Running News Daily

Course record holder Daniel Kibet aims to regain Istanbul Marathon title

Kenya’s Daniel Kibet seeks a second victory when he returns to the N Kolay Istanbul Marathon, a World Athletics Elite Label road race, on Sunday (7).

The 25-year-old, who was inspired by former world record-holder Paul Tergat, produced a surprise two years ago when he won the race despite starting as a pacemaker, improving the course record to 2:09:44.

He may well have to break the record again to repeat his victory. With a dozen runners on the start line featuring sub-2:10 PBs, organisers hope that the event can regain the Turkish all-comers’ record it lost to Izmir in April, when Ethiopia’s Tsegaye Getachew ran 2:09:35.

“I am happy to be back in Istanbul and my aim is to regain my title,” said Kibet, who set his PB of 2:06:49 when finishing fifth at the Seville Marathon in 2019.

“I am ready for a faster time than in 2019, but my main focus will be on victory. The question always is: will the favourites in the first group follow the pace of the pacemakers or will they sit back? You will not want to be the only athlete to go with the pacers.”

Kibet first raced the Istanbul Marathon in 2018. “I was in really good shape, but got a hamstring problem after 32 kilometres, which forced me to drop out,” he explained.

“Knowing the course in Istanbul is an advantage. It is fast, but some parts are difficult, especially the last three kilometres with some uphill sections.”

Leading the entry lists with their respective personal bests of 2:05:25 and 2:21:59 are Ethiopia’s Bazu Worku and Mamitu Daska.

Joining Kibet and Worku among the men’s race entries are Ethiopia's Yitayal Atnafu Zerihun, the 2019 runner-up who has a best of 2:06:21, plus 2:06:25 runner Chele Dechasa and Abayneh Ayele, who has run 2:06:45 and finished fourth at the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff.

Kenya’s defending champion Bernard Sang, who ran his PB of 2:11:49 to win in Istanbul last year, also returns.

The women’s race will feature eight runners who have personal bests under 2:28. The former Dubai and two-time Frankfurt Marathon champion Daska, who was third in the 2017 New York City Marathon, is the fastest on paper with her PB set in 2011.

She will line up alongside Kenya’s Jackline Chepngeno, who has shown some promising recent form with a half marathon PB of 1:09:07 set when finishing second in Paris in September, while her marathon best of 2:24:38 was run in 2018.

They will be joined by two other sub-2:26 athletes in her fellow Kenyans Janet Rono and Sheila Jerotich, the 2018 Commonwealth Games marathon fourth place finisher.

Former world record holder Dennus Kimetto is hoping to run well this weekend

Korir clocked a lifetime best of 2:06:35 in the Korean city 12 months ago, which would have been a course record had he not been beaten by six seconds by Abraham Kiptum. The 32-year-old will be highly motivated to go one better than last year, but he faces an incredibly strong field that includes fellow Kenyan Dennis Kimetto.

Since breaking the world record in 2014, Kimetto has withdrawn from more marathons than he has completed. Beset by injuries to his quadriceps, groin and triceps, the 35-year-old ran 2:14:54 in Shanghai last year, his first completed marathon since his 2:11:44 clocking in London in 2016.

It may be some way off his 2:02:57 lifetime best, but Kimetto is hopeful that the worst of his injury worries are now behind him and that he can return to challenging for top honours at major marathons.

There are nine men in the field with sub-2:07 lifetime bests and four of them have PBs quicker than the Daegu course record of 2:06:29: Ethiopia’s Shifera Tamru, who clocked 2:05:18 in Dubai earlier this year, three-time Houston Marathon winner Bazu Worku, three-time Amsterdam winner Wilson Chebet and evergreen Kenyan Mark Kiptoo.

Defending champion Janet Rono will face two other past Daegu winners on Sunday.

Rono won in Daegu last year in 2:28:01, and although her PB is a couple of minutes quicker at 2:26:03, she will start as the third-fastest athlete in the women’s field.

Ethiopia’s Mulu Seboka won in Daegu in 2014, having won in Dubai just a few months prior. She went on to clock a PB of 2:21:56 one year later and in 2018 she had a best of 2:25:01.

Defending champions will face a strong field at Lagos City Marathon

Almenesh Herpha and Abraham Kiprotich, the 2018 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon winners, will line up against formidable opposition when they defend their titles at the IAAF Bronze Label road race on Saturday.

Herpha pulled off a surprise victory 12 months ago, winning in 2:38:25 to finish just 33 seconds shy of the course record. But despite reducing her PB to 2:33:20 later in the year in Beirut, there will be 14 other women with faster PBs on the start line on Saturday.

With a lifetime best of 2:20:59 set when finishing runner-up at the 2017 Paris Marathon, Agnes Jeruto is the fastest woman in the field. The Kenyan contested just one marathon last year, clocking 2:27:46 to finish third at the Gold Coast Marathon and has reached the podium in her eight most recent marathons.

Georgina Rono finished just shy of the Lagos podium last year, running 2:39:44. A 2:21:39 performer at her best, the Kenyan ended 2018 on a high by winning the Riga Marathon in 2:28:22.

Caroline Kilel, the 2011 Boston Marathon champion, set her PB of 2:22:34 back in 2013. Although she hasn’t been close to that in recent years, her 2018 season’s best of 2:31:29 suggests the 37-year-old Kenyan will still be competitive on Saturday.

Janet Rono won the Daegu Marathon just 10 months ago in 2:28:01, less than two minutes shy of her PB. The Kenyan has contested 19 marathons to date, nine of which were completed within 2:30.

Emily Samoei’s PB of 2:26:52, set in 2012, remains her only sub-2:30 performance to date, but she will be motivated to improve on her fifth-place finish from last year’s Lagos Marathon.

Mestawot Tadese has represented Ethiopia in the 1500m at the Olympic Games and World Championships. Now a marathon runner, she has a lifetime best of 2:31:38 and could contest for a podium finish on Saturday.

In the men’s race, five of the top six finishers from last year return to Lagos, including defending champion Abraham Kiprotich of France.

Kiprotich has won three out of his past four marathons, ending 2018 with a season’s best of 2:10:55. The 33-year-old set his lifetime best of 2:08:33 when winning the 2013 Daegu Marathon. He may not need to replicate that time on Saturday, but he may need to improve upon his course record of 2:15:04 if he wants to hold on to his title.

Having finished a close second in 2017 and 2018, Ronny Kiboss will be highly motivated for Saturday’s race. The Kenyan’s 2:12:17 PB dates back to his marathon debut in 2014, but he is likely capable of a quicker time on a faster course.

Benjamin Bitok and Joseph Kyengo Munywoki, who finished third and fourth respectively in 2018, also return to the Nigerian capital. Bitok’s PB of 2:09:13 was set at the 2017 Rome Marathon, while Munywoki’s best of 2:10:21 came when winning in Dresden three years ago.