathon is down to your own strength and strategy and past record count for less," Kangogo told Xinhua, Thursday in Nairobi. The Kenyan has blown hot and cold in the last two years, mainly due to injury and hopeful, after returning to fitness in April, he will be consistent to string together another podium finish. He however, will be up against the 2014 Beijing marathon champion Fatuma Sado, Tola Dibaba (2:06:17) and Abayneh Ayele (2:06:45) who will be running his third race in China this year. He finished second in 2:14:13 at the Chongqing marathon in March and went on to take third place in Dongying in 2:13:47. There is also Ethiopia's Seboka Negusse (2:09:44) winner at the Hannover marathon in April and Xiamen marathon champion Dejene Debela (2:07:10). (09/15/2018) Views: 1,742 ⚡AMP

Hot and humid weather slowed the times at Chongqing Marathon

Ethiopia’s Meseret Legese and Kennedy Cheboror of Kenya took the women’s and men’s titles respectively at the Chongqing International Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label road race on Sunday (25). The 30-year-old Legese led a four-woman leading group in the first 15 kilometres and enjoyed a comfortable sole lead in the final stages of the race after passing the 30-kilometre mark in 1:45:48, 35 kilometres in 2:03:29 and 40 kilometres in 2:21:22. Cheboror upset a quality field that included several sub-2:10 runners to achieve his first career win over 26.2 miles. His winning time of 2:13:41 is 3:20 shy of the personal best he set in Brescia 12 months ago, but today’s race was held in humid and foggy weather conditions. (03/25/2018) Views: 2,049 ⚡AMP