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Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo wins World Cross Country title as Kenyans wilt

Kenya, for the first time in 14 years, failed to claim a medal in men’s 10 kilometres at the World Cross Country Championships as Uganda claimed back-to-back victories in Bathurst, Australia on Saturday.

Two times World Cross Country champion Geoffrey Kamworor was the best Kenyan finisher at fourth place in 29 minutes and 37 seconds as Commonwealth 10,000m champion Jacob Kiplimo won in 29:17.

Kiplimo, who claimed silver in 2019 in Aarhus, Denmark, was in splendid form, beating Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi to silver position in 29:25 as defending champion Joshua Cheptegei from Uganda settled for bronze in 29:37.

Kamworor, the 2015 and 2017 champion, who settled for bronze in Aarhus, ran out of gas to let Aregawi overtake him to fall out of the medal bracket.

The last two laps were simply the three East African countries’ affair with Kamworor, World Half Marathon silver medallist KIbiwott Kandie and Daniel Simiu taking on the Ugandan duo and Aregawi.

It’s Cheptegei who led Kamworor, Kiplimo and Aregawi into the last lap as the rest wilted in the hills challenge.

Kandie, Simiu and Sabastian Sawe finished fifth, sixth and seventh respectively.

Kiplimo succeeds compatriot Cheptegei as world cross-country champion in Bathurst

The senior men’s title at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 23 remained with Uganda, but this time a different athlete wore the crown as Jacob Kiplimo claimed gold.

The 22-year-old finished second in the senior men’s race in Aarhus four years ago, despite still only being 18 years old at the time. But he earned his first senior global title 18 months later when winning at the World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia.

In the years that followed, though, he was beaten into bronze over 10,000m at the Olympic Games in 2021 and at the World Championships in 2022.

But today in Bathurst Kiplimo’s brilliance shone through, conquering an incredibly strong field and defying the stormy conditions that broke out just a few minutes into the race.Kiplimo and compatriot Joshua Cheptegei, the defending champion, held back on the first lap, while their Ugandan teammates Isaac Kibet, Samuel Kibet and Martin Kiprotich ran at the front of the pack. Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor, two-time winner of the senior men’s title, was tucked behind the leading trio with the first lap covered in 6:09.

The pace increased slightly on the second lap, whittling the lead pack down to 15 men with most of the big contenders in it. Kiprotich still led with Kamworor close behind while Kiplimo and Cheptegei ran towards the back of the pack. Ethiopian cross-country champion Berihu Aregawi was just a stride ahead of Kiplimo, and Burundi’s Rodrigue Kwizera – current leader on the World Athletics Cross Country Tour – was right at the rear of the group.About half way into the race, Cheptegei took close order and moved to the front of the pack, running level with Kamworor. Kenya’s Daniel Simiu Ebenyo was also close by, along with Kiplimo and Aregawi. Kwizera, meanwhile, was starting to lose contact with the lead group, and Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega of Ethiopia was beginning to show signs of discomfort.

But as the temperatures started to drop, the race started to heat up. The two former winners, Kamworor and Cheptegei, still looked good out in front. They, along with Kiplimo and Aregawi, eventually formed a breakaway quartet. Former world half marathon record-holder Kbiwott Kandie led the chase pack, which was five seconds adrift of the leaders by the end of the fourth lap.

But Kiplimo, who has considerable mountain-running experience, was clearly still full of running, despite the challenging course and he made a break on the final lap. By the time he reached the ‘billabong’ – the muddy section of the course just before one of the most challenging climbs – he had a two-second lead over Cheptegei, with Aregawi and Kamworor just one second behind the Ugandan duo.Kiplimo maintained that lead as he emerged from the vineyard and had extended it to seven seconds by the time he reached the ‘mountain straight’ part of the course. By this time, Aregawi had moved past Cheptegei into second place, while Kamworor was five seconds adrift of the defending champion.

As he charged down the penultimate downhill stretch, double Commonwealth champion Kiplimo could sense that victory was his. He turned and ran through the tyre section still with a comfortable lead, then eased round the final bend, took one last glance behind him to ensure his lead was safe, and then started celebrating some 50 metres out from the finish.

He crossed the line in 29:17 – a remarkably quick time for 10km given the difficulty of the course – with Aregawi, a World Cross debutant, taking silver in 29:26. Cheptegei just about held on for bronze ahead of a fast-finishing Kamworor, both men timed at 29:37. Kandie remained in fifth, some 20 seconds adrift of the leading quartet.

Despite missing out on an individual medal, Kamworor found some consolation in the fact he led Kenya to gold – his first senior men’s team title in five World Cross appearances. Ethiopia took silver and Uganda earned bronze.

The same three nations have now filled the podium in the senior men’s team competition for the three most recent editions of the World Cross, albeit in a different order each time.

“The course was really good,” said Kiplimo. “Even with lots of wind, it was really intense. I think for me it was really good because there are lots of hills where we train in Uganda. It was not easy but I did my best.”

Aregawi, meanwhile, was delighted to earn his first senior global medal. Back in 2018 he won the African U18 title over 3000m, and then earned two silver medals at the Youth Olympic Games later that year. In 2021 he won the Diamond League 5000m title and set a world 5km record on the roads, but missed out on a 10,000m at the Olympic Games.

He improved his PBs at 3000m, 5000m and 10,000m in 2022 but was once again shy of a medal at the World Championships in Oregon. But he will be leaving Bathurst with individual and team silver medals.

“The conditions were tough,” he said. “It was hot on the first lap, and then it changed to windy. This championship was very difficult and tough, but I am really pleased.”

Cheptegei was also pleased, given the circumstances.“I think it was a good race, especially coming back from injury,” said the world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder. “I didn’t have the best preparation, but I’m grateful to come here and finish on the podium. Now I can be reassured I can go focus on the track soon, and especially the coming World Championships.”

Bathurst ready to welcome the world on ‘toughest ever’ championship course

Absence, they say, makes the heart grow fonder. But in the case of World Athletics Cross Country Championships, it also seemingly makes the courses tougher.

Four years have passed since the memorable 2019 edition in the Danish city of Aarhus, where athletes had to run up a museum roof, trudge through a mud pit, and dash through a Viking zone. It was widely regarded as one of the most unique and challenging courses ever at a World Cross.

Now, on the eve of the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 23, many people are convinced that the course for this year’s edition is even tougher.

“In recent years we’ve talked about reinvigorating cross country, and we adjusted the course in Aarhus to create a more challenging one,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. “I’m delighted that the team here in Bathurst have picked up that torch and done an outstanding job. I’d say this is certainly one of the toughest courses ever for a World Cross.

“We are really pleased to be here,” he added. “In the 50-year history of the World Cross, this is just the second time it has been held in Oceania, and it’s the first time it has been held in Australia.

“Bathurst has one of the most iconic motor racing tracks in the world, but now, in the same breath, people will think of Bathurst staging the World Cross Country Championships.”

Local Organizing Committee Co-Chair Matt Whitbread expressed his pleasure at welcoming the world to Australia for a global athletics event.

“We’re delighted to have everyone here in Bathurst,” he said. “After the last edition in Denmark, there was plenty of inspiration. We got the brief that the course needed to be hard, and hopefully we’ve achieved that.

“We were originally scheduled for 2021, then 2022, and we’re finally here now,” he said. “We’re thrilled to be here and we welcome you all.”

Coe also used the opportunity to underline the importance of cross country.

“World Athletics takes cross country very seriously, and the importance of cross country goes beyond a great World Championships like this,” he said.

Championships ambassador Paul Tergat is living proof of someone who benefitted from cross-country running. A five-time world champion at cross country, the Kenyan legend also set world records on the track and roads during his long career.

“Cross country is part of my DNA,” said Tergat. “This is where my career started. Being here, especially in Australia where I have such fond memories, makes it more special.

“With cross country, not only do you have to think about the athletes you’re racing against, you also have to think about the terrain and the course,” he added. “I believe that makes you tougher. Each course is different, which makes cross country unique.”

Cheptegei and Kamworor ready for rematch

Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei and Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor – who, between them, have won the past three senior men’s titles – will once again go head to head on Saturday.

Cheptegei’s compatriot Jacob Kiplimo, who took silver in 2019, is also in Bathurst, meaning the full podium will be reunited.

“It’s exciting that the people who shared the podium in 2019 are all back here,” said Cheptegei, the 5000m and 10,000m world record-holder. “I know it’s going to be mind-blowing and will be something that will stay in our hearts and minds for a long time.”

Memories of the 2017 World Cross Country Championships have certainly stayed with Cheptegei over the past six years. On that occasion, with the World Cross taking place on home soil, Cheptegei had built up a huge lead but fatigue eventually got the better of him and he faded to 30th, as Kamworor successfully defended his title.

“Sometimes you have to accept what life throws at you and then learn from it,” said Cheptegei. “I can proudly say that I am a better athlete because of the incident in 2017. It taught me a lot of lessons about my life and my career. When you want something in life, it’s important to chase your goals, but you also have to be patient and make certain judgements.”

For Kamworor, it was the 2011 edition of the World Cross that holds most significance.

“The first major title I won was the U20 title at the 2011 World Cross Country Championships,” he said. “That motivated me so much, and ever since then I have loved cross country.”

Despite winning two individual senior titles and one U20 title, Kamworor is yet to win a senior team gold at the World Cross. He hopes that will change on Saturday, though.

“We had great training with the team and we hope to do our best tomorrow and hopefully win the team title,” he said.

Hull and Coburn take different routes to Bathurst relay

Dramatically contrasting paths have led accidental contender Emma Coburn and child prodigy Jessica Hull to the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst where they are both in contention for medals.

Colorado-based Coburn, 32, is looking forward to leading USA in the mixed relay, despite being an athlete who spurned cross country at school and college in favour of volleyball and track.

Coburn instead went on to become a steeplechase specialist, winning the 2017 world title at that discipline, as well as the 2019 world silver and 2016 Olympic bronze.

Coburn said the longer cross country courses were the reasons she never got into the discipline.

“I was never that mentally into it (cross country) because I played volleyball during the same season in high school,” Coburn said. “In college I tried it, but I wasn’t that great. I always loved the steeplechase and the track.”

Being able to compete in a mixed relay – the ninth time Coburn has represented the USA at a global championship – where each runner completes a 2km loop has changed her attitude about cross country.

“This 2km distance I think is really fun,” she said. “The muscular strength in my legs will be beneficial on some of the technically challenging parts of the race, like the mud pit.

“As a steeplechaser, I like the challenge of this course. We’ll be going for it, trying our hardest to conquer the course and come out with some hardware.

“This is a fun opportunity and something different for me. I’m eager to try new things and mix it up and this is an opportunity to challenge my mind and body.”

Coburn will be supported in the mixed relay by US teammates Heather MacLean, a 2021 Tokyo Olympic 1500m semi-finalist, steeplechase expert Alec Basten, and 2019 mixed relay runner Jordan Mann.

The USA will be vying for the medals alongside Australia, whose team boasts a cross country child enthusiast in Hull.

Twenty years ago Hull kicked off her athletics career doing 2km primary school cross country carnivals across the road from her home in New South Wales, Australia.

“It’s kind of scary,” Hull said. “It was part of my school sports days and it was 2km. Now I’ll do a 2km hot lap of the Bathurst course. So it’s kind of a full circle moment.

“If we were to get the win out there, it would be pretty special,” she added. “It is incredible that we can talk about the Aussie team even having a win. It would be quite a remarkable day if we got to hear the national anthem while we are out there.”

Athletics has taken Hull, 26, from school cross country carnivals to the world stage where she’s been a 1500m finalist at three majors – the 2021 Tokyo Olympics (11th), the 2022 World Championships in Oregon (7th) and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham (8th).

Hull will be joined on the tough Bathurst course by three other Australian 1500m specialists: Commonwealth champion Oliver Hoare, Commonwealth bronze medallist Abbey Caldwell, and Olympic finalist Stewart McSweyn.

The mixed relay is the first medal event on the championship programme on Saturday (18). 15 teams will compete for the medals, running in a 4x2km man-woman-man-woman format with each athlete having a wristband which they transfer to their teammate in the takeover zone.

“Cross country is an absolutely essential part of the development of young athletes. Any athlete who can master cross country and can do so from a young age is going to be well placed to pursue an endurance career on the track.”

WXC Bathurst 23 senior men's preview: Cheptegei to defends in loaded field

The defending champion, a two-time winner, the world half marathon champion, Olympic and world gold medalists. The senior men’s 10km at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 23 on Saturday (18) looks set to offer a clash for the ages.

The top three from the last edition in Aarhus in 2019 all return as Joshua Cheptegei races to retain his crown against a field featuring his fellow Ugandan Jacob Kiplimo, runner-up four years ago, and Kenya’s two-time champion Geoffrey Kamworor.

Kamworor will be joined on the Kenyan team by world half marathon silver medalist KibiwottKandie and Diamond League champion Nicholas Kipkorir, while Ethiopia’s greatest strength comes in the form of Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega and world 5km record-holder Berihu Aregawi.

Then there’s Burundi’s RodrigueKwizera – 11th at the 2019 World Cross but winner of last season’s World Cross Country Tour and joint leader on this season’s tour – along with many other athletes ready to make their mark.

For Cheptegei, Bathurst offers an opportunity for the 26-year-old to follow in the footsteps of stars such as Kamworor, Ethiopian great KenenisaBekele and official event ambassador Paul Tergat – the latter pair having achieved the feat multiple times – in becoming a back-to-back winner of the senior men’s title.

After disappointment at his home edition of the championships in Kampala in 2017, when he struggled while leading on the last lap and eventually finished 30th, Cheptegei was triumphant in Aarhus two years later as he won a first world cross country title to go with his world 10,000m silver from 2017 and two Commonwealth Games titles from 2018. Since then, he has become an Olympic and world champion, winning the 5000m in Tokyo and the 10,000m in Doha and Oregon, while he has also set world records in both disciplines.

Affected by injury in 2022, Cheptegei ended his year with a 10km win in Madrid in 27:09 and has been working towards the World Cross Country Championships since then.

In 2019 he led Uganda to the senior men’s team title and in 2017 his 30th-place finish clinched team bronze for the nation. Joined by Kiplimo, who has individual gold medal ambitions of his own, plus 2019 U20 ninth-place finisher Samuel Kibet and 19-year-old Rogers Kibet, who placed in the top three at four World Cross Country Tour Gold meetings last year, another team medal will be the aim.

Two years on from becoming Uganda’s first ever World Cross Country Championships gold medalist thanks to his U20 win on home soil, Kiplimo missed the senior title by just four seconds in Aarhus, but like Cheptegei, his star has continued to rise ever since. The 22-year-old won the world half marathon title in 2020 and then claimed Olympic and world bronze in the 10,000m, before completing a 5000m and 10,000m double at the Commonwealth Games. Now he targets another global gold.

But Kamworor has the same aim. With his own injury struggles behind him, the 30-year-old – winner of the U20 world cross country title in Punta Umbria in 2011 before his senior wins in Guiyang in 2015 and Kampala in 2017 – will look to regain the crown. In January the three-time world half marathon champion won at the National Police Service Cross Country Championships ahead of Commonwealth 10,000m silver medalist Daniel SimiuEbenyo, and he has proven time and time again that he thrives on the major stage.

With former world half marathon record-holder Kandie, SabastianKimaruSawe and Olympic and world 5000m finalist Kipkorir joining them in the Kenyan squad, the nation has a strong opportunity to claim the senior men’s team title for the first time since 2011.

But Ethiopia will also be looking to regain a team title claimed in 2013, 2015 and 2017. Leading the way is Barega, who made world finals in the 5000m and 10,000m in Oregon and then finished second in the Great North Run half marathon in September before starting his year with a win at the Elgoibar Juan Muguerza Cross Country. So far his World Cross career features two fifth-place finishes – one in the senior race in 2019 and another in the U20 event in 2017.

Aregawi is another athlete to watch. The 21-year-old, who finished fourth in the Olympic 10,000m final in Tokyo, won the Jan Meda Cross Country in Sululta – Ethiopia’s trial race for Bathurst – at the start of the year and makes his World Cross Country Championships debut.

GetanehMolla was third, MogosTuemay fourth and HailemariyamAmare sixth in that trial race and they all join Aregawi and Barega on the Ethiopian team.

So far, Thierry Ndikumwenayo’s ninth-place finish in the senior men’s race at the 2019 event is Burundi’s best men’s result at the World Cross Country Championships but given his pedigree in the discipline, Kwizera should be capable of building on that as he switches the Cross Country Tour for a global field. The Spain-based 23-year-old – winner in San Giorgio su Legnano and Venta de Banos recently – also finished fourth in the Valencia 10km in 27:04 last month and will hope to progress from 11th in 2019 and 39th in 2017.

Spain’s NassimHassaous and AbdessamadOukhelfen, who have also been busy on the World Cross Country Tour Gold circuit in their home country, compete at the World Cross Country Championships for the first time.

The US team is led by national cross country champion Emmanuel Bor, who has experience from competing at the 2019 edition in Aarhus, and he’s joined by 2017 11th-place finisher Sam Chelanga.

While the mixed team relay is considered the best medal chance of the host nation, Australia will be looking to make an impact on the team standings in the senior men’s race, too. The team's main contenders have the benefit of having checked out the venue early, and will have had more time to adjust to the conditions in Bathurst.

Oceanian 10,000m record-holder Jack Rayner won the trial race ahead of Matt Ramsden and Oceanian marathon record-holder Brett Robinson and the trio return to World Cross action after respective 62nd, 38th and 30th-place finishes in 2019. Robinson was 28th in 2015 and 29th a decade ago in Bydgoszcz, while Rayner was 40th in Kampala.

Prior to Bathurst, 50 World Athletics member federations have yet to compete at the World Cross Country Championships but in the senior men’s race on Saturday, six of those nations are set to field athletes – Cook Islands (Andrew John Logan), Marshall Islands (Bildad Bildad), Northern Mariana Islands (Sildrey Job Noceja Veloria), Pakistan (Sohail Amir), French Polynesia (Damien Troquenet) and Solomon Islands (Martin Faeni, Gregory Foasilafu, Rosefelo Siosi).

Defending champion Kipruto to take on Bekele, Kamworor, Farah, Tola and Kiptum at London Marathon

The 2023 TCS London Marathon elite men’s field will be a landmark occasion when, for the first time in history, two men who have run inside 2:02 will be together on the same start line at the World Athletics Platinum Label road race on 23 April.

Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, the second-fastest man ever with a PB of 2:01:41, and Kenya’s Kelvin Kiptum, the winner of the 2022 Valencia Marathon and the fastest marathon debutant in history (2:01:53) have both been confirmed for the race.

With Ethiopian duo Birhanu Legese (2:02:48) and Mosinet Geremew (2:02:55) also in the field, it means this year’s London Marathon will have four of the five fastest men in marathon history on the start line.

In addition, the defending champion Amos Kipruto of Kenya and world champion Tamirat Tola of Ethiopia will also return to London, along with multiple world and Olympic champion Mo Farah and two-time New York Marathon winner Geoffrey Kamworor.

Kipruto’s win at last year’s London Marathon was the biggest victory of his career and his first Abbott World Marathon Major triumph. “Winning last year’s TCS London Marathon was an incredible experience for me,” said the 30-year-old, who was second at last year’s Tokyo Marathon behind world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge and third in the 2019 World Championships. “I am now preparing hard for this year’s race and I can’t wait to return to London as the champion.

“London always has a really strong field and this year is the same so I know I will face a battle to defend my title, but I’m confident and looking forward to it.”

Tola, who won the world title in Oregon last year, will be one of several men aiming to prevent Kipruto from winning back-to-back titles. Tola, 31, is in a fine run of form over the 26.2-mile distance, winning the 2021 Amsterdam Marathon and finishing third at the 2022 Tokyo Marathon (behind Kipchoge and Kipruto) before winning his world title last summer.

Also in the field is last year’s runner-up Leul Gebresilase of Ethiopia, and the second-placed finisher in London in both 2020 and 2021 Vincent Kipchumba.

The new holder of the Oceanian marathon record Brett Robinson, who ran 2:07:31 in Fukuoka last year, returns to London after finishing eighth in 2022. Japan’s 2018 Boston Marathon champion Yuki Kawauchi is making his London Marathon debut in what will be his 114th marathon. By finishing in London, Kawauchi will be eligible for his Abbott World Marathon Majors six star medal for finishing all six major marathons: London, Tokyo, Boston, Berlin, Chicago and New York.

The elite women’s field will be announced tomorrow.

Elite men’s field

Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) 2:01:41

Kelvin Kiptum (KEN) 2:01:53

Birhanu Legese (ETH) 2:02:48

Mosinet Geremew (ETH) 2:02:55

Amos Kipruto (KEN) 2:03:13

Tamirat Tola (ETH) 2:03:39

Kinde Atanaw (ETH) 2:03:51

Leul Gebresilase (ETH) 2:04:02

Vincent Kipchumba (KEN) 2:04:28

Seifu Tura (ETH) 2:04:29

Mo Farah (GBR) 2:05:11

Geoffrey Kamworor (KEN) 2:05:23

Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) 2:07:27

Brett Robinson (AUS) 2:07:31

Dewi Griffiths (GBR) 2:09:49

Rory Linkletter (CAN) 2:10:24

Chris Thompson (GBR) 2:10:52

Tom Gröschel (GER) 2:11:03

Ben Connor (GBR) 2:11:20

Joshua Griffiths (GBR) 2:11:28

Frank Lara (USA) 2:11:32

Luke Caldwell (GBR) 2:11:33

Weynay Ghebresilasie (GBR) 2:11:57

Emile Cairess (GBR) debut.

Kenenisa Bekele leads list of all-stars in London

Four of the five fastest marathon men in history go head-to-head in mouth-watering race in London on April 23.

The TCS London Marathon has pulled out all the stops to put together one of the greatest men’s line-ups of all time. When it comes to the best marathon runners on the planet, only Eliud Kipchoge, is missing.

Kipchoge is racing in Boston instead but he would have his work cut out if he had chosen to race in London as the field includes:

» Kenenisa Bekele – No.2 on the all-time rankings with 2:01:41, former world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder and multiple winner of Olympic and world titles on the track and country.

» Kelvin Kiptum – the fastest debutant in history with a best of 2:01:53 from Valencia in December.

» Amos Kipruto – defending London Marathon winner from last October.

» Tamirat Tola – reigning world champion from Eugene last summer.

» Mo Farah – British record-holder and 10-time global track champion.

In addition to this the field boasts Ethiopians Birhanu Legese and Mosinet Geremew, who have both run 2:02 marathons, plus last year’s London runner-up Leul Gebresilase, the 2020 and 2021 runner-up Vincent Kipchumba and two-time New York City Marathon winner Geoffrey Kamworor.

Kipruto, the Kenyan who won last October, said: “I am now preparing hard for this year’s race and I can’t wait to return to London as the champion.

“London always has a really strong field and this year is the same so I know I will face a battle to defend my title, but I’m confident and looking forward to it.”

Brett Robinson, the Australian who ran an Oceania record of 2:07:31 in Fukuoka late last year, will hope to improve on his eighth place from London last October. Sean Tobin, who earned headlines recently for his Antarctic marathon exploits, makes his road marathon debut in London.

Yuki Kawauchi, the Japanese runner who prevailed in terrible weather to win the 2018 Boston Marathon, is also in the line-up.

TCS London Marathon – elite men’s field

Amos Kipruto (KEN, PB 2:03:13)

Kenenisa Bekele (ETH, 2:01:41)

Kelvin Kiptum (KEN, 2:01:53)

Birhanu Legese (ETH, 2:02:48)

Mosinet Geremew (ETH, 2:02:55)

Tamirat Tola (ETH, 2:03:39)

Kinde Atanaw (ETH, 2:03:51)

Leul Gebresilase (ETH, 2:04:02)

Vincent Kipchumba (KEN, 2:04:28)

Seifu Tura (ETH, 2:04:29)

Sir Mo Farah (GBR, 2:05:11)

Geoffrey Kamworor (KEN, 2:05:23)

Yuki Kawauchi (JPN, 2:07:27)

Brett Robinson (AUS, 2:07:31)

Dewi Griffiths (GBR, 2:09:49)

Rory Linkletter (CAN, 2:10:24)

Chris Thompson (GBR, 2:10:52)

Tom Gröschel (GER, 2:11:03)

Ben Connor (GBR, 2:11:20)

Joshua Griffiths (GBR, 2:11:28)

Frank Lara (USA, 2:11:32)

Luke Caldwell (GBR, 2:11:33)

Weynay Ghebresilasie (GBR, 2:11:57)

Phil Sesemann (GBR, 2:12:10)

Charlie Hulson (GBR, 2:13:34)

Andrew Heyes (GBR, 2:13:52)

Adam Craig (GBR, 2:13:58)

Alex Monroe (USA, 2:14:15)

Ross Braden (GBR, 2:14:32)

Nick Earl (GBR, 2:14:38)

Nigel Martin (GBR, 2:15:19)

Ronnie Richmond (GBR, 2:16:59)

Nicholas Bowker (GBR, 2:17:35)

Alex Milne (GBR, 2:17:40)

Josh Lunn (GBR, 2:17:59)

Fraser Stewart (GBR, 2:18:40)

Matthew Dickinson (GBR, 2:19:23)

Emile Cairess (GBR, Debut)

Sean Tobin (IRL, Debut)

Ryan Forsyth (IRL, Debut)

The men’s and women’s wheelchair fields will be announced on Wednesday afternoon (Feb 1) while the elite women’s field will be announced on Thursday (Feb 2).

Here is everything you need to know ahead of Sunday's TCS New York City Marathon

The world’s top marathoners have assembled in NYC for the 51st running of the TCS New York City Marathon this Sunday, Nov 6. The 2022 race returns to full capacity of 50,000 runners with a stacked field of elites in the men’s, women’s and wheelchair events. Defending champion Albert Korir of Kenya returns to defend the men’s title across the five boroughs and 2022 world champion Gotytom Gebreslase of Ethiopia headlines the women’s field. 

How to watch:

Unless you live on the west coast, the 2022 TCS New York City Marathon will be easy to stream and follow online. The professional women’s field will begin at 8:40 a.m. E.T. and the professional men’s field at 9:05 a.m. E.T. Viewers should note that Daylight Savings Time ends in the early hours of Sunday morning, so viewers need to remember to change their clocks back an hour.

Follow @CanadianRunning on Twitter for live tweets and up-to-date news on the 2022 TCS NYC Marathon. 

Women’s elite field

At only 27, Ethiopia’s Gebreslase has achieved much success in the marathon. In 2021, she won Berlin in her debut and followed it up with a podium finish at the 2022 Tokyo Marathon and world championship gold in Eugene this past July. Gebreslase put her talent on display in Eugene, showing that she can run at a fast pace and hold her own against the world’s best marathoners. She will be the likely favourite to win NYC Sunday.

Lonah Chemtai Salpeter is the fastest woman in the field, with a personal best of 2:17:45 from the 2020 Tokyo Marathon. Salpeter was close to an Olympic medal in Tokyo 2020 but hit a wall late and ended-up 66th. She finally got her hands on a bronze medal in Eugene this summer but was bested by Gebreslase in a late surge. Since worlds and European championships earlier this summer, Salpeter has taken some downtime to prepare for a bid at her second Abbott World Marathon Major title in NYC.

Kenya’s Edna Kiplagat will also be one to watch, with the 2011 and 2013 marathon world champion hoping to extend her record of four World Marathon Major wins to five (Boston 2021, 2017, New York 2010, and London 2014). Kiplagat was awarded the 2021 Boston Marathon title after her compatriot Diana Kipyokei was disqualified due to a positive doping test. 

Many fans of the sport have long awaited the marathon debut of two-time 5,000m Olympic medallist and world champion Hellen Obiri of Kenya. She has gone through a lot of transition this year, switching training groups and moving from Kenya to Boulder, Colo., after worlds to train with On Athletics Club (OAC). It will be interesting to see how the speedy 14:18 5K runner can handle the hilly NYC course, but she could be a dark horse for the win.  

Outside of the top big names, the U.S. will be well represented in NYC by former national record holder Keira D’Amato, who ran both the 2022 Berlin Marathon and World Championships only eight weeks apart, and Aliphine Tuliamuk, who won U.S. marathon Olympic Trials in 2020 and holds a personal best of 2:26:50.

Canadian Running prediction: Gotytom Gebreslase (ETH) – 2:21:42 *CR*

Men’s elite field

Kenya’s Korir has a tough job ahead of him on Sunday as he aims to defend his 2021 NYC Marathon title. In his two trips to the Big Apple, Korir has achieved a lot of success. In 2019, he finished runner-up to his compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor in 2:08:36, then followed it up with a win and 14-second course PB (2:08:22) in 2021 for his first world major win. One thing Korir has going for him is that he is consistent. In his last six of eight races, Korir has dipped under the 2:10-mark, which is a speedy time for New York’s hilly course. 

Korir will face stiff competition from his Kenyan compatriot, 2022 Boston Marathon champion Evans Chebet, who will be hoping for a second major marathon win of the year. Chebet, 33, holds the fastest time in the field of 2:03-flat from the 2020 Valencia Marathon.

Ethiopia’s Shura Kitata will be another name to look out for, having finished second in 2018. Since his 2020 win at the London Marathon, Kitata has struggled to reach the podium in his last three races. His last race came in March, where he was sixth at the 2022 Tokyo Marathon in 2:06:12 for fifth. Can Kitata bounce back in NYC?

Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands was second to Eliud Kipchoge in the marathon at the 2022 Olympics and set the Dutch national record of 2:04:56 at the Rotterdam Marathon in April. Nageeye has shown he has the experience to be there late, but it will be interesting to see how he handles the course in his debut.

The U.S. men’s field in New York is one of its best in years, with five sub-2:09 marathoners. The 2016 Olympic bronze medallist, Galen Rupp, will make his NYC debut and lead the way for the Americans with a personal best of 2:06:07. Leonard Korir (2:07:56), Scott Fauble (2:08:52), and Marty Hehir (2:08:59) are three others to keep your eye on. Fauble had a sensational run at the 2022 Boston Marathon, where he placed seventh in a personal best time of 2:08:52.

Canadian Running prediction: Evans Chebet (KEN) – 2:07:43

Joyciline Jepkosgei receives promotion in Kenyan army following her success at London Marathon

Here’s your feel-good story of the day: Kenyan marathoner Joyciline Jepkosgei has been recognized by her country for her second-place finish at the 2022 London Marathon, earning a promotion in the army.

On Tuesday, Kenya’s Chief of Defence Forces (CDF), General Robert Kibochi, promoted Corporal Jepkosgei to the role of Sergeant (Sgt.) at the Kenyan Army Defence Headquarters in Nairobi.

General Kibochi congratulated Jepkosgei for her excellent work in representing the country in major races and for improving her time, which has seen her break multiple world records.

“We are very grateful for your continuous hard work and for representing Kenya and KDF well,” said General Kibochi. 

On Sunday, Jepkosgei clocked 2:18:07, to finish second to Ethiopia’s Yalemzerf Yehualaw, who won in 2:17:26. Jepkosgei won the London Marathon in 2021, and the New York City Marathon in 2019.

Jepkosgei is one of many world-class Kenyan athletes who work for official government organizations. 800m world record holder and two-time Olympic champion David Rudisha worked as a police officer during his running career, and so does two-time NYC Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor, plus Canadian soil record holder and defending Toronto Waterfront Marathon champion Philemon Rono. 

If your workplace offered promotions for representing the company at a global marathon, would you train a little harder?

3 Ways to Be a Better Marathoner, From the Fourth-Place Finisher at Worlds

Cam Levins took two minutes off his own Canadian record. He has thoughts

At the Tokyo Olympics last year, Cam Levins had a rough time of it. He finished in 72nd place—out of 76—in 2:28:43. 

Fast forward to July 17 in Eugene, Oregon, and Levins had a vastly different result at the World Championships marathon: fourth in 2:07:09, breaking his own Canadian record from 2018. 

“I would only have been happier if I was one place higher,” Levins, 33, said in the moments immediately after the race. “But it was the best race of my life. I couldn’t be disappointed with it.” 

It wasn’t by accident. Levins, who lives in Portland, Oregon, came away from his Tokyo experience, determined to overhaul his approach. 

“I needed to be better in every way, across the board,” he said. “I changed myself completely as an athlete last year to this year. Training harder and better in every conceivable way.”

A few hours after his race, Levins stood outside Hayward Field and explained his transformation to Runner’s World, while jubilant Canadian track fans stood by to listen, take photos, and congratulate him. 

How did Levins do it? And what can runners who aren’t in the elite ranks take from his lessons? He shared three tips. 

Take an objective look at training

Levins broke the longstanding Canadian record when he debuted in 2018, running 2:09:25. Then he had a series of sub-par races over the next three years. 

After Tokyo, Levins decided he needed to return to his high-mileage ways. (When he was an undergraduate at Southern Utah University, where he was a two-time NCAA champion, he was notorious for putting in 150–160 miles per week.) 

For this marathon, he got up to 170 miles per week in March and held it for several weeks, sometimes working out twice per day. (About once every three weeks, he’d do 5 x 2,000 meters in the morning, and 20 x 400 meters in the evening.) 

The point isn’t that Levins runs high mileage and everyone else should, too. Keira D’Amato, the American record holder in the marathon, rarely breaks 100 miles per week. 

Levins’s lesson is about channeling frustration into change. Last summer, “I think I was really disappointed in myself,” he said. “I think it's important to just take a look at your training and kind of think, ‘What am I missing?’” 

Don’t neglect strength 

Levins was getting injured frequently, and he struggled late in marathons. Since Tokyo, he has been religious about his strength training, which allows him to maintain his epic volume and finish strong in races. 

“I think it makes such a huge difference late in the marathon,” he said. “It's not like you've been breathing that hard. It’s your body. You’re so worn out from running that much.” 

His routine consists of four parts—single-leg exercises, mobility work, core strengthening, and deadlifts, and he does it with the help of David McHenry, a strength coach in Portland.

“Of everything I’ve done, that's been the single most important change that I’ve made,” Levins said. 

Marathoners need speed, too

Levins trained his track speed during the marathon build. He ran 27:53 for 10,000 meters on the track in April, and occasionally, he incorporated elements of mile speed into his workouts, he said. 

He’d do repeats as short as 200 meters and short, 30-second hill repeats, as a way of “recruiting different muscle fibers,” he said. Like strength training, it’s easy to neglect amid the long runs and marathon pace work.

It paid off: In Eugene, Levins ran his final kilometer in 3:01 and outlasted Kenyan great Geoffrey Kamworor for fourth place.

Cam Levins shattered his own Canadian record in the marathon

It was a morning to remember for Canadian distance running at Alton Baker Park in Eugene on Sunday July 17.  Cam Levins shattered his own Canadian record in the marathon at the World Championships, running 2:07:10 for fourth overall behind winner Tamirat Tola in 2:05:35 and Mosinet Geremew (2:06:43), both of Ethiopia, and Bashir Abdi of Belgium (2:06:48). Levins beat his previous record of 2:09.25, which he set at the 2018 Toronto Waterfront Marathon.

Cam Levins outkicked Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor for fourth in the men’s marathon in a new national record time of 2:07:10. 

After the race, an elated Levins said he realized after the Olympics that he “needed to be better in every way, across the board,” and that he had worked hard to improve his training in every way–and we all witnessed the results on the course. (In Sapporo last year, Levins faded in the extreme humidity, finishing 72nd in 2:28:43).

After a very sedate first 30 km, with runners still in a large pack, Levins could be seen near the front, though never leading. When Tola, the eventual winner, kicked hard after an hour and 40 minutes, no one went with him–but Levins continued to look comfortable in the chase pack of five or six runners, only becoming separated from Geremew and Abdi in the last few kilometres.

This is the best-ever performance in a world championship marathon by a Canadian male; Peter Maher’s 10th-place finish at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany was the previous best.

Tamirat Tola from Ethiopia runs championship record to take world marathon title in Oregon

Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola, world silver medallist in 2017, is the world marathon champion of 2022 after a masterful and ruthless run at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 saw him come home more than a minute clear in a championship record of 2:05:36 on Sunday (17).

His teammate Mosinet Geremew won a protracted battle for silver, pulling clear of Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist Bashir Abdi over the final kilometre to finish in 2:06.44, with the Belgian taking another big bronze in 2:06.48. 

Missing the medal podium by one place was the unlikely figure of Canada’s Cameron Levins, who had the consolation of setting a national record of 2:07:09 ahead of Kenya’s three-time world half marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor, who clocked 2:07:14. 

"It was a dream come true," Tola said. "I learned from my mistake in 2017 (World Championships) and I made sure it did not happen again." 

On that occasion, Tola’s attempted run for home 10km from the end was thwarted as Kenya’s Geoffrey Kirui overtook him to win gold. This time there was no faltering on the 30-year-old Ethiopian’s part. 

In what was the first event of day three at the championships in Oregon, Tola took more than a minute off the record of 2:06:54 set by Kenya’s Abel Kirui at the 2009 edition in Berlin. 

But that was no more than an adornment for him on a day when he ran with apparent certainty from start to finish, never being far from the lead in a race that proceeded without undue vigour towards a halfway time of 64 minutes – comfortable territory for today’s elite marathon runner. 

Conditions on a course consisting of three 14km loops running through Eugene and Springfield – home of The Simpsons – were an overcast sky and temperatures rising, not dramatically, from 13C at the starting time of 6:15am. 

But there were no big city marathon pacers here. This was a championship race, with all the uncertainty that has traditionally involved. While the first half offered hope of success for many who were among the event's fastest, that hope was suddenly and ineradicably quashed by the eventual winner in the telling final quarter of the race. 

Tola shaped what had been a largely inchoate procession of surging and slacking when he took off between the 33rd and 34th kilometres. It was not a drill. 

By the 34km marker his lead was seven seconds. At 35km it was 12 seconds, at 36km it was 17 seconds and at 37km it was 26 seconds. With 5km to go, the gold was gone and the drama of the race resided in which of the chasing group of four – Abdi, Geremew, Levins and Kamworor – would share the podium. 

Geremew’s big move, when it came with a kilometre remaining, was as decisive as that of his compatriot. Very suddenly he was a silver medallist in waiting and Abdi seemed to be looking back down the field a lot in the closing stages, perhaps seeking his training partner Abdi Nageeye, who had so vigorously encouraged him to keep going in pursuit of a medal in Tokyo last summer. 

As it happened, Nageeye was one of eight runners who failed to finish, in company with Ethiopia’s defending champion Lelisa Desisa, who was not thought to be in good form and who confirmed that speculation as he struggled out of contention by the halfway point. 

The race had begun with bad news for Japan, whose charismatic national record-holder Kengo Suzuki did not start. 

America's Galen Rupp, who had run this course innumerable times as a former alumnus of the University of Oregon, was seeking to add another global marathon medal to the bronze he won at the Rio 2016 Games. But after hitting the front briefly at the halfway point, taking the field through 22km in 66:58, he dropped away to finish 19th in 2:09:36. 

Two-Time Olympic Medalist Galen Rupp Takes on the World on Home Ground

The best U.S. male marathoner takes on the world at home; also, men’s 10K and women’s 100 finals.

Day 3 of the track and field world championships starts early and ends late, with must-watch races (men’s marathon and women’s 100-meter final) bookending the action. 

But you also won’t want to drift away midday; otherwise, you’ll miss the always-exciting men’s 10,000-meter final. (Fingers crossed it matches the excitement of the women’s final on Saturday.) There are also lots of key qualifying races for finals later in the week.

Here’s a quick guide to the day’s key events

Imagine that you’re one of the best marathoners in U.S. history, and that the world championship course will run through your college town. You’d be pretty psyched, right?

That’s the situation on Sunday for University of Oregon alum and two-time Olympic medalist Galen Rupp. His buildup for this once-in-a-lifetime race has been far from ideal—he dropped out of his most recent race, the New York City Half in March, because of a herniated disc, and he had COVID in June. Nonetheless, the second fastest American in history told us earlier this month that he’s confident about his fitness and will, as per usual, fight for the win or podium as long as possible.

He’ll need confidence, fitness, and a little luck to meet that goal. Among his competitors: two-time NYC Marathon champ Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya; the reigning Olympic silver and bronze medalists (training partners Abdi Nagayee of the Netherlands and Basher Abdi of Belgium); defending world champ Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia; and Desisa’s compatriots Mosinet Geremew (second at 2019 worlds and holder of the best PR in the field) and Seifu Tura (who relegated Rupp to second at Chicago last October).

And those are just the biggest of the big names. Still, a Rupp podium appearance is possible. He and the rest of the field got a prerace bit of luck when 2019 Boston winner Lawrence Cherono of Kenya received a provisional doping suspension on Saturday. Also, world championship marathons tend to have a lot of dropouts. If a top-tier marathoner is having a bad day, it can be tempting to cut one’s losses and aim for one of the lucrative fall marathons. (Prize money for all events at worlds is paid eight deep, with $70,000 for first and $5,000 for eighth, but there are no appearance fees.) The Eugene course is a good one for this sort of DNF. It’s three 14K loops, so quitting after two circuits gets you a hard run but one that’s easy to rebound from.

T he course is also flat, and the weather is forecast to be favorable (temperatures in the 50s, with mild humidity). Times could be fast. Unlike in hotter summer global marathon championships, there should be less incentive for the top contenders to dawdle and thereby open opportunities for slower entrants.

The U.S. squad is rounded out by Army First Lieutenant Elkanah Kibet and financial analyst Colin Mickow, who both train around demanding professional responsibilities. Especially at the first world championships on U.S. soil, they, like Rupp, will be highly motivated to leave it all out on the streets of Eugene.

World Athletics Championships Oregon22 preview: marathon

Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor, whose career was traumatized in June 2020 when he was hit by a motorbike during a training run and required surgery on a broken tibia, is due to contest his first major championship marathon in Eugene on July 17.

The 29-year-old from Nyen was named on the Kenyan team for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 along with 33-year-old Lawrence Cherono – who missed a medal by one place in the marathon at last year’s Olympics – and 35-year-old Barnabas Kiptum.

Kamworor, confident and outgoing, was flying high when he had his accident.

Although he had performed to high levels on the track, where he earned 10,000m silver at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, it was on grass and roads that he had excelled, winning the world cross-country senior titles in 2015 and 2017, and world half marathon titles in 2014, 2016 and 2018.

In his first competitive marathon in 2012 he finished third in Berlin in 2:06:12, and he was a consistent presence on the podium at World Majors Marathons thereafter, particularly in New York, where he finished second in 2015, first in 2017, third in 2018 and first again in 2019.

Kamworor ran his first race since the accident in January 2021, winning the Kenyan Police Cross Country Championships before going on to secure a place on Kenya’s Olympic 10,000m team after winning the national trials, only to have to pull out with an ankle injury.

But at the Valencia Marathon last December he was able to perform to the peak of his ability once more as he set a personal best of 2:05:23 in finishing fourth.

At the previous year’s running in Valencia, Cherono was second in a personal best of 2:03:04, putting him eighth on the world all-time list, having made his World Marathon Majors breakthrough in 2019 when he won in Boston in 2:07:57 and then Chicago in 2:05:45.

Like Kamworor, Kiptum also set a personal best last year as he clocked 2:04:17 in placing third at the Milan Marathon and he has a solid top-three record in virtually every race he has contested.

Such is the depth of Kenyan talent that they can name 2017 world champion Geoffrey Kirui as a reserve.

Meanwhile Kenya’s perennial rivals Ethiopia will be looking to their current world champion Lelisa Desisa, who found the way to win in the steamy heat of Doha three years ago, to make the most of his wild card entry to this year’s competition.

Desisa had early track success, winning the African U20 10,000m title in 2009, and he has since become a highly consistent performer at the highest level, achieving podium finishes four times in New York, including victory in 2018, and four times in Boston, where he won in 2013 and 2015.

He also has championship pedigree, having earned world silver in 2013 six years before his Doha gold, and has a personal best from 2013 of 2:04:45.

The formidable talent Ethiopia can call upon was made clear when it was confirmed that Desisa will have as teammates Tamirat Tola, Mosinet Geremew and Seifa Tura.

Tola earned Olympic 10,000m bronze in 2016 and world marathon silver in 2017. He set his personal best of 2:03:38 last year.

Geremew took silver behind Desisa at the 2019 World Championships, having finished second at that year’s London Marathon in 2:02:55, the third-fastest time in history.

Tura set his personal best of 2:04:29 last year in Milan before going on to win the Chicago Marathon in 2:06:12.

Uganda, the rising nation in distance running, earned this title in 2013 thanks to their 2012 Olympic champion Stephen Kiprotich. But the 33-year-old hasn’t been selected for Oregon, nor have Stephen Kissa, who ran a national record of 2:04:48 in Hamburg earlier this year, and Victor Kiplangat who was third in the second-fastest time ever by a Ugandan, 2:05:09.

Instead, Filex Chemonges, Fred Musobo and Jackson Kiprop will run the World Championships marathon, according to the Uganda Athletics Federation. So Kiprop, who helped Kiprotich to win the 2013 world title, is back at the World Championships for the first time since 2015.

Kissa, meanwhile, is due to be in Oregon in the 10,000m, where he will run with fellow Ugandan Joshua Cheptegei, the world 5000m and 10,000m record-holder, while Kiplangat is reported to be running the Commonwealth Games marathon.

Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands and Belgium’s Bashir Abdi earned surprise silver and bronze medals respectively at the Olympics last year, but went on to confirm that their performance in Sapporo was anything but a fluke. Abdi set a European record of 2:03:36 to win the Rotterdam Marathon just two months later, while Nageeye was victorious at the Rotterdam Marathon earlier this year in a Dutch record of 2:04:56, finishing ahead of Abdi.

Both men will line up for the marathon in Oregon, only this time it will be less of a surprise if they reach the podium.

The United States will be looking to the highly consistent figure of Galen Rupp. After taking Olympic 10,000m silver in 2012, Rupp moved to the roads and earned Olympic bronze in 2016.

In 2017 he became the first US man to win the Chicago Marathon since 2002 and finished second at the Boston Marathon. He qualified for Oregon by finishing eighth at last year’s Olympics.

The championships will be in Rupp’s home state, in the same city where he made his first Olympic team in 2008 while he was a student at the University of Oregon.

The other US selections are Elkanah Kibet and Colin Mickow. Kibet, who is with the US military, finished 16th at the 2017 World Championships and set a personal best of 2:11:15 in finishing fourth at last year’s New York marathon.

Mickow is a 32-year-old full-time financial analyst for an organic and natural foods distributor who took up road running six years after finishing his college track career. He qualified for his first international vest after being the top US man home at last year’s Chicago Marathon, where he was sixth in 2:13:31.

Japan’s trio of male runners will be headed by Kengo Suzuki, who set a national record of 2:04:56 in February 2021 at the Lake Biwa marathon in Otsu. Daniel Do Nascimento of Brazil has run a 2:04:51 personal best this year and is another one to watch.

The three-loop World Athletics Championships marathon course only varies by about seven meters between its high and low points and the weather is likely to be considerably cooler than it was in Sapporo or Doha, where the men's marathon had to be held at midnight and the start time temperature was 29C/84F with 51% humidity.

Women's marathon

Ruth Chepngetich will defend her marathon title at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on July 18 by virtue of a wild card.

Chepngetich claimed the first gold medal of the 2019 World Championships, clocking 2:32:43 in the steamy heat to gain her first major gold.

She went on to finish third at the 2020 London Marathon before a roller coaster 2021, when she set a world record of 1:04:02 at the Istanbul Half Marathon, failed to finish the Tokyo 2020 Marathon in Sapporo but then won the Chicago Marathon.

At this year’s Nagoya Women's Marathon she won in 2:17:18, just 10 seconds off her personal best and the second-fastest ever women-only marathon.

She will be joined on the Kenyan team in Oregon by Judith Jeptum and Angela Tanui. Jeptum set a French all-comers’ record of 2:19:48 to win the Paris Marathon this year, while Tanui won the 2021 Amsterdam Marathon in 2:17:57.

Ethiopia will be represented by Gotytom Gebreslase, who won the 2021 Berlin Marathon on her debut and finished third in this year’s Tokyo Marathon in 2:18:18, Ababel Yeshaneh, second at the 2019 Chicago Marathon in a personal best of 2:20:51, and Ashete Bekere, third in last year’s London Marathon in 2:18:18, who has run 2:17:58 this year.

USA’s Keira D’Amato, who broke the North American record when winning January’s Houston Marathon in 2:19:12 – taking 24 seconds off the mark set by Deena Kastor in 2006 – has answered a late call to join the host nation’s team following the withdrawal of Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel.

Seidel has been suffering from a hip injury that forced her to drop out of the Boston Marathon in April and withdrew from the team after being unable to resolve her issue, giving the 37-year-old D’Amato, who only began serious marathon running in 2017, three weeks to prepare, but she is reported to be in “great shape”.

Her teammates will be Emma Bates, runner-up at last year’s Chicago Marathon, and Sara Hall, who finished second at the 2020 London Marathon and third at last year’s Chicago Marathon.

Japan has named Mizuki Matsuda, who has a personal best of 2:20:52, Mao Ichiyama, who has run 2:21:02, and Hitomi Niiya, who has a best of 2:21:17.

Britain will be represented by Rose Harvey, Olympian Jess Piasecki and Charlotte Purdue, who ran a personal best of 2:23:26 in finishing 10th at last year’s London Marathon.

Other names to watch out for are Bahrain’s Eunice Chumba, who ran 2:20:02 in Seoul in April this year, and Israel’s European 10,000m champion Lonah Salpeter, who won the 2020 Tokyo Marathon in 2:17:45 and was going well in the lead group at last year’s Olympic marathon before dropping down to 66th place in the closing stages.

After also dropping out of the 2019 World Championships marathon, Salpeter will be seeking to make the global impact her talent warrants.

Meanwhile Eritrea’s Nazret Weldu, who has run a personal best of 2:21:56 this year, is another one to watch.

All five reigning world champions named on Kenya's team for Oregon

All five of Kenya’s champions from Doha in 2019 will defend their titles at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on 15-24 July.

Beatrice Chepkoech, Ruth Chepngetich, Timothy Cheruiyot, Conseslus Kipruto and Hellen Obiri have been named on the Kenyan team for the event at Hayward Field, where they will be joined by athletes including Olympic champions Peres Jepchirchir, Faith Kipyegon and Emmanuel Korir.

Obiri won her second consecutive world 5000m title in Doha and has been selected for that event as well as the 10,000m, joined by Margaret Chelimo in both.

Chepkoech and Kipruto defend their 3000m steeplechase titles, while Cheruiyot will look to return to the top in the 1500m after securing silver behind Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen in Tokyo.

Chepngetich will be joined by Angela Tanui and Judith Jeptum in the women’s marathon, as well as Olympic champion Jepchirchir. After Tokyo, two-time world half marathon champion Jepchirchir went on to win the New York and Boston marathons and has been added to the team for Oregon.

Kenya finished second in the medal table behind USA in Doha three years ago with five gold, two silver and four bronze medals.

Kenyan team for Oregon

Women400m: Mary Moraa800m: Naomi Korir, Jarinter Mawia, Mary Moraa1500m: Winnie Chebet, Edinah Jebitok, Faith Kipyegon, Judy Kiyeng5000m: Beatrice Chebet, Margaret Chelimo, Gloria Kite, Hellen Obiri10,000m: Margaret Chelimo, Sheila Chepkurui, Hellen Obiri3000m steeplechase: Beatrice Chepkoech, Jackline Chepkoech, Celliphine Chespol, Purity Kirui20km race walk: Emily NgiiMarathon: Ruth Chepngetich, Peres Jepchirchir, Judith Jeptum, Angela Tanui

Men100m: Ferdinand Omanyala400m: Emmanuel Korir800m: Wycliffe Kinyamal, Emmanuel Korir, Cornelius Tuwei, Emmanuel Wanyonyi1500m: Timothy Cheruiyot, Abel Kipsang, Charles Simotwo, Kumari Taki5000m: Nicholas Kimeli, Jacob Krop, Daniel Simiu10,000m: Rodgers Kwemoi, Daniel Mateiko, Stanley Waithaka3000m steeplechase: Leonard Bett, Abraham Kibiwott, Benjamin Kigen, Conseslus Kipruto400m hurdles: Moitalel Mpoke20km race walk: Samuel GathimbaMarathon: Lawrence Cherono, Geoffrey Kamworor, Barnaba Kiptum

Kenya’s Irene Cheptai and Nicholas Kipkori break course records in Bengaluru

Irene Cheptai and Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli ran course records of 30:35 and 27:38 respectively at the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) World 10K Bengaluru 2022 – a World Athletics Elite Label road race – on Sunday (15).

Cheptai took 44 seconds off the women’s course record which had stood to the late Agnes Tirop at 31:19 since 2018.

After a super-fast opening two kilometers of 3:02 and 3:04, a quick time was always likely and the race was soon down to just three women at the front: Cheptai, two-time world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri and fellow Kenyan Joyce Tele.

Tele started to lose contact with her compatriots in the fifth kilometer before Obriri, pushing the pace with Cheptai running in her slipstream, passed the halfway point in 15:15.

Obiri led the race for the next two kilometers, going through 6km in 18:23 and 7km in 21:32, before Cheptai took her turn to push at the front for a kilometer as Obiri briefly went through a bad patch. However, Obiri soon recovered her poise and regained the lead just after embarking on the penultimate kilometer.

The Kenyan pair carried on their enthralling head-to-head battle, but with just 250 meters to go Cheptai darted past Obiri and was never headed before crossing the line in a personal best of 30:35, her first time inside 31 minutes.

Obiri eased off once she knew the race was lost but still came home in an outstanding 30:44, also inside Tirop’s former course record, while Tele was a distant third in 31:47 to complete an all-Kenyan podium.

“When we raced through an inclined patch on the route [just after 7km], I felt like Hellen’s pace reduced, that’s when I tried harder to take lead,” said Cheptai. “But even when I entered the stadium for the final lap, I was fearing Hellen and kept pushing my speed to win.”

The men’s race unfolded in a very different fashion to the women’s. Kipkorir Kimeli, fourth in the Olympic 5000m final last year, took the lead with a kilometer to go and pulled away from Ethiopia’s world U20 10,000m champion Tadese Worku to reduce the men’s course record by six seconds from the previous mark set by his compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor in 2014.

The race started off in an unusual manner with Kenya’s Reynold Kipkorir – who was to eventually finish ninth – out on his own for much of the first 5km, passing the halfway point in 14:00 with the rest of the elite field staying about 70 meters in arrears.

However, shortly after going through 5km, Worku changed gear and started to rapidly tow the leading men back to Kipkorir before going past him just before the 6km point and then increasing the pace further.

Kipkorir Kimeli continued running just behind Worku for the next three kilometers, letting his Ethiopian rival do all the hard work as the pair gradually got back on to course record pace as they also put daylight between themselves and the rest of the men’s field.

Worku still looked fresh as they reached the final kilometer but could not respond when Kipkorir Kimeli took the lead, with the latter almost sprinting like a middle-distance runner over the final 300 meters as the finish line approached in Bengaluru’s Sree Kanteerava Stadium.

Kipkorir Kimeli crossed the line in 27:38 with Worku also inside the old record with 27:43 while the Kenyan pre-race favorite, and former world half marathon record-holder, Kibiwott Kandie made up three places in the final two kilometers and came through for third in 27:57.

By contrast, Ethiopia’s two-time world 5000m champion Muktar Edris was never in contention for the podium and finished back in seventh.

“Honestly, I was not expecting to get the course record,” said Kipkorir Kimeli. “When we reached 5K, we didn’t think we will get the course record, in fact, even when we crossed the 7K-mark, I didn’t think we will make the record. But only when Worku pushed ahead, I picked up pace towards the end.”

TCSW10K Bengaluru 2022 elite fields packed with talent

The 14th edition of one of the world’s top road races over this distance will be held this coming Sunday 15 May.

Prestigious additions to those already named – Muktar Edris, Kibiwott Kandie and Tadese Worku in the men’s race; Hellen Obiri, Irene Cheptai and Joyce Tele in the women’s race – include Kenya’s Rio 2016 Olympic Games 10,000m silver medallist Paul Tanui and his compatriot Nicolas Kipkorir Kimeli, who was fourth in the 5000m at the Olympic Games in Tokyo last summer.

Tanui’s road racing record is rather modest, his personal best of 28:39 was when he finished sixth in the 2019 TCSW10K, but on the track the Japan-based runner has an outstanding record and has a best of 26:49.41. In addition to his Rio silver medal, Tanui has three World Athletics Championships 10,000m bronze medals to his name as well as a World Cross Country Championships silver medal.

His younger compatriot Kipkorir Kimeli was the 2017 African U20 10,000m champion on the track and will arrive in Bengaluru in very good shape after running 12:55 for 5km on the road last month.

Fellow Kenyan Bravin Kipkogei succeeded Kipkorir Kimeli as the African U20 10,000m champion in 2019 and made a big impression when he finished sixth in the famous 2020 Valencia Half Marathon, in which Kandie set a world record of 57:32, despite having been originally employed as a pacemaker.

Kipkogei has raced sparingly in 2021 and 2022 but has the pedigree to make an impact in Bengaluru.

A third notable Kenyan addition to the men’s field is Matthew Kimeli, who ran 58:43 for the half marathon last year and has already had three outings over that distance in 2022, culminating in a win in Herzogenaurach, Germany in 59:30 just nine days ago

Another man in great shape at the moment is the 2015 world U20 cross country champion Yasin Haji, from Ethiopia who has twice run 27:00 for 10km in recent weeks, firstly in the French city of Lille in March and then in Herzogenaurach.

In total eight men in this year’s TCSW10K have run faster – either on the track or the roads – than Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor course record of 27:44 that dates from in 2014

In the women’s race, a number of young and very talented road runners from Kenya and Ethiopia have been added to the elite field to challenge the three well-known names that have already been announced.

Faith Cherono, from Kenya is just 19 and had a sensational international debut less than two months ago when she stunned onlookers with a superb win over 10km in Lille in 31:06. She followed that up by improving to 30:50 in Herzogenaurach.

Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Nigsti is only two seconds slower than Cherono over 10km and has been in good form in half marathons recently, clocking a personal best of 1:06:17 in Valencia last October and going close to that mark twice in March, her only two races in 2022 before the TCSW10K.

Seven women in this year’s TCSW10K have personal bests quicker than the course record of 31:19 set by Kenya’s Agnes Tirop in 2018.

The TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2022 has a total prize fund of US$210,000, with the men’s and women’s winners taking home US$26,000 and course record bonuses of an additional US$8,000 on offer. “The world has had to wait three years because of the pandemic since the last TCS World 10K. This is the 14th edition of this fantastic race, and I am feeling very honoured because many of the world’s best distance runners have committed to coming back to India to make this one of the best events in the world over this distance,” commented Vivek Singh, joint managing director of race promoters Procam International.

TCSW10K Bengaluru 2022 elite fields (with 10km personal best times) Men Muktar Edris (ETH) 27:17 Paul Tanui (KEN) 26:49 (10,000m on the track) Kibiwott Kandie (KEN) 26:50 Tadese Worku (ETH) 26:56 Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli (KEN) 26:58 Yasin Haji (ETH) 27:00 Bravin Kipkogei (KEN) 27:12 Mathew Kimeli (KEN) 27:11 Abel Sikowo (UGA) 27.47 Telahun Bekele (ETH) 27:53 Reynold Kipkorir (KEN) debut Emmanuel Kiprop (KEN) debut

Women Hellen Obiri (KEN) 30:24 Irene Cheptai (KEN) 30:44 Faith Cherono (KEN) 30:50 Tesfaye Nigsti (ETH) 30:52 Joyce Tele (KEN) 30:59 Esther Borura (KEN) 31:02 Faith Chepkoech (KEN) 31:03 Pauline Esikon (KEN) 32:17 Lomi Muleta (ETH) debut Tariku Alemitu (ETH) debut Yitayish Mekonene (ETH) debut

In addition to the TCS World 10K for elite runners, there is an Open 10K, the Majja Run (5km) the Senior Citizens’ Race and the Champions with Disability Race (both 4.2km).

Reigning world champions Muktar Edris and Hellen Obiri headline World 10K Bengaluru 2022

After a three-year hiatus enforced by the pandemic, with the last edition of the World Athletics Elite Label Race taking place in 2019, race promoters Procam International have pulled out the stops to bring the very best athletes in the world to India’s technology capital.

Edris, from Ethiopia, is the two-time defending world champion over 5000m on the track and will be using the Bengaluru race as part of his preparations to become just the second man to win three consecutive titles in the event at this summer’s World Athletics Championships in Eugene, USA.

He is no stranger to India having made his half marathon debut in the 2020 Delhi Half Marathon, where he finished fourth in the stunning time of 59:04.

His arrival in Bengaluru fulfils a promise he made after that run. “And when I come back to India, I will certainly be aiming to win and make a bigger impression,” said Edris in November 2020.

Edris will have some strong competition if he is to fulfil his ambition.

Also announced for this year’s TCS World 10K is the former holder of the world half marathon record Kibiwott Kandie, from Kenya, who has a 10km personal best of 26;51 from last year, almost a minute faster than the course record in Bengaluru.

Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku, who is still only 20, is another man with a 10km best inside 27 minutes, having run 26:56 last September just a few months after he won the world U20 3000m title on the track.

In the women’s race, Kenya’s Obiri will be making her Indian racing debut next month.

Like Edris, she has also won the 5000m at the last two editions of the World Athletics Championships and took silver medals over the same distance at the last two Olympic Games in Rio and Tokyo.

Into the bargain, Obiri can also claim two other world titles to her name after having won the world indoor 3000m crown back in 2012 and, more recently, she was the 2019 world cross country champion.

Both Edris and Obiri will have the TCS World 10K course records as their targets on 15th May.

Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor ran the men’s record of 27:44 in 2014 while the late Agnes Tirop, also from Kenya, set the women’s course record of 31:19 in 2018. Tirop also won the TCS World 10K in 2019.

Joyce Tele comes to Bengaluru having won the Agnes Tirop Cross Country Classic in February – a memorial race in her honour after her tragic death in October 2021 shocked the world – and has produced some outstanding half marathon times since the start of 2021. Tele ran a personal best of 1:05:50 to finish second in the Berlin Half Marathon earlier this month.

A third Kenyan to watch out for in the women’s race will be the 2017 world cross country champion Irene Cheptai, who also triumphed at the 2017 TCS World 10K a few months later.

Cheptai has been in good form recently with two strong second-place finishes in the prestigious New York and Prague half marathons in the last six weeks.

The TCS World 10K Bengaluru 2022 has a total prize fund of US$210,000, with the men’s and women’s winners taking home US$26,000. “It’s a true pleasure to be able to bring some of the world’s leading distance running stars to Bengaluru. The pandemic has meant this race has not happened since 2019 but we were always determined that, when conditions allowed, we would once again stage world-class races for elite runners and amateurs,” commented Vivek Singh, joint managing director of race promoters Procam International.

“Our commitment to getting India running again and helping people pursue a healthy lifestyle has never wavered and now we are back with a bang in Bengaluru,” he added.

In addition to the TCS World 10K for elite runners, there is an Open 10K, the Majja Run (5km) the Senior Citizens’ Race and the Champions with Disability Race (both 4.2km).

The Open 10K and the Majja Run can also be participated in virtual run. See the event website https://tcsworld10k.procam.in/ for details.

Here's How How Evans Chebet of Kenya Won the 2022 Boston Marathon

He led a Kenyan podium sweep in the deepest Boston men’s pro field ever.

Thanks to covering the stretch between 35 and 40 kilometers in an astounding 13:55, Evans Chebet of Kenya won the 2022 Boston Marathon in 2:06:51.

Lawrence Cherono, the 2019 winner, and Benson Kipruto, the 2021 champion, made it a Kenyan podium sweep. Cherono placed second in 2:07:21. Kipruto took third in 2:07:27. 

Scott Fauble was the top American, placing seventh in 2:08:52. Fauble was also the top American in 2019, when he also finished seventh. Elkanah Kibet, ninth in 2:09:07, and CJ Albertson, 13th in 2:10:23, were the second and third U.S. finishers. All three set personal bests.

Here’s a full breakdown of the 2022 Boston Marathon men’s race, from how the race was won to the biggest surprise to the $$$. 

The Winner: Evans Chebet

Chebet, 33, has been near the top of world marathoning for the past few years. Only one man in the field has a better personal best than his 2:03:00, and before today he had placed first or second in 10 marathons. But his Boston win was still a big step forward in his career.

Chebet’s best races before today were in high-level marathons such as Valencia, Prague, and Seoul, not in World Marathon Majors. He placed third in Berlin in 2016, fourth in Tokyo in 2017, and fourth last fall in London. He started Boston once before today, in 2018, when he was among the one-third of elite entrants who dropped out during that year’s horrific wind, rain, and cold.

Certainly his momentum was heading in the right direction for today’s Boston. Other than that fourth in London in October, he has been on a winning streak, taking titles in Buenos Aries in 2019 and Lake Biwa and Valencia (where he set his PR) in 2020. Chebet will no doubt cherish but not be complacent about his new status among the world’s best. He likely knows that since 2009, only one man, Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia (2013 and 2015), has won more than one Boston title.

Where the Race Was Won

Chebet covered the 22nd mile in 4:27. Or as Geay apparently thought, “4:27?!” The Tanzanian looked at his watch, either in disbelief or in regret about how much time remained in the race now that he’d opted to go with Chebet. Whatever the case, Chebet dropped Geay a couple of minutes later en route to a 4:26 23rd mile. Then he ran another 4:26 mile. 

Chebet’s 13:55 5K between 35K and 40K is good enough to win most open 5K road races. Cherono and Kipruto gave chase and overtook Geay in the process, but Chebet’s victory was never in doubt once he started his fabulous display of late-race speed. Chebet acknowledged as much at the postrace press conference, saying through an interpreter he was confident that his move would get him the win.

The Biggest Surprise

It was a fast, deep race. The 10th finisher, Kinde Atanaw of Ethiopia, ran 2:09:16. That’s 35 seconds faster than Benson Kipruto ran to win the 2021 edition.

Wait, that’s surprising? Wasn’t this said to be the best Boston field in years? Didn’t the postponement of the London Marathon to October funnel that many more elites to the start line in Hopkinton? And doesn’t everyone run fast in the super shoe era?

Well, there were super shoes six months ago when winner Kipruto was the only one to break 2:10. Also, despite what may have appeared to be the case on television, the weather was challenging. The wind was slight—usually no more than 5 miles per hour while the pros were racing—but not favorable. Des Linden, who won during the 2018 monsoon and knows from wind, said there was a persistent headwind. A weather team from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell who tracked conditions confirmed to Runner’s World there was an atypical easterly (i.e., in-their-race) wind throughout the race.

And, as we noted above, it’s become common at Boston for the men to not really start racing until the final five miles. Today, they happened to do so after an opening half of 1:03:24, almost three minutes faster than the main pack ran last year.

So, yes, a bunch of really fast guys ran fast today at Boston. But that outcome was neither predictable nor weather-enabled.

In recent years, the men’s race at Boston has often featured a large lead pack cresting Heartbreak Hill together, and then someone shattering the pack with an aggressive move soon after. That trend continued today.

Chebet was among a pack of 20 that hit halfway in 1:03:24. He occasionally appeared near the front of the pack as they moved through the Newton hills, looking eager to get going, then perhaps reminding himself it was too early, and disappearing back into the group.

Fifteen men came up and over the most famous hill in running together. With five miles to go, two-time New York City winner Geoffrey Kamworor and last year’s champ, Benson Kipruto, appeared at the front for the first time. Chebet looked around some more. Then he started to push.

Within a minute, the field was single file. Only Gabriel Geay of Tanzania went with Chebet. Kipruto and 2019 winner Lawrence Cherono ran together in third and fourth

Tidbits From the Top 20

In addition to runner-up Lawrence Cherono (2019) and third-place finisher Benson Kipruto (2021), there were two other former Boston champions in the top 20. Lemi Berhanu of Ethiopia, the 2016 winner, placed 11th in 2:09:43. Yuki Kawauchi of Japan, winner during the apocalyptic storm of 2018, finished 20th in 2:12:55. 

If sixth-place finisher Albert Korir and his knock-kneed gait looked familiar, that’s because he won the 2021 New York City Marathon in November. 

Besides Scott Fauble, Elkanah Kibet, and CJ Albertson, there were four other American men in the top 20: Matthew McDonald, 14thin 2:10:35 (a PR); Reed Fischer, 16th in 2:10:54 (also a PR); Mick Iacofano, 17th in 2:11:48; and Colin Bennie, 19th in 2:12:08.

The Prize Money

Evans Chebet, $150,000

Lawrence Cherono, $75,000

Benson Kipruto, $40,000

Who is Ready? Who is Not? What the Pros Said at Boston Marathon Media Day

2022 Boston Marathon and it’s time to get excited. The weather is nice, the trees are starting to bloom (well, some of them), and two dozen of the world’s best distance runners have descended upon the Hub for the most loaded Boston Marathon in race history.

LetsRun.com will have boots on the ground all weekend, and we had a chance to talk to a number of top athletes, agents, and coaches at this morning’s media availability ahead of Monday’s race. The B.A.A. announced two race updates, with 2017 champ Geoffrey Kirui scratching from the marathon and US 10,000m champ Emily Sisson scratching from Saturday’s B.A.A. 5K. Here are the other things we learned on Friday from speaking to Molly Seidel, Peres Jepchirchir, Geoffrey Kamworor, CJ Albertson, and many more.

Molly Seidel says she has had some privacy concerns with her Strava account but is feeling excited and fit for Boston

Seidel will run two marathons in the first seven months of 2022, with Boston on Monday and the World Championship marathon in Eugene in July, and she and coach Jon Green have built their strategy for the year around those two races.

“We were looking [at] Boston as coming into this with a lot of strength and using this to try and carry through and hone the speed for Worlds,” Seidel said. “Right now I feel like we’ve set it up really well like that, and I’m hoping that the speed’s gonna be there. Fingers crossed.”

Seidel will likely need that speed over the final, mostly downhill 10k in Boston, as that is where the race is often broken open. And with two top half marathoners leading the field – World Half champ Peres Jepchirchir and former HM world record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei – the pace could get very hot at the end of the race.

Challenging for the overall win will be tough, but Seidel said she is excited to race the best in the world on Boston’s hallowed course.

“Obviously intimidated, they’re incredible, and I’ve gotten my ass kicked by Peres the two times I’ve raced her,” Seidel said. “But getting to be in a race with a huge amount of competition like that, women with incredible credentials, that fires me up like nothing else.”

Seidel’s buildup wasn’t perfect, as she dealt with a hip impingement about a month ago and had to miss the NYC Half as a result. But she’s logged multiple 130+ mile weeks since then, which you can tell by visiting her Strava page. And while it’s great for most of the running community to be able to see what an Olympic medalist does for training – transparency that Seidel says she values – recently, she has met with some of the Strava staff out of concerns that some people have been using the data to figure out where she lives.

“It can be a lot sometimes, realizing you’ve got 60,000 people following your every move and a little bit scary sometimes when people start tracking that,”’ Seidel said. “So it’s something that I’m still figuring out, honestly. And I’ve wavered back and forth on getting off the platform, mainly because of that.”

Geoffrey Kamworor (photo) is all-in on the marathon and ready to go in his Boston debut

For the first decade of his professional career, Kamworor developed a reputation as a man for all seasons. He ran 12:58 and 26:52 on the track and earned a silver in the 10,000 at Worlds, won World XC twice, and won the World Half three times. He also mixed in two NYC Marathon titles during that span, but the marathon was never his full focus.

That, says his agent Valentijn Trouw, has now changed. Boston will be Kamworor’s first spring marathon since 2014, and he has already committed to the World Championship marathon in July. At this point, he is all-in on the marathon.

And that could be a scary prospect for the rest of the field. Kamworor’s 2:05:23 pb may only be 10th-best in the field, but he ran that in Valencia in December in a race Kamworor had barely been able to train for due to an ankle injury. For this buildup, Trouw said, Kamworor did not miss a step.

While the deep men’s field is pretty wide-open on paper, one prominent agent we spoke to (not Trouw) said he views Kamworor as the favorite due to his two NYC wins and his killer speed in the half marathon – two assets that should help significantly in Boston.

Defending champ Benson Kipruto ready to take on some big names

Kipruto was a surprise winner last year, but will not be able to sneak under anyone’s radar this year. He gave the platitudes about being “happy to be back” this year. But he said his training has gone well and the goal is the same as last year — to win, despite the field being stronger this year. “There are some strong guys, but I don’t care…my preparation was good.”

CJ Albertson isn’t a 2:06 guy yet, but he’s trying to think of himself that way

Albertson has run some insane efforts in practice, including a 2:09 marathon on a treadmill in 2020 and a 2:10:28 “split” three weeks ago at the Modesto Marathon (his result is listed officially as 2:11:56, but the lead bike led Albertson the wrong way, causing him to run extra distance). Yet Albertson’s official marathon personal best is still 2:11:18 from the Marathon Project in 2020. Is he leaving his best efforts in practice? Albertson doesn’t view it that way.

“At some point, I’m gonna run fast,” he said. “Hopefully it’s on Monday.”

Albertson also had an interesting perspective when we asked about all those hard efforts in practice. They might seem crazy for a guy whose official pb is 2:11, but Albertson said his goal is to run 2:06 one day and that he tries to think of his training in that context.

“Whatever you want to be, you have to mentally be there first before you’re actually there,” Albertson said. “I want to work out and train like I am an American record holder. Because one day I’m going to be or I’ll have a shot to be in that position and those two weeks before aren’t gonna matter, it’s gonna be what I did the five years leading up to it…The workouts that I’m doing, if you look at me like an American record holder and it’s like, he’s going out and running 5:00 pace on the weekends, it’s no big deal.”

He had one of those workouts on Sunday, running 4:50 pace (2:06:43 marathon pace) for 15 miles and feeling great doing it.

As for Monday, Albertson, who led for the first 20 miles last year and ultimately finished 10th, said he will likely go out hard again but expects he will have more company this time given the strength of the field and great conditions in the forecast.

Colin Bennie is running Monday’s race for the Play Ball Foundation while his contract situation with Reebok is sorted out

Bennie was the top American at last year’s Boston Marathon, finishing 7th in 2:11:26. It is a bit of a surprise, then, that he will not be racing on Monday in the colors of the Reebok Boston Track Club. The reason why is a bit complicated. Reebok has been undergoing an ownership change, and in March was officially sold by adidas to Authentic Brands Group. Bennie’s Reebok contract was up at the end of 2021, and as a result he’s in limbo as Reebok did not want to offer a new contract in the midst of an ownership change. The new owners are still figuring out what to do with the Reebok Boston Track Club, but Bennie is hopeful that the group’s strong recent performances, such as Josette Norris’ 5th-place finish in the 1500 at World Indoors, are proof that the team is still worth supporting (he is still training with the team and coach Chris Fox in Virginia).

“There’s been good support throughout,” Bennie said. “These things just do take time.”

With no sponsor for the moment, Bennie, a Massachusetts native, will be running Monday’s race for the Play Ball Foundation, a local charity dedicated to providing sports opportunities to middle schoolers in underserved communities. Play Ball’s logo is the letters PB in large, blue font – good letters for a marathoner.

“It’s a very good thing to have on you on race day,” Bennie said.

Jake Riley and Jared Ward are hoping things turn a corner for them in Boston

Riley and Ward are both US Olympians, but both have hit some rough patches recently. They’re hoping Boston is a first step back in the right direction.

Riley, 34, had been struggling in practice and had an awful tuneup race for Boston, running 46:27 at the US 15K champs on March 5 to finish in 35th place. After searching for answers, Riley finally determined, with the help of his nutritionist, that he was underfueling between runs, which meant that he struggled to finish workouts and races strong. 

Riley pointed out that he was able to go out with the pack at the 15K but just could not get his body to go faster over the final 5k when the racing picked up.

But Riley said that he has made some changes to his diet and that the last four weeks of training have gone very well.

“Since I’ve tried to fix that, things have finally started to come around,” Riley said. “My energy levels are better, I’ve been able to close out workouts better.

”Four weeks may not be enough to turn things around for a big race in Boston, though. Riley admitted that there is a wide range of outcomes for him on Monday.

As for the 33-year-old Ward, he was wondering, after a rough 2020 season, whether he might be nearing the end of his marathon career. Now a father of five, Ward was feeling more tired in practice and daily live and simply chalked it up to getting older

“I just kind of thought, this is just, I guess, how you feel,” Ward said.

But in marathon years, 33 really isn’t that old. So Ward endeavored to find out what was wrong. Ultimately, he was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and prescribed Levothyroxine, a thyroid-replacement drug, by his doctor. But Ward is well aware of the stigma around thyroid medication in the running world, and for two weeks, the medication sat untouched in his cupboard. Ultimately, however, he decided that he would take the supplement – which is legal under the WADA Code and does not require a TUE – but that he would be open and honest about exactly what he was taking and why ( this Instagram post has more details). So far, Ward says, the reaction has been positive from fellow athletes, who are grateful that Ward has addressed the issue in an honest manner.

“It’s around us a lot more than you might think, and for people that need it, it’s important,” Ward says.

Ward says that since taking the medication, his energy levels feel back to normal, which have made it easier for him to train – and to play with his kids. But he also said that his fatigue issues before that meant that he was not able to push as hard in practice as he would have liked, meaning he probably doesn’t have the base quite yet to get back to his best marathoning.

“I think it might take a year or two to climb back to where I’d like to be,” Ward says.

Jared Ward starting new pro group in Utah: the Run Elite Program

Utah has produced a lot of really good runners, but up until now it was not known for its pro training groups, despite being at altitude and a good place to train. Jared Ward and Isaac Wood (of the Wood Report) wanted to change that and set out to get funding for a pro running group in Utah. Mike McKell, a state senator in Utah and a big runner, said they should try to get state funding, which they did to the tune of multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Wood talks about the foundation of the group below, which is designed to be shoe brand agnostic.

Peres Jepchirchir and Joyciline Jepkosgei ready to battle

Jepchirchir and Jepkosgei will battle for the title of World’s #1 marathoner on Monday.  They sat next to each other in the media room and were both confident they would handle the Boston course on their first try.

Both said their preparations have gone well. While neither has run Boston, they both are New York City Marathon champions and have shown they can win non-rabbited hilly marathons.

Viola Cheptoo Lagat has found her event

Viola is the sister of 1500m star Bernard Lagat. So she naturally thought she was a 1500m runner and made the Olympic team for Kenya. But she never ran faster than 4:04. Turns out her event really was the marathon. Coming off her 2nd place finish at the New York City Marathon where she battled Jepchirchir nearly to the line, Lagat’s goal is to win on Monday, but with this tough field knows a top 3 finish would be a good accomplishment.

Ageless Edna Kiplagat discusses longevity: “This year the field is so strong, but I have no fear”

Kiplagat was born in the 1970s and she’s still a force in the pro running ranks, getting 2nd at 2021 Boston in the fall. Winning may be out of the question but it’s a strong bet Kiplagat will have a good race on Monday.  She said the key to her longevity has been staying focused and not over racing. As for this year, “This year the field is so strong, but I have no fear.”

Scott Fauble doesn’t mind flying under the radar in 2022

Since Meb Keflezighi’s win in Boston in 2014, no American man has run faster in Boston than Scott Fauble’s 2:09:09 in 2019. That led to a lot of attention and expectations over the next couple of years, but also pressure. 

“I sort of was the belle of the ball and I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Fauble said.

The spotlight on Fauble has faded recently, however, as he was only 16th in Boston last year and is currently unsponsored (he will race Monday’s race in a Lululemon singlet he bought himself). But it would be a mistake to sleep on him: Fauble, now working with coach Joe Bosshard, ran 61:11 in the Houston Half and knows what it takes to succeed on this course.

Training mates Evans Chebet, Benson Kipruto plot Boston Marathon conquest

The withdrawal of the Ethiopian long distance legend Kenenisa Bekele and Kenya’s Titus Ekiru from this years’ Boston Marathon may have grabbed the headlines, but the field still has some formidable names.

Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese (2:02:48) is now the fastest in the field, with Kenya's Evans Chebet the second fastest in the startlist with a personal best of 2:03:00 which he clocked in the 2020 Valencia Marathon.

Former champions Geoffrey Kirui (2017), Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi (2018), Kenya’s Lawrence Cherono (2019) and the defending champion Benson Kipruto will all be clashing for the title on Monday.

Other athletes who will be competing from Kenya are Bernard Koech (2:04:09), former New York Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor (2:05:23), Eric Kiptanui (2:05:47), Bethwel Yegon (2:06:14) who was second in Berlin Marathon and New York Marathon champion Albert Korir (2:08:03).

But the duel has also some finest athletes from Ethiopia, the likes of Sisay Lemma (2:03:36), Kinde Atanaw (2:03:51), Lemi Berhanu (2:04:33) and Lelisa Desisa (2:04:45).

Training mates Chebet and defending champion Kipruto, who train in Kapsabet, Nandi County under 2Running Club, are optimistic that they will be able to run well.

Chebet said that the lineup is strong and they have discussed how they will compete.

Chebet competed in Boston in 2018 where a big number of athletes dropped out including him due to a storm.

“I’m heading to Boston Marathon once again and my target is to run well. Last time I competed in the race the weather affected us and had to drop at the 30km mark but I have seen the weather this year is fair,” said Chebet.

But for Chebet, he will be competing against Cherono whom he outsprinted in the last 50 meters in 2020 when they competed at the Valencia Marathon.

He said that he knows that it will be a tight contest but they are up to the task.

“I can see Cherono will also be competing in the race and having run with him at the Valencia Marathon, he is a tough opponent,” added Chebet.

Kipruto wants to ink his name in history books by defending his title.

“I’m glad to be back in Boston Marathon and my plan is to defend the title I won last year. The startlist is rich but I believe I would be able to run well and join the list of multiple champions,” said Kipruto. 

Everything you need to know about Boston Marathon 2022

Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist Peres Jepchirchir will headline the 126th edition of the Boston Marathon, which returns to its customary Patriots Day (April 18) for the first time since 2019.

The men's race, meanwhile, will see seven of the last eight winners will compete including Kenya's reigning champion Benson Kipruto.

Elsewhere in the women's race Jepchirchir's Kenyan compatriots Joyciline Jepkosgei and Edna Kiplagat, and Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel will offer a stern challenge.

Below, we take a look at the top athletes to watch out for in one of the top events of the 2022 athletics calendar, the route they will follow in Boston, the schedule and how to watch the action.

Tokyo star Jepchirchir targets podium

The quality of the women’s race is impressive, with 12 women on the start list having run under 2.23.00

A year after she claimed the Olympic title and the New York City Marathon, Jepchichir has one target: to be the first woman to cross the finish line on Boylston Street.

“My high expectations is to be a winner and I would like to arrive at the day of the race in my best shape,” said Jepchirchir.

The Kenyan will compete with a familiar rival from the Tokyo 2020 podium in Olympic bronze medalist Seidel. The former Boston resident is the third American woman in history to medal in the Olympic marathon.

Two former Boston Marathon champions in 42-year-old Edna Kiplagat (2017 winner), and American Des Linden (2018) will also toe the Boston course again.

The 2022 race will also mark the 50th anniversary of the first official women’s race in 1972.

To mark the occasion, an honorary team comprised of eight women who have made a powerful impact in athletics and human rights will compete. Among the group will be Valerie Rogosheske, one of the original eight finishers in 1972.

All eyes on the returning men's champions

A very strong contingent of men's runners will lock horns on the second stop of the World Marathon Majors, following Eliud Kipchoge's comfortable victory in Tokyo.

Keep an eye on Benson Kipruto, the defending champion from Kenya and his compatriot Lawrence Cherono (2019 Boston winner), Japan’s ‘citizen runner’ Kawauchi Yuki (2018), Kenya’s Geoffrey Kirui (2017), and Ethiopian pair of Lemi Berhanu (2016), and Lelisa Desisa (2015 and 2013).

Geoffrey Kamworor, the two-time New York Marathon winner who trains with Kipchoge in Kaptagat, is back in form after being hit by a motorbike in June 2020 and sitting out for a year.

Elite Americans runners Colin Bennie, hoping to improve on his seventh-place finish from 2021, Jake Riley and Jared Ward, will also be challenging for top honors.

The course

The Boston Marathon hasn't changed from last year, but does see the number of participants increased to 30,000.

The race starts in Hopkinton, MA and ends on Boylston Street in Boston, MA. The course is flat with the most challenging stretch of the race being the steep incline between 29km-34km (Miles 18-21).The notorious Heartbreak Hill is the last of the four hills in Newton.

The schedule of events

This year’s races will start earlier than previous years with expected rolling starts.

Men's Wheelchair - 8:02 am ET.

Women's Wheelchair - 8:05 am ET.

Handcycles & Duos - 8:30 am ET.

Professional Men - 8:37 am ET.

Professional Women - 8:45 am ET.

Para Athletics Divisions - 8:50 am ET.

Rolling Start Begins - 9:00 am ET.

Rolling Start Ends - 11:30 am ET.

How to watch

For Boston residents, they can follow the race live by finding a good spot on the spectator guide, or can kick back in their living room as the marathon will be aired lived on CBS Boston’s WBZ-TV from 7:00am (EDT).

NBC Sports Network and the NBC Sports App are the exclusive national television and streaming partner for the Boston Marathon for wider America.

Live race coverage will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network and the NBC Sports App 7:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. ET.

Kamworor and Chepngetich will lead Kenya's marathon team for Oregon

Ruth Chepngetich will defend her marathon title at the World Athletics Championships Oregon 22 in July.

The 27-year-old leads the four-strong women’s team for Oregon, while Geoffrey Kamworor will contest his first major championship marathon as part of the men’s squad.

As Chepngetich gets a wild card entry by virtue of being the defending champion, Kenya will be represented by seven athletes in the marathon events.

Chepngetich claimed the first gold medal of the World Championships in Doha in 2019, clocking 2:32:43 to gain her first major gold. She went on to win the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last October and then was just 10 seconds off her PB when winning the Nagoya Women's Marathon in 2:17:18 last month – the second-fastest ever women-only marathon.

In Oregon she will be joined by Maureen Jepkemoi, Judith Jeptum and Angela Tanui. Jeptum set a French all-comers’ record of 2:19:48 to win the Paris Marathon on Sunday, while Tanui won the 2021 TCS Amsterdam Marathon in 2:17:57.

After world medal wins in track, cross country and half marathon events, Kamworor will look to add further success to a marathon CV that so far includes two wins in New York and a PB of 2:05:23 set in Valencia in December.

Lining up alongside the three-time world half marathon champion and two-time world senior cross country winner in Oregon will be Olympic marathon fourth-place finisher Lawrence Cherono and Barnabas Kiptum, with Geoffrey Kirui named as a reserve.

Kenyan marathon team for Oregon

Women: Ruth Chepngetich, Maureen Jepkemoi, Judith Jeptum, Angela TanuiMen: Lawrence Cherono, Geoffrey Kamworor, Barnabas Kiptum, Geoffrey Kirui (reserve).

Rhonex Kipruto will lead Kenyan cast for New York Half Marathon

Rhonex Kipruto will be hoping for a bright start to the season when he lines up for the New York Half Marathon in United States of America on Sunday.

He is among elite athletes who will be battling it out for top honours in the prestigious race which has attracted a good number of entries.

The race will begin in Brooklyn at Prospect Park before taking runners across the East River via the Manhattan Bridge then head to Lower East Side, up to Midtown, through Times Square and conclude at Central Park.

Kipruto, who has been training in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County will be competing against his compatriots who include Edward Cheserek who has been training in Kaptagat and Stephen Sambu who is also in the US.

The trio will face stiff competition from Ethiopians Tariku Bekele, Birhanu Dare and Ashenafi Birhana, Galen Rupp and Shadrack Kipchirchir from USA among other top athletes.

In an interview with Nation Sport, Kipruto said he has trained well and since this is his first race this season, he wants to gauge his performance as he sets his eyes on the World Championships slated for July 16-24 in Eugene, USA.

“The race will be competitive but I will be out to gauge my performance as we start another season where I’m looking forward to a better one compared to last year. I have trained well but I can’t say that my training is 100 percent,” said Kipruto.

He revealed that last year he participated in various races but this year he wants to concentrate on preparing for the World Championships thus he will reduce the number of races he will feature in.

“Last year I participated in many races and I came to realise they were not of help and that’s why I want to run few races as I prepare to make the team that will be participating in World Championships in July,” he added.

Kipruto was a late inclusion in the Tokyo Olympics team for the 10,000m race after withdrawal of Geoffrey Kamworor which led to his dismal performance where he finished ninth in 27:52.78.

In the women's category, Irene Cheptai will be joined by two-time world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat, Sharon Lokedi and Grace Kahura.

Cheptai, who is also starting her season revealed that she has been training well in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet and she just wants to run a good race as she also sets her sights on World Championships.

“I’m going into the race to just see how I will perform and with such a good field of athletes, I will be eyeing a good race. This is part of my preparations for global events like World Championships and Commonwealth Games,” said Cheptai who finished sixth at Tokyo Olympic Games in the 10,000m after timing 30:44.00.

The Kenyan athletes will be competing against Ethiopia’s Senbere Teferi, USA’s Sara Hall, Charlotte Purdue among others. 

Two-time New York City Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor will be making his debut on the streets of Boston on April 18

Three-time World Half marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor has set his focus on next month's Boston marathon after shaking off a groin injury that ruled him out of last month's Agnes Tirop Memorial World Cross Country Tour.

The two-time New York City Marathon champion will be making his debut on the streets of Boston on April 18 seeking to add to his burgeoning accolades on American soil.

“I was well prepared for the Agnes Tirop World Cross Country Tour but it was very unfortunate that two weeks to the event, I got a groin injury and I had to pull out,” said the 2015 world championships 10,000m silver medalist.

Kamworor said he is targeting a podium finish on debut.

“I feel in great shape, just trying to sharpen my skills a little bit. My training has been flawless and I am hoping for a good result in Boston,” he added.

The four-time world cross country champion (two in senior and two in junior) will be joining a host of top athletes in Boston including compatriots Benson Kipruto (defending champion), Geoffrey Kirui (2017 champion) Evans Chebet, Titus Ekiru, Lawrence Cherono (2019 winner), Bernard Koech, Eric Kiptanui, Bethwell Yegon and Albert Korir (New York City Marathon champion).

Rivals Ethiopia are also represented by a huge, talented contingent led by three-time Olympic champion and the second-fastest marathon runner in history with a best of 2:01:41 Kenenisa Bekele, Lemi Berhanu (2016 winner), Lelisa Desisa (2015 and 2013 winner), Bayelign Teshager and Jemal Yimer.

Italian Eyob Faniel of Italy, Japan's Yuki Kawauchi (2018 winner), Amanuel Mesel, Tsegay Tuemay Weldibanos (Eritrea), Scott Fauble, Colin Bennie, Jared Ward, Ian Butler, Mick Iacofano, Jake Riley, Jerrell Mock, Matt McDonald, Matt Llano, Elkanah Kibet, CJ Albertson, Diego Estrada (USA), Trevor Hofbauer (Canada), Juan Luis Barrios (Mexico) and Gabriel Geay of Tanzania are also in the mix.

Letesenbet Gidey, Hellen Obiri and Faith Kipyegon set to clash in Eldoret in honor of Tirop

Fittingly, for an event named in memory of one of the world’s best distance runners, the women’s race at the Agnes Tirop Cross Country Classic is expected to be the highlight of the World Athletics Cross Country Tour Gold meeting in Eldoret on Saturday (12).

Before Tirop’s tragic death in October last year, Kenya was already preparing to host a World Athletics Cross Country Tour event in Eldoret. But during Tirop’s funeral on 23 October – the day she would have turned 26 – Athletics Kenya announced that the cross-country event will be named after their star athlete.

Tirop will be remembered and celebrated this weekend for her great achievements in athletics. In 2015, aged just 19 at the time, she won the senior world cross-country title in Guiyang, then went on to earn bronze medals over 10,000m at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships. Just one month before her death, she set a women-only world 10km record of 30:01.

Many of Tirop’s friends, rivals and former teammates will be in action in Eldoret this weekend.

Letesenbet Gidey, who won the U20 title at the 2015 World Cross, leads the women’s field. The Ethiopian holds the world records for 5000m, 10,000m and the half marathon. This will be her first race since breaking the world half marathon record with her stunning 1:02:52 in Valencia last year, and her first cross-country race since the 2019 World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus, where she took bronze in the senior women’s race.

Senbere Teferi, the silver medalist behind Tirop at the 2015 World Cross, is also expected to be on the start line. At the same event in Herzogenaurach where Tirop set a world 10km record last October, Teferi set a world 5km record of 14:29. Teferi has finished fourth in both of her recent cross-country outings, in Seville and Elgoibar, so will be keen to make it on to the podium in Eldoret.

World 5000m and cross-country champion Hellen Obiri and two-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon – both regular teammates of Tirop’s over the years – lead the Kenyan challenge.

Obiri, who earned Olympic 5000m silver last year, opened her 2022 campaign last month with victory at the World Cross Country Tour Silver meeting in Dundonald. Kipyegon, meanwhile, will be contesting her first cross-country race since the 2017 World Cross, where she finished sixth. Despite being a 1500m specialist, Kipyegon has always been a formidable competitor in cross country, having won two world U20 titles in the discipline.

The top-performing athletes from the recent Kenyan Cross Country Championships, held on this same course last month, will also be looking to produce another strong performance on home soil.

Joyce Jepkemoi, who emerged as the surprise winner in the senior women’s race at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships, will be hoping to confirm that she is indeed the best cross country runner in Kenya at the moment. World 5000m silver medalist Margaret ChelimoKipkemboi, who finished second behind Jepkemoi in Eldoret last month, is also entered.

Other leading Kenyan runners expected to compete include world marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich, steeplechase specialist CelliphineChespol, Lilian Kasait, Beatrice Chebet, EdinahJebitok and TeresiahMuthoni. Bahraini steeplechaser Winfred Yavi, the two-time Asian champion and fourth-place finisher at the 2019 World Championships, is also entered.

Geoffrey Kamworor, who excels on all surfaces, is the biggest name entered for the men’s race. The two-time world cross-country champion and three-time world half marathon champion last raced at the Valencia Marathon in December, where he set a PB of 2:05:23. His last cross-country race, meanwhile, was the 2020 Kenyan Championships, where he finished second.

National 5000m champion Nicholas Kimeli, who finished fourth over 5000m at the Tokyo Olympics at fourth at the recent Kenyan Cross Country Championships, will also be competing, as will 2018 world U20 5000m champion Edward Zakayo, who finished just behind Kimeli in Eldoret last month.

Other entrants in the senior men’s race include USA’s 2016 Olympic 5000m silver medalist Paul Chelimo, Eritrean steeplechase record-holder YemaneHaileselassie, and multiple NCAA champion Edward Cheserek.

Following feedback from competitors at the Kenyan Cross Country Championships, a number of adjustments have been made to the course. The muddy section that many runners had found tough – and lost their shoes in – has been compacted to create room for shallower mud.

Ethiopian Senbere Teferi set for Agnes Tirop Memorial race

Ethiopia's Senbere Teferi has become the latest international athlete to confirm her participation to next month's Agnes Tirop Memorial World Cross Country Tour.

She joins compatriot world 5,000m and 10,000m record holder Letesenbet Gidey, who is currently training Eldoret and Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman.

Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor will also take part in the race set for February 12 at  Lobo Village in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.

Teferi is keen to compete in honor of her departed best friend Agnes Tirop, who was found murdered in her home in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet County on October 13 last year.

The estranged lover of the 2015 World Cross Country Championships winner, Ibrahim Rotich, is in police custody after denying murder charges. 

In an interview with Nation Sport during the Great Ethiopian Run in Addis Ababa over the weekend, Tefere said she was saddened by Tirop’s cruel murder.

She recalled how they became good friends in 2015 when Tirop beat her during the World Cross Country Championships in China where she bagged silver behind the Kenyan.

Since then and they would always talk over the phone for long periods  and were both managed by Gianni Demaonna. 

“I was touched by the death of Tirop who was my best friend and shared a lot with in terms of competition. Losing such a nice friend in such a manner was really sad and I hope her family will get justice.

I will be starting my season during the Memorial Agnes Tirop Cross Country Tour in Eldoret, Kenya and running there is special for me because I want to honor my departed sister.

We always had a good relationship when we competed because we came from one continent and when a Kenyans win we celebrate, the same way we would when an Ethiopian wins," said Tefere.

She is looking forward to meet some of her competitors when she lands in Kenya in the next few days.

“I have never been to Kenya but I’m looking forward to meet some of the athletes who train there and get to share their experiences. I hear it is a nice place to train,” she added. 

She is hoping to use the race to prepare for the World Championships to be held in USA later this year.

“The race in Kenya will gauge my preparations this season but my target is to compete in the 10,000m race where I’m targeting to be in the podium after emerging in sixth position in 2019 during the World Championships in Doha, Qatar,” said Tefere.

During the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Tefere finished 10th in the 5,000m won by Dutch’s Sifan Hassan with Hellen Obiri settling for silver and Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay winning bronze.

What it takes to become a Kenyan distance champion

For several generations now, Kenya has produced many of the world’s greatest distance runners.

Many athletes from elsewhere in the world, meanwhile, have tried to tap into the secrets of Kenya’s success as they try to play catch-up – quite literally – with the east African nation that continues to churn out global medallists and world record-breakers.

The truth is, there is no one single reason why Kenya is so dominant in distance events. It’s more down to a combination of factors, many of which were explained during a recent trip to the NN Running training camp in Kaptagat, about 24km east of Eldoret, where the likes of Eliud Kipchoge trains for 11 months of the year.

A way of life

There are few countries where people live and breathe athletics, and where the No.1 Olympic sport can claim to be more popular than football, filling entire stadiums even for age-group championships.

And while Kenya isn’t the only country in the world where kids run long distances to get to school, running has a whole different meaning to many people in the country.

Running is something that comes naturally to us as it’s something that has been part of our lifestyle since we were born,” says three-time world half marathon champion and two-time New York City Marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor. “As a kid, I used to run from home to my school three kilometres away back and forth each day, so you end up running sometimes 12 kilometres a day as a teen without even realising it.”

Beyond being a means to an end, there is also a genuine love for running among the Kenyan population.

“As a kid, I would always go and watch athletics competitions when not at school and I enjoyed watching people competing,” added Kamworor. “It awoke my passion for running, especially seeing people cross the finish line and winning a trophy. In high school, it was always a fun and proud moment to represent your class and win a cup. I found it very encouraging.”

Having running embedded into day-to-day life sets Kenya apart from many other nations. But it’s just one of the many reasons why it is known as being the ‘home of the champions’.

Genetics

Simply running to school each day doesn’t automatically turn everyone into a world-class athlete. Genetics, as it does for every elite athlete, likely play a significant part.

Many people in the Rift Valley, where most of Kenya’s top distance runners originate, belong to the Kalenjin tribe. When compared to other Kenyan tribes, Kalenjin people are often described as having good natural running attributes: namely lean bodies and long legs.

Kipchoge, for example, isn’t particularly tall (1.67m / 5ft 6in), but the muscles on his legs are incredibly lean, his body fat percentage is low, and the strength in his feet make it appear as though he bounces along the grass.

But attributing all of Kenya’s success to just their genetics would be a gross over-simplification.

Conditions

Another element that helps Kenyan athletes in their training and preparation is the unique climate and surroundings in this part of the country. It also probably explains why there are so many training camps between Kaptagat and Iten, and why some people refer to it as the ‘Hollywood of elite runners’.

This region is located at 2500 metres above sea level, which, given the lack of oxygen, helps athletes produce a higher concentration of red blood cells and haemoglobin when training. This, in turn, gives runners an advantage when they return to lower altitudes to race.

The Eldoret region is also full of endless forests and dirt roads for athletes to use when running, while the area also enjoys a temperate climate with daytime temperatures ranging between 22-26C (68-78F) throughout the year, dropping to 10-12C (50-53F) at night time. That, combined with the good air quality, makes the area something of a distance-running paradise.

But as Kenya’s economy continues to develop, so do the local villages and the wider region, meaning many of the local dirt paths are now being made into proper roads – which is great for facilitating transport and access from other points of the country, but less so for athletes seeking a run-friendly surface.

Athletes are adapting well to this evolving environment, though, while remaining in close contact with nature. The Kalenjin community, Kipchogeand Kamworor  included, are running many tree-planting initiatives. “We evolve in a very natural environment which is a great advantage when it comes to training,” says Kamworor.

Patrick Sang, the 1992 Olympic silver steeplechase medallist and head coach at the Kaptagat training camp, explains how the new generation of running shoes can help counter the effects of running on harder roads.

“New running shoes help a lot because athletes can now do a lot more training on a hard surface and still recover on time to do their next hard session,” says Sang. “Overall, you can get more work done to help improve performance.”

Sleep, eat, train, repeat

Most world-class athletes are fully committed to their sport, but the elite runners at the Kaptagat training camp in particular take dedication to a whole new level.

Many of these athletes – including young mothers such as two-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon – have children who are at home during the week so that they can entirely focus on their training at the camp.

“Of course, it’s very hard but that’s the only way to be fully dedicated to being the best athlete you can and avoid any distraction,” said Kipyegon.

When not running, athletes at the Kaptagat training camp are focused entirely on other elements of their training, namely recovery and nutrition.

“When you are at the camp, your sole focus is on running and you are not distracted by anything else,” says Kamworor, father to five children, including young triplets. “You are away from your family, your wife and your kids during the whole week, and that makes you take your training very seriously as you are making sacrifices to achieve your goals. That’s the only way to be focused 100% on running and to give your very best.”

As in any walk of life, hard work and having the right mind-set are key to success. Kipchoge might be the most successful athlete at the camp, but Sang says that’s not just down to his talent. “Eliud isn’t the most gifted athlete within his training group but certainly the most dedicated,” Sang says of Kipchoge, who is always the first one ready for training and the last one to leave.

In an average week, athletes at the Kaptagat camp do one long run of 30km (once a month it will be 40km), which usually takes place early on a Thursday morning. Typical track sessions, meanwhile, would be something like 8x1600m (each rep completed in 4:40) and 8x400m (at an average of 65 seconds) on their local 380m cinder track.

“Have you seen him?” Sang says when watching Kipchoge train. “This guy is a machine.”

Athletes are religious in their approach to punctuality and producing their best effort in training. And other local athletes from outside the NN Running team are welcome to join in the sessions, provided they arrive on time. After all, no one wants to be playing catch-up with the likes of Kipchoge and Kamworor.

Community

The Kaptagat training camp is run entirely by the 25 athletes who live there for 11 months a year from Monday to Saturday morning before going back to spend quality time with their family, often in the big city of Eldoret. In and around the 12 training runs they do in a typical week, the resident athletes to everything at the camp.

“If you look at life at the camp, the one making bread is an athlete, the cleaning is done by the athletes, the one doing shopping for the camp is an athlete,” says Sang. “You don’t want athletes to live on another island.

“The whole idea is to make sure these athletes become well-rounded people. You wouldn’t want to help someone become a great athlete who lacks social skills or is out of touch with society.”

Kipchoge, whose wife and three children live just 45 minutes away from the training camp, could easily go and spend time with his family during his time off, but instead he chooses to stay at the camp with the rest of the group, monastically isolated from the rest of the world.

Kipchoge is rarely bored, too. When he’s not training or resting, he will be reading or working at the camp or reading.

The sense of community extends to caring about the environment. Every athlete at the camp gets a tree planted at the entrance as a welcome gesture and to symbolise their connection to nature. Some special guests to the camp – including Ethiopian legend Haile Gebrselassie – have also had a tree planted for them in Kaptagat.

Occasionally, athletes at the camp will give each other lessons, or they will engage in real debates around serious issues, helping them develop holistically as people.

Simplicity

Far away from the latest technological innovations you often hear about in other parts of the world, daily life at the camp is basic.

Upon entering the gates at the Kaptagat training camp, the 380m cinder track is located on the left. It has a slight incline on the first bend and a couple of cows as spectators, but it meets all their needs.

“A synthetic track isn’t needed for what we do and the way we train,” says Marc Roig, a former international runner from Spain, who now works as a jack of all trades for NN Running, acting as a fitness coach, physio, runner, mentor and pacemaker. “If our athletes need a synthetic track, they can go to the one in Eldoret an hour away.” In fact, there are just four synthetic tracks in the whole of Kenya, but it’s clearly not a barrier to producing top athletes.

The runners at the camp rarely lift weights or spend time stretching, but twice a week they will do core strength sessions. Instead of water, they drink mursik – a nutritious fermented milk – in the morning and Kenyan tea in the afternoon. And not a single drop of water during their 30km long run. “That’s okay,” says Sang. “They don’t need it.”

Within the camp itself, there is a TV room with a small library corner with a few books there for the athletes, a living room for their meals, the dormitory (one for women and another for men), a basic gym comprising a bike, a treadmill, some elastic bands and a light weightlifting bar (with maximum 40kg available) and a big blue plastic drum outside used for ice baths.

It’s all quite rudimentary, but they don’t need more, and it seems to work.

The only visible ‘luxury’ – aside from the eco-friendly solar panels to get hot water – is that Kipchoge has his own bedroom. But even the king of the marathon does his fair share of the chores. He prepares tea for other athletes, and there’s a strict cleaning schedule that all athletes must stick to.

“I think that when you stop leading a simple life, your mind-set loses contact with the outside world and you lose your focus on your actual goals,” says Kipchoge. “At this point, you run the risk of forgetting about the really important things in life.”

Life at the camp is minimalistic, but nobody complains. Indeed, this simplicity is what defines them and enables the athletes to keep their focus and remain humble about who they are, where they come from and what they are here for.

Hollywood of running

To be the best, you need to surround yourself with the best – which is another reason why the Rift Valley continues to produce champion athletes.

The likes of Kipchoge, Kamworor and Kipyegon are true A-listers, but Kaptagat is filled with talented athletes who have achieved podium finishes at major championships and big city marathons.

Roig, who has a 2:18:05 marathon PB, moved to Kenya several years ago. “When I take my kids to school, I feel ashamed saying I am a runner as many of the dads there have 2:05 marathon PBs,” jokes Roig, who is now the race director for the Valencia Marathon. “There is even a mother at the school who has a PB similar to mine!”

But the Kaptagat camp isn’t the only leading training venue in the area. Iten, a small town at 2400 metres above sea level about an hour north of Kaptagat, is often referred to as the ‘home of champions’ or the ‘Hollywood of distance running’.

One of the drivers used for NN Running Team’s trip to Kenya, for example, was a former 1:06 half marathon runner. His wife, meanwhile, was a 2:21 marathon runner who finished second at the Rotterdam Marathon a couple of years ago. His neighbour is Emmanuel Korir, the Olympic 800m champion, and he is good friends with Joyciline Jepkosgei, the multiple world record-breaker and 2021 London Marathon champion.

Abdi Nageeye, the Olympic marathon silver medallist, also happened to be in Iten at the time of the trip. While ferrying around members of the media, the driver passed by a gas station named ‘Oslo’, which is one of many local businesses owned by Vivian Cheruiyot. The 2016 Olympic 5000m champion opened the station after winning at the Oslo Diamond League meeting.

One of the biggest training venues in Iten is the High Altitude Training Centre founded by multiple world half marathon champion Lornah Kiplagat, who herself is part of a highly successful family of runners, including Sylvia Kibet, Hilda Kibet and Susan Sirma. Many international athletes, including the likes of Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe, have previously stayed there, while former steeplechaser Bob Tahri of France opened his own training centre in Iten a few years ago.

The Rift Valley – Iten and Kaptagat in particular – is like nowhere else on earth. Everybody knows a champion who is friends with another champion, who is the neighbour of another champion.

It’s yet another way – and one of the many – of becoming a great runner.

Boston Marathon announces their fastest ever men’s field

Organisers of the Boston Marathon have revealed their fastest ever men’s field for the 126th edition of the World Athletics Platinum Elite Label road race on 18 April.

It features 12 men with lifetime bests faster than 2:06, led by three-time Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, the second fastest marathon runner in history with a best of 2:01:41.

“I recognise the tradition of the Boston Marathon and look forward to racing in April,” said Bekele. “For many years Ethiopia has had a strong tradition in Boston, and I am excited to join that legacy. I have long looked forward to racing the Boston Marathon.”

Seven of the past eight winners will also return to Boston, including 2021 champion Benson Kipruto of Kenya. Lawrence Cherono (2019), Yuki Kawauchi (2018), Geoffrey Kirui (2017), Lemi Berhanu (2016), and Lelisa Desisa (2015 and 2013) are the other six former winners.

“Being back in Boston as a champion is very exciting, but at the same time I feel the pressure and the responsibility to defend my title,” said Kipruto. “I really admire those athletes that managed to be multiple champions in big races. I really want to do my best to be one of them and I really hope to make my name among those Boston champions that people will remember for a long time.”

Other strong contenders include Titus Ekiru, the fastest marathon runner in the world last year having run 2:02:57 in Milan, 2020 world leader Evans Chebet, New York City Marathon winner Albert Korir, and three-time world half marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor.

Men’s elite field

Kenenisa Bekele (ETH) 2:01:41Titus Ekiru (KEN) 2:02:57Evans Chebet (KEN) 2:03:00Lawrence Cherono (KEN) 2:03:04Bernard Koech (KEN) 2:04:09Lemi Berhanu (ETH) 2:04:33Lelisa Desisa (ETH) 2:04:45Gabriel Geay (TAN) 2:04:55Benson Kipruto (KEN) 2:05:13Geoffrey Kamworor (KEN) 2:05:23Eric Kiptanui (KEN) 2:05:47Bethwell Yegon (KEN) 2:06:14Geoffrey Kirui (KEN) 2:06:27Eyob Faniel (ITA) 2:07:19Yuki Kawauchi (JPN) 2:07:27Albert Korir (KEN) 2:08:03Amanuel Mesel (ERI) 2:08:17Bayelign Teshager (ETH) 2:08:28Tsegay Tuemay Weldibanos (ERI) 2:09:07Scott Fauble (USA) 2:09:09Colin Bennie (USA) 2:09:38Trevor Hofbauer (CAN) 2:09:51Jared Ward (USA) 2:09:25Ian Butler (USA) 2:09:45Mick Iacofano (USA) 2:09:55Jake Riley (USA) 2:10:02Jerrell Mock (USA) 2:10:37Jemal Yimer (ETH) 2:10:38Juan Luis Barrios (MEX) 2:10:55Matt McDonald (USA) 2:11:10Matt Llano (USA) 2:11:14Elkanah Kibet (USA) 2:11:15CJ Albertson (USA) 2:11:18Diego Estrada (USA) 2:11:54

Kipruto ends Kamworor's dominance at Kenya Police Cross Country

World 10,000m bronze medalist Rhonex Kipruto from Police Boarder (PBU) Friday won the Kenya Police Cross Country Championships men’s 10km title on his debut.

Kipruto, who is the 10km world record holder cashed on the late withdrawal of eight-time defending champion Geoffrey Kamworor to win in 30 minutes and 28.57 seconds in the event held at the Ngong Racecourse.

Kamworor, who was going for his ninth title, withdrew after he sustained a groin injury during his long run the previous day.

But Kipruto’s victory didn’t come on a silver platter after he was forced to hold off teammate Michael Kibet in the last kilometre to triumph. 

The race curved fast into a two-horse battle between Kipruto and Kibet as early as the first four kilometres with Kibet leading throughout the distance. 

It’s only in the last kilometer that Kipruto, the 2018 World Under-20 10,000m champion, took charge and never looked back for his maiden win.

“It’s a good win coming just upon graduating from Kenya Police Training College. We went for team work with my brother Kibet. It was needless to fight each other ruthlessly when we are from the same team,” said Kipruto, ” said Kipruto, who embraced Kibet at the finishing line.

Kipruto paid tribute to Kamworor and wished him quick recovery. “ I would have loved to compete against him. He is a legend and I hope to compete with him in the next event,” said Kipruto.

Kipruto said he had not prepared well for the race having just graduated from Kenya Police Training College in December.

“We have a busy season and I will have to sit down with my coach brother Colm O’Connell to strategies well especially after I  missed out on Tokyo Olympics owing to a hip joint injury,” said Kipruto.

Kipruto intends to compete at the Memorial Agnes Tirop World Cross Country Tour on February 12 before turning his focus to the World Athletics Championships on July 15 to 24 in Oregon, United States and the Birmingham Commonwealth Games due July 28 to August 8 in United Kingdom.

“I want to work on my speed ahead of the track season," said Kipruto.

Selected results 

1.Rhonex Kipruto (BPU) 30:28.6

2.Michael Kibet (BPU) 30:28.9

3.Josphat Kiprotich (CIPU) 30:46.8

4.Joseph Kiptum (NEP) 30:50.7

5.Edwin Bett (RDU) 30:52.1

6.Kennedy Cheserek (GSU) 31:02.4.

Geoffrey Kamworor eager to shine at Cross Country Tour in tribute to Tirop

Former world half marathon record holder Geoffrey Kamworor says he will be running at the World Cross Country Tour on February 12 in memory of 'close friend' and 2015 World Cross Country champion Agnes Tirop. 

The inaugural cross country meet has been named Agnes Tirop Memorial World Cross Country Tour in honour of the fallen star who was found murdered in October last year at her home in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet. 

"She was one of my closest friends who always had encouraging words for me whenever we went for competitions. We would advise each other. So it is appropriate that this event be named after her and be held in the City of Champions, which is Eldoret. It is a privilege to run in this race to remember her and of course, to market it as a world-class," Kamworor said. 

Despite successes in past cross country races, the 2011 World Junior Cross Country champion says he is not fixated on claiming a podium place in Eldoret. 

"Of course, I am naturally a cross country runner but for me, what matters most is to run a good race and remember my good friend Agnes. Other than that, it is difficult to tell how the race will pan out. I have managed to go around the course and it is perfect. I can't wait to run on it," the three-time world half marathon champion said. 

It was not a rosy 2021 for Kamworor who began the year on a sour note, pulling out of the men's senior race at the national cross country championship before he had to pull out of the Tokyo Olympics due to an ankle injury. 

Nonetheless, the 2017 and 2019 New York Marathon champion is keen to put the underwhelming year past him and focus on upcoming competitions in 2022. 

"I don't want to comment much because last year was challenging for a lot of athletes. Many were not able to train effectively but we hope this year will be different and will be able to compete in a majority of competitions," he said.  

Kamworor added: "The season is still young; we have just begun the year. I can't say much about my plans for the season but these cross country races are the perfect build-up for this year's competitions."

The 2017 World Cross Country champion is elated by the country's burgeoning reputation as a destination for major athletics events. 

"It is wonderful to be competing against other great runners from other parts of the world. Normally, we are used to going outside for international events but this time it is coming home. This shows how Kenya is growing as a host nation for athletics events," he said. 

The one-day invitational race will bring together a number of local and foreign athletes, among them, world 5k record holder Letesenbet Gidey of Ethiopia. 

Top athletes for Memorial Agnes Tirop World Cross Country Tour

Three-time world half marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor has confirmed his participation to the Memorial Agnes Tirop World Cross Country Tour on February 12 in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.

Kamworor said during the launch of the race at Lobo village in Kapseret Tuesday that he will be happy to compete with other international athletes in honoring the departed Tirop.

“It was so sad to loose such hard working athletes and competing in the race next month will give me joy because she was my best friend in cross country. We used to encourage one another before the race and since she is no more, I have to compete and run well,” said Kamworor.

Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey the 5,000m, 10,000m and half marathon world record holder, will also line up in the women’s 10km race.

Forty invited athletes will grace the race with many Kenyan athletes expected to join the list once they are selected after the national trials which shall be held at the same venue in Eldoret.

Some of the races that will be taking place include 10km senior men and women, 8km junior men, 6km junior women, Under-18 6km boys, Under-18 4km girls, 2km boys and 1km for children and masters race. 

Athletics Kenya President Jack Tuwei said the race is the only one in Africa and the last one in a series of 17, adding that Eldoret was picked by World Athletics as one of its venues for the inaugural 2022 World Cross Country Tour. 

World Athletics introduced cross country tours races which will be subsequently categorized as gold, silver or bronze and will come with additional prize monies for the best performers.

Out of the $400,000 (Sh43m) prize money for the best performers, $75,000 (Sh8m) will be set aside for the best male and female runners in the cross country tour. 

“We decided to name the race after our hero Agnes Tirop who was murdered last year as one way of honoring her. The Local Organizing Committee is on top of things and we shall be able to deliver a world class event," said Tuwei.

Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed warned rogue coaches and agents who want to ruin the sport by fleecing athletes of their hard earned cash or introducing them to drugs.

“It is really sad we are mourning the champion today who was to compete in the race because of rogue people surrounding her career. Going forward we shall be able to vet those handling athletes because the report that I will be releasing next week has a lot of issues which have to be addressed immediately,” said Amina.

She further said that Kenya has shown the world her prowess in the sport and athletes should continue working hard and carry the country’s flag high in the forthcoming events.

Eliud Kipchoge would like to become first athlete to three-peat in the Olympic marathon

World Athletics sat down with the marathon world record holder and double Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge, to reflect on his great career. Kipchoge cited his previous Abbott World Major Marathon wins, his world record and running the first sub-two-hour marathon (unofficially) as things he joyfully looks back on.

When asked about his future goals, he said he wants to become the first athlete ever to win three straight Olympic gold medals in the marathon. 

“My goal going into the 2020 games was to win back-to-back Olympic golds, and I’d like to win the third one,” Kipchoge said to World Athletics. He also mentioned other goals on his running bucket list, such as running all six Abbott World Marathon Majors and lowering his half marathon personal best. 

If Kipchoge defends his title at the 2024 Paris Olympics, he would become the first-ever athlete to three-peat. Currently, he is in an exclusive club of three, the other two athletes being Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia (who won gold at both the 1960 and 1964 Games) and Waldemar Cierpinski of East Germany (who won gold at the 1976 and 1980 games, but it’s been highly speculated that he was part of East Germany’s state-sponsored doping program during the 1970s).

When he was asked about giving the world record another shot, Kipchoge said, “There are many people who could break my marathon world record. I think Geoffrey Kamworor will one day break the world record. Joshua Cheptegei will also make his mark in the marathon, and Kenenisa Bekele is still there.”

As his 2021 season comes to an end, Kipchoge isn’t sure of his 2022 race plans. “I always strive to improve my fitness, and I approach it like education. For example, if you have an exam in two years, you have to plan carefully for it to have success.”

Cherono, Jelagat dominate Valencia Marathon

In the women's category, Jelagat won her first-ever marathon, clocking 2:19:31 as Ethiopia's Woldu Etagene came second in 2:20:16

The win by Cherono in the Spanish city comes after victories in Chicago and Boston in 2019, Amsterdam Marathon in 2018 and 2017, Honululu in 2017, Czech in 2016  and Sevilla in 2015.

•Cherono clocked 2:05:12 to fend off Ethiopian Deso Chalu (2:05:16) in a sprint finish while Philemon Kacheran rounded off the podium positions by posting 2:05:19.

Lawrence Cherono and Nancy Jelagat secured a Kenyan double at the Valencia Marathon on Sunday.

Cherono clocked 2:05:12 to fend off Ethiopian Deso Chalu (2:05:16) in a sprint finish while Philemon Kacheran rounded off the podium positions by posting 2:05:19. Former winner Geoffrey Kamworor finished fourth in 2:05:23.

The win by Cherono in the Spanish city comes after victories in Chicago and Boston in 2019, Amsterdam Marathon in 2018 and 2017, Honululu in 2017, Czech in 2016  and Sevilla in 2015.

In the women's category, Jelagat won her first-ever marathon, clocking 2:19:31 as Ethiopia's Woldu Etagene came second in 2:20:16 with compatriots Degefa Beyenu (2:23:04) and Tusa Rahma (2:23:20) finishing third and fourth respectively.

Fionnuala McCormack of Ireland completed the top five positions in 2:23:58

Former Boston Marathon Lawrence Cherono will be leading Kenyan charge in Valencia Marathon

Former Boston Marathon Lawrence Cherono will be leading an elite field during this years’ Valencia Marathon in Spain on Sunday, a race which is considered to have one of the fastest courses.

According to Cherono, he has had good training and is looking forward to running well after a good recovery for the last two months.

He will be aiming to win the race after he was narrowly beaten last year by Evans Chebet who sprinted in the last 50 metres to bag victory in 2:03:00 with Cherono registering his personal best of 2:03:04. Ethiopia’s Birhanu Legese came third after timing 2:03:16.

“I have recovered well after participating in the 2020 Olympic Games and went straight to camp to prepare for this race. It is competitive but I believe I will be able to run well on Sunday,” said Cherono who did not defend his Chicago and Boston Marathons races this year. 

Also in the race is Geoffrey Kamworor who is seeking a comeback after some time out of competition due to an injury he suffered when he was knocked down by a speeding motorcycle in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County in June last year.

Dr. Victor Bargoria who treated Kamworor then told Nation Sport that he had fractured his tibia and had bruises in his head, something that forced him to take a break from competition.

Kamworor also missed the Olympic Games despite making the team in the 10,000m race after he was advised by his doctor to recover fully before competing again.

The two-time World Half Marathon champion who is fondly referred to as ‘man of all surfaces’ due to his good performance in track, cross country, road races and marathon will be looking to pull another surprise when he competes in Spain.

Cherono, who has the fastest time of 2:03:04 in the elite field will be battling it out with Ethiopians Herpasa Negasa (2:03:40), Kinde Atanaw (2:03:51) and Abebe Negewo (2:04:51), Chalu Deso (2:04:53).

Also in the lineup are Kenyans Philemon Kacheran (2:06:05) who also trains with Kamworor in Kaptagat, Michael Kunyuga (2:06:43), Alex Kibet (2:07:09), Bethwell Kipkemboi (2:07:41) and Japheth Kosgei (2:08:08).

Turkey's Polat Kemboi (2:08:14), Belgium’s Koel Naert (2:07:39), Eritrea’s Goitom Kifle (2:08:09) are the other notable competitors.

In the women's category, 2018 Prague Marathon champion Bornes Chepkirui will be battling it out with other athletes notably Uganda’s record-holder Juliet Chekwel and three-time Rome Marathon champion Rahma Tusa of Ethiopia. 

Dorcas Tuitoek, who will be debuting during the race will also be looking to shine having trained with Olympics marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir in Kapsabet, Nandi County.

Kamworor aims to conquer Valencia

The Valencia Marathon Trinidad Alfonso EDP, a World Athletics Elite Platinum Label event, will return on Sunday (5) and as usual, the organizers have brought together a mouth-watering line-up, headed by Kenya’s Geoffrey Kamworor.

The city of Valencia has witnessed a number of world records in recent years – at 5000m, 10,000m, 10km, and the half marathon – and organizers aim for Valencia to be the epicenter of the running world again this Sunday.

Undoubtedly, all eyes are on the three-time world half marathon champion Kamworor, who turned 29 last month. The Kenyan ace is now fully recovered from the injury which prevented him from competing at the Tokyo Olympics and his last outing was a promising 27:01.06 10,000m at the altitude of Nairobi during the Kenyan trials before he got injured. Once recovered, the two-time world cross country champion focused exclusively on his build-up for Valencia, where he should far improve his relatively modest 2:06:12 lifetime best set on his debut in Berlin back in 2012.

Kamworor has great memories of Valencia, as he became a commanding world half marathon champion in the city back in 2018. “Valencia is the city of running, the atmosphere is special,” he said. “I managed to be world champion here, I know the circuit is incredibly fast and definitely it’s a great opportunity to record a quick time.”

Reflecting after the injury, Kamworor's coach, Patrick Sang, said: “To me, Geoffrey came back stronger physically but also mentally. He is a more professional athlete now. I do not set any target for athletes like Geoffrey, or any other athlete actually, because setting targets is putting pressure. I believe that serious athletes like them, they have the willingness to give their best and that’s always what we should ask from them."

The course record is the goal

A large group of pacemakers – headed by Alexander Mutiso, Bernard Ngeno, and Victor Chumo – will target a steady 2:55 pace to go through the half marathon in 1:01:30, on schedule to break the course record of 2:03:00 set last year by Kenya’s Evans Chebet.

Kenya’s Lawrence Cherono should be one of Kamworor’s stiffest opponents. The 33-year-old was runner-up last year in a career best of 2:03:04 and finished just outside the medals at the Tokyo Olympics with a fourth-place to his credit.

The Ethiopian contingent is also strong as it comprises four athletes to have dipped under the 2:05:00 barrier during their careers: Herpasa Negasa, Kinde Atanaw, Abebe Negewo and Chalu Desu. The former boasts a 2:03:40 PB set in Dubai in 2019 but he has barely competed since then, while Atanaw took the victory in Valencia in 2019 thanks to a 2:03:51 performance, although he could not go faster than 2:11:00 in his only appearance so far this season in Prague.

As for Desu, he finished sixth last year and will be looking to bounce back after a below-par outing in Chicago two months ago, while Negewo, eighth in 2020, will be making his debut at any distance this year. The other sub-2:05 athlete on show is Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay, who ran 2:04:55 in Milan last May and is fresh from a season’s best of 1:00:16 at the Valencia half marathon six weeks ago. Watch out too for Ethiopian debutante Andamlak Belihu, a 58:54 half marathon performer.

Germany’s Amanal Petros, who has a lifetime best of 2:07:18, recently set a national half-marathon record of 1:00:09, also in Valencia, and Norway’s former European record-holder (2:05:48) Sondre Moen, who ran 1:00:15 on that occasion, also promises a fast time over the classic distance on Sunday. Spain’s Hamid Ben Daoud will attack the Spanish record of 2:06:52 following his half marathon PB of 1:01:05 here.

Wide open women’s contest

The women’s cast is led by Ethiopia’s Guteni Shone, holder of a career best of 2:20:11 set in Dubai a couple of years ago, while her season’s best is 2:21:46 to finish runner-up in Prague in May. The 30-year-old will be joined by her compatriots Azmera Gebru, who races her second marathon this year after clocking 2:22:58 in Tokyo in March; Bedatu Hirpa, owner of an identical time in Prague earlier this year; and Rahma Tusa, whose PB stands at 2:23:46.

The Kenyan squad includes 2:21:26 athlete Bornes Kitur, who ran barely six weeks ago in Rotterdam and will be eager to bounce back from her 2:30:41 clocking there, plus debutante Dorcas Tuitoek, a 1:06:33 half marathon specialist, and Nancy Jelagat, holder of a quick 1:05:21 clocking in the shorter distance.

Ugandan record-holder Juliet Chekwel won the Seville Marathon last year in a career best of 2:23:13 and should be a dangerous outsider on Sunday. While the course record of 2:17:16 set by Kenya’s Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir last year doesn’t seem to be in jeopardy, organisers have planned a sub-70-minute split for the half marathon in the hunt for a sub-2:20 performance.

The weather looks set to be sunny but very windy, with the thermometer reaching 10-12ºC by the time of the event.

Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor faces tough test on fast course in Valencia

Kenyan leads strong line-up in the marathon on Sunday and judging by past results we are likely to see some very fast times

Geoffrey Kamworor believes he can break the world marathon record in future and possibly dip inside two hours. This Sunday (Dec 5) should offer clues as to whether he’s correct when he takes on a strong field on a super-fast course in Valencia.

The Maraton Valencia Trinidad Alfonso EDP takes place in a Spanish city that has hosted a number of record-breaking distance running performances lately. Before he thinks about getting close to Eliud Kipchoge’s world marathon record of 2:01:39, though, Kamworor must first win the race – and it won’t be an easy task.

Kamworor’s marathon best is “only” 2:06:12 but that dates back to 2012. In recent years he has focused on the New York City Marathon – which has no pacemakers and a slowish course – and which he has won in 2017 and 2019.

Kamworor is also a former world cross-country winner and has a good record in Valencia, as he won his third world half-marathon title in the city in 2018. When it comes to marathon potential, he will no doubt be comparing his fitness to training partner Kipchoge – as they are coached by the same man, Patrick Sang – although the 28-year-old is also on the comeback from a car accident last year.

“I have big dreams and ambitions in the marathon and want to run as fast as possible and break barriers,” he says. “Valencia will be ready to help us push our limits on race day and I am sure it will be amazing.”

Facing him in the marathon on Sunday are fellow Kenyan Lawrence Cherono, a former winner of the Boston and Chicago marathons with a best time of 2:03:04, which makes him the fastest in the field.

There is also Kinde Atanaw of Ethiopia, who won the Valencia Marathon in 2019 in 2:03:51 and was poised to run in London in October but had to withdraw after a positive Covid test.

In addition there is Herpasa Negasa of Ethiopia, who has a best of 2:03:51, another Ethiopian, Chalu Deso, who has a PB of 2:04:53, Tanzanian 2:04:55 man Gabriel Geay and Sondre Moen of Norway – the latter of whom held the European record until 2019.

Altogether there are three men who have run sub-2:04:00 and eight who have broken 2:06:00, which makes Kamworor only the 10th fastest in the field based on PBs.

The women’s field is not quite as strong, but is led by 2:20 performers Guteni Shone and Asmera Gebru of Ethiopia plus 2:21 runners Bornes Chepkirui of Kenya and Bedatu Hirpa of Ethiopia. Watch out too for Nancy Jelagat, who has a 65:21 half-marathon PB.

Sonia Samuels, Alice Wright and Norman Shreeve are among almost 500 British runners in the race, although the 16,000-strong field is of course dominated by more than 9000 runners from Spain. Samuels has a best of 2:28:04 but is now 42, whereas the US-based Wright is aiming to finish her first marathon.

There is a strong Irish contingent too which includes 2:26:47 runner Fionnuala McCormick, who ambitiously plans to run the European Cross Country Championships seven days later in Dublin.

The race is also taking place for the 41st time. The first race in 1981 was won by Teodoro Perez in a modest 2:57:55 with Nuria de Miguel the first woman home in 3:20:50.

After those humble beginnings the winning times began to improve rapidly, though, and in 1984 Vicente Anton won in 2:14:01 and the women’s winner Juana Pablos Acosta was inside three hours with 2:57:28.

Now in the era of super-shoes, the last four editions have been won in 2:05:15 (Sammy Kithara), 2:04:31 (Leul Gebresilase), 2:03:51 (Atanaw) and 2:03:00 (Evans Chebet) in an elite-only race minus the masses in 2020.

The last two women’s title, meanwhile, have gone to Roza Dereje in 2:18:30 in 2019 and Peres Jepchirchir with 2:17:16 in 2020. The latter of course went on to win the Olympic title this year.

Geoffrey Kamworor, Lawrence Cherono and Guteni Shone confirmed for Valencia Marathon

Valencia will once again become the epicentre of the running world on December 5, when it holds the Valencia Marathon Trinidad Alfonso EDP, a World Athletics Elite Platinum Label race that in 2021 wants to continue making history by breaking records.

And to achieve this, it will count on some of the best athletes in the world including Geoffrey Kamworor, Lawrence Cherono and Guteni Shone.

Kamworor, winner of three world half marathon titles and two world cross-country titles, is eager to improve on his 2:06:12 PB, set on his debut at the distance back in 2012. Since he had to withdraw from the Tokyo Games due to injury, the two-time New York Marathon champion from Kenya has been preparing exclusively and conscientiously to achieve a great result in Valencia.

Cherono is coming off a fourth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics. The 2019 Boston and Chicago champion will return to the scene of his 2:03:04 PB, a time which makes him the fastest in the field.

Herpasa Negasa, the 2019 Dubai runner-up, and 2019 Valencia winner Kinde Atanaw are the other sub-2:04 performers in the field.

Ethiopia’s Andamlak Belihu, who finished fifth over 10,000m at the 2019 World Championships and at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships, will be making his marathon debut. The 22-year-old’s PBs of 26:53:15 for 10,000m and 58:54 for the half marathon point to a potentially fast time for the full marathon distance.

Although no one in the women’s field has a PB faster than 2:20, organisers are hopeful that barrier will be broken again in Valencia for the third year in a row.

Guteni Shone came close to that mark last year when finishing second in Dubai with 2:20:11. Fellow Ethiopian Azmera Gebru is also less than a minute shy of the barrier, thanks to her 2:20:48 PB from the 2019 Amsterdam Marathon.

Kenya's 2018 Prague Marathon champion Bornes Chepkirui, Ugandan record-holder Juliet Chekwel and three-time Rome Marathon champion Rahma Tusa of Ethiopia are also in the field. Marathon debutante Dorcas Tuitoek is also one to watch.

“This year’s marathon is extremely competitive, as we like it in Valencia,” said elite athlete coordinator Marc Roig. “I don’t rule out a sprint finish in both the men’s and women’s races – in fact, I’m counting on it. The athletes know that Valencia offers one of the best courses for achieving personal best times. And this, with the level of runners we have, can easily translate into several athletes breaking the course record. By how much? We will see on December 5.”

Kenyans Geoffrey Kamworor, Lawrence Cherono and Amos Kipruto set to lead Kenya's onslaught in Valencia

Geoffrey Kamworor, Lawrence Cherono and Amos Kipruto are among star athletes set to grace the 41st Valencia Marathon Trinidad Alfonso EDP.

Kamworor (2:06:12), who has previously broken the half marathon world record in 2019 and also won the New York Marathon twice is being seen by many as the hot favorite.

Widely tipped to fit in Eliud Kipchoge's shoes, Kamworor has been preparing exclusively and conscientiously to achieve a great result in the City of Running on December 5.

He will be making a grand return after withdrawing from the 2020 Tokyo Games due to injury.

On the other hand, Lawrence Cherono (2:03:04 in Valencia in 2020) placed fourth at the Tokyo Olympics, and in 2019, he won in Boston and Chicago.

Amos Kipruto, who achieved his personal best at the distance in Valencia in 2020 (2:03:30), will run too.

However, the Kenyan trio will have to fend off intense rivalry from Ethiopians Mule Wasihum (2:03:16), Getaneh Molla (2:03:34), Tsegaye Mekonnen (2:04:32), Kinde Atanaw (2:03:51) and Andamlak Belihu, a 26:53.15 runner over 10,000m and who achieved 58:54 at the 2020 New Delhi Half.

Tanzania's Gabriel Geay (2:04:55) will also grace the race.

Ethiopia's Guteni Shone (2:20:11) will lead a talent-rich pack of women athletes, including Azmera Gebru (2:20:48) and Tadelech Bekele (2:21:40).

They must, however, look over their shoulders for intense rivalry from the Kenyan trio of Bornes Chepkirui (2:21:26), Nancy Jelagat, with a personal best of 2:36:22, but a time of 1:05:21 at the Berlin half marathon in August, Dorcas Tuitoek, who has run 1:06:33 in the half-marathon, and who showed herself to be an outstanding athlete at the 2020 Elite Edition in Valencia.

Germany's Melat Kejeta (2:23:57), who finished sixth at the Tokyo Olympics and clocked 1:05:18 in the half marathon in 2020 (Europe’s record) could pull off a surprise.

Uganda's Juliet Chekwel (2:23:13) and Ethiopia's Rahma Tusa (2:23:46) complete the line up.

The race organisers said they look to make history by going under the course record (2:03:00, fourth world’s best time) and getting closer to the longed-for world record in the men's category and by becoming the best women's race of the year.

Valencia Marathon seeks to be the fastest race of 2021

Valencia will once again become the epicentre of the running world when it holds the 41st Valencia Marathon Trinidad Alfonso EDP, a race that in 2021 wants to continue making history by going under the course record (2:03:00, fourth world’s best time) and getting closer to the longed-for world record in the men’s category and by becoming the best women’s race of the year.

And to achieve this it will count on some of the best athletes in the world including the Kenyans Geoffrey Kamworor, Lawrence Cherono and Amos Kipruto, and the Ethiopians Mule Wasihun, Getaneh Molla, Kinde Atanaw and Andamlak Belihu.

Kamworor (2:06:12), who broke the half marathon world record in 2019 (later broken in 2020 in Valencia) and who has won the New York Marathon twice, is seen by many as the successor to Eliud Kipchoge and he is eager to show what he can do. Since he had to withdraw from the Tokyo Games due to injury, he has been preparing exclusively and conscientiously to achieve a great result in the City of Running on December 5.

For his part, Lawrence Cherono (2:03:04 in Valencia 2020) is coming off a fourth place finish at the Tokyo Olympics, and in 2019 he won in Boston and Chicago. Amos Kipruto, who achieved his personal best at the distance in Valencia 2020 (2h03:30), will run too.

Joining them will be Ethiopia’s Mule Wasihum (2:03:16), Getaneh Molla (2:03:34), Kinde Atanaw (2:03:51, time of his victory in Valencia 2019) and Tsegaye Mekonnen (2:04:32), as well as Tanzania’s Gabriel Geay (2:04:55), and another exciting newcomer, Andamlak Belihu, a 26:53:15 runner over 10,000m and who achieved 58:54 in the 2020 New Delhi Half. A whole squad of men capable of achieving the event’s objective of getting closer and closer to the fastest world record in history.

In the women’s category, the aim of the race organizers, S.D. Correcaminos and Valencia City Council, wants to go under 2h20 for third year in a row. To achieve this, Ethiopia’s Guteni Shone (2:20:11), Azmera Gebru (2:20:48) and Tadelech Bekele (2:21:40), as well as Kenya’s Bornes Chepkirui (2:21:26) will travel to the City of Running. Completing the line-up so far are Uganda’s Juliet Chekwel (2:23:13) and Ethiopia’s Rahma Tusa (2:23:46).

Although her personal best is not the most impressive, another favorite to win will be Germany’s Melat Kejeta (2:23:57), who finished sixth at the Tokyo Olympics and clocked 1:05:18 in the half marathon in 2020 (Europe’s record). Also watch out for Nancy Jelagat, with a personal best of 2:36:22, but a time of 1:05:21 at the Berlin half marathon in August, which bodes well for her. Finally, we would highlight the debut of the young Kenyan Dorcas Tuitoek, who has run 1:06:33 in the half-marathon, and who showed herself to be an outstanding athlete at the 2020 Elite Edition in Valencia.

For Marc Roig, the coach of the International Elite for the Valencia Marathon, “this year’s marathon is extremely competitive, as we like it in Valencia. I don’t rule out a sprint finish in both the men’s and women’s categories and, in fact, I’m counting on it. The athletes know that Valencia offers one of the best circuits for achieving personal best times. And this, with the level of runners we have, can easily translate into several athletes breaking the course record. By how much? We will see on December 5.”

Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon says she is motivated to break more records next season

Double Olympic1500m women's champion Faith Kipyegon hungry for more success.

Speaking on Tuesday after she was voted LG Sports Personality for the month of August, the mother of one stated that the timely award will motivate her going forward.

Faith defended her 1500m gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games in Japan in a new Olympic record of 3:53.11, beating Great Britain's Laura Muir and Dutch star Sifan Hassan.

"I am surprised about this award. It has never happened before. Being the off season, coach Patrick Sang called me and said that there is an urgent meeting. Little did I know I was to receive this award. It is an inspiration for me and my teammates at the camp,” said Kipyegon Tuesday during the award ceremony at the Global Sports Communication Training Camp in Kaptagat in Elgeyo Marakwet County.

To win the monthly award, Kipyegon went home with a state-of-the-art LG washing machine worth Sh92,000 and a glittering trophy engraved with her name.

Kipyegon was voted the best ahead of the men’s marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, Peres Jepchirchir who both won gold in Tokyo Olympics in marathon, as well as 800m gold medalist Emmanuel Korir.

Also in the nominees were World Under-20 Walk champion Heristone Wanyonyi, 100m sensational Ferdinand Omanyala and World Under-20 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi.

LG Electronics Managing Director, Sa Nyoung Kim appreciated the partnership, saying that the electronic firm is committed to developing sports in the country.

“I am humbled to be at such a humble camp which has so many championships. LG and SJAK will continue working together to support and motivate sports personalities achieve their dreams,” LG boss said.

On his part, Valentijn Trouw, a senior manager in the Global Sports Communication Camp said, “We are pleased as a team to have a fifth athlete awarded. As Global Sports Communication we work as a team to ensure that we not only develop good athletes but a well-rounded person.”

Kipyegon becomes the fourth female athlete in 2021 to lay hands on the coveted award, previously won by the likes of Kipchoge, Geoffrey Kamworor, Kenya sevens star Jacob Ojee and 800m Commonwealth champion Wycliffe Kinyamal among others. 

She also joins the growing list of 2021 winners that includes tennis superstar Angela Okutoyi (January), Tylor Okari Ongwae of Kenya Moran’s (February), Hit Squad boxer Elly Ajowi (March), world marathon champion Ruth Chepng'etich (April), Milan marathon winner Titus Ekiru (May), Safari Rally WRC3 winner Onkar Rai (June) and US based Lioness basketball star Victoria. Reynolds (July).

Athletics Kenya (AK) have named World 2019 bronze medalist Rhonex Kipruto as Geoffrey Kamworor's replacement in Kenya's 10,000 meters team for the Tokyo

Geoffrey Kamworor, who sustained an ankle injury in training this week, was a big medal prospect in the team that also has national cross country champion Rodgers Kwemoi and Weldon Kipkirui. 

The two left the country last Friday and will be competing in the final on July 30 where Kenya is expected to bag its first medal in athletics.

Kipruto, World Under-20 10,000m champion, withdrew from the Kenyan trials with five laps to go.

General Team Manager for the Tokyo Olympic Games Barnaba Korir said Kipruto has officially joined the team after clearance from World Athletics and necessary paperwork is ongoing.

“We are pleased to announce that Rhonex Kipruto is the latest inclusion to our athletics team for the Tokyo Olympics. He has already reported at Kasarani Stadium where the remaining part of team Kenya are in residential training in a bubble camp.

"The decision was arrived at after AK sought clearance from the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) on his anti-doping testing status, which I am pleased to say he has been given the green light,” Korir said via his official Facebook page.

Kipruto told Nation Sport that he is happy to get a chance to represent Kenya in what will be his first appearance at the Olympics. 

“I’m really sorry for my good friend Kamworor and I want to wish him quick recovery so that he can continue with his career. On my part I’m delighted becaue I will be able to represent my country once again and we will work hard to win something good for our country,” said Kipruto.

He also revealed to Nation Sport that his first Covid-19 test came out negative and he was going to be tested for the second time, a requirement before jetting out for the Games in Tokyo.

“I got the results and they are negative. We are doing another test just to be sure because this is now a requirement before travelling,” said Kipruto. 

Kipruto is currently the fastest man in 10km on the road having clocked world record time of 26:24 after lowering Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei’s time of 26:38 in Valencia, Spain in 2020.

The two will clash again when they line up for the 10,000m final on Friday after Cheptegei floored Kipruto during the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar winning gold ahead of Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha who took silver with KIpruto settling for bronze.

“We shall be battling out again with Cheptegei whom we have met in various races. He is a good athlete but I don’t want to say much for now but just to give my best, teamwork will be paramount,” he added.

Ankle injury rules out Kenya's Geoffrey Kamworor at Olympics

Kenyan 10,000 meters runner and 2019 New York Marathon winner Geoffrey Kamworor has pulled out of the Tokyo Olympics due to an ankle injury, he told BBC Sport Africa on Thursday.

The 28-year-old is a three times world Half Marathon champion, and previous world record holder, and had hopes of a medal in the 10,000m after winning the national trials.

He won silver at the 2015 world championships in Beijing, behind Britain's Mo Farah.

The injury comes after he was hit by a motorcycle while training near his home in June last year, suffering a fractured tibia.

"These are obstacles which can come on your way when you come back from a tough injury earlier on. It's only now extremely bad timing," the BBC quoted his manager Valentijn Trouw as saying.

Ex-New York marathon champ Geoffrey Kamworor to compete in Hengelo ahead of Tokyo Olympics

Former New York marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor will compete and train in Hengelo, Netherlands as part of his preparations for the Tokyo Olympics Games.

Kenya's head athletics coach Julius Kirwa said on Monday in Nairobi that the former World Cross Country champion will head to the Dutch city from Wednesday to compete in selected races over the 3,000m distance.

The coach said it was critical for Kamworor to gauge himself in short distance races to test his speed prowess ahead of the Olympics, which starts on July 23.

"Kamworor is heading to Hengelo for training and to compete. He will step down from his traditional 10,000m distance to 3,000m so as to gauge his speed. We want him to test himself and see where he is on the scale," Kirwa told Xinhua in Nairobi.

Kenya will line up former World Cross Country champion Kamworor, Rodgers Kwemoi and Weldon Kipkurui Langat in the 10,000m race at the Olympics hopeful to regain the elusive gold medal.

Kenya last won gold in the 10,000m race back in 1968 through Naftali Temu in Mexico City.

But Kirwa is optimistic, the new team, which is a blend of youth and experienced athletes will weather the storm from Ethiopia, Uganda and America challenge.

"We have a blend of young and ambitious prodigies, who will complement Kamworor to learn and exploit his experience in the Tokyo Olympics," Kirwa added.

The coach noted that in a normal cycle, athletes mature and wither, form comes and goes, momentum shifts and stars periodically align.

However, he feels that Kenya has the right blend of stars to alter the matrix and break the jinx to clinch the gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

Reigning champion Mo Farah of England will not defend his title in Tokyo as he failed to make the team.

However, Kirwa has pointed out world 10km record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda as a main hurdle in Kenya quest to win gold.

"Cheptegei is a strong candidate, but we will work on a strategy to fix him. I believe in my team and Kamworor is eager to do well because this might be his last track competition before he turns his focus fully on the marathon," he said.

Kamworor, who skipped the World Championships in Doha in 2019 to focus on reclaiming his title at the New York marathon, said the allure of having an Olympic gold medal dangle down his neck is too strong to ignore.

"I have had several challenges in the past one year. Our mentor Eliud Kipchoge challenged me to make the team so that we can go to Tokyo together," Kamworor told reporters in Nairobi.

At the Rio Games, Kenya won 13 medals - six gold, six silver and one bronze - all in athletics.

Geoffrey Kamworor ran the fastest time for 10000m in history at altitude

The 10000m race at the Kenyan Olympic Trials was one amazing event.  The Kenyan Tokyo Olympic Trials happening June 17 to June 19 were  moved from the Kipchoge Keino Stadium in Eldoret, to Moi International Sports Centre (MISC), Kasarani. Kasarani is located approximately 10 kilometres outside of Nairobi.

Athletics Kenya (AK) announced via press release that the changes are needed to test systems and requirements in readiness for the World Athletics Under-20 Championships which are planned for Aug. 17 to Aug. 22.

Geoffrey Kamworor clocked 27:01 for 10000m in the Kenyan Olympic Trials today.  No one has run faster at altitude.  

"I'm really happy to have qualified for the Olympics by running the fastest time in history in altitude. Now, we’re building on towards the bigger goal ahead," says Geoffrey Kamworor. 

The altitude at the stadium is 1865 meters or 6118 feet.  

Rodgers Kwemoi was second in a very fast 27:05.51 and Weldon Kipkirui Langat was third clocking 27:24.73.  Ronex lead from the start but dropped out at 7k.  

Geoffrey and Kwemoi were behind, when Geoffrey decided to break, Kwemoi resisted but with two laps to go Geoffrey made his big break and widen the gap winning by just over four seconds.  

The athletes' NN Running Team is organizing a global online mass run and Kipchoge, Bekele and Cheptegei are set to participate

Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge is set to take part in an online virtual mass run this weekend (22-23 May) along with some 30,000 members of the public who have signed up.

Organised by the Kenyan's Dutch-based NN Running Team, the event - dubbed MA RA TH ON - is being held for the second time. In 2020, some 106,000 registrations were accepted, with participants clocking a distance far enough to run around the world 28 times.

"I am really excited for this coming Saturday and Sunday as the world is running as one," Kipchoge said in quotes reported by the Kenyan Broadcasting Corporation.

"It’s not about running fast, it’s not about winning, but it’s all about participating."

The event sees teams of four around the world run just over 10.5 kilometers each, for a total of the marathon distance 42.195 km.

Each runner runs alone, and records their activity on the Strava application. Additionally, ten teams will each have an NN Running Team athlete compete alongside them.

Among the elite athletes competing are Kipchoge, his fellow Kenyan Geoffrey Kamworor, Ethiopia's Kenenisa Bekele, and 5 km and 10 km world record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda.

"I am very happy that we organize this event again. It has given all the participating athletes a huge motivation in a difficult year," Kamworor said according to the KBC.

Kipchoge's last event was the NN Marathon in Enschede, Netherlands, in April, which he won in 2:04:30.

Kamworor finished second in the Istanbul Half Marathon in 59:38 in April; Bekele won a half marathon in London (1:00:22) at the start of March; while Cheptegei's last outing was a third place finish in a 1500m race at the Ugandan Athletics Federation Trials in April.

Eliud Kipchoge leads athletes in getting Covid-19 vaccination

Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge was among Kenyan athletes who received their Covid-19 vaccination at Kenyatta University Referral Hospital on Monday.

Also to receive their AstraZeneca jab were Olympic 1,500m champion Faith Chepngétich, Geoffrey Kamworor, the former World Half marathon champion and record holder and 2019 National Cross Country champion, Amos Kirui.

“The only other way we can conquer this pandemic is getting vaccinated, “said Kipchoge, who had just arrived from the Netherlands where he won the NN Mission in 2:04:30 on April 18.

“Taking the vaccination is also one way of helping us prepare for the Tokyo Olympics well since that Covid-19 vaccination certificate could in days to come be the ticket for the Games,” said Kipchoge, the marathon world record holder.

Cabinet Secretary for Sports Amina Mohammed oversaw the launch of the vaccination exercise for Team Kenya for the Olympic Games at Kasarani on April 8. 

Amina said her ministry in collaboration with their health counterparts and Nairobi Metropolitan Services had secured 3,500 Covid-19 vaccines for Team Kenya going for the Tokyo Olympic Games and other teams for international assignments.

Amina disclosed that it’s their target to inoculate a total of 3,500 athletes, coaches, officials and athlete handlers across the country not only for Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games but other events.

Those who have benefited from the vaccine are all personnel working on Safari Rally, World Athletics Under-20 Championships in athletics, World Athletics Continental Tour’s Kip Keino Classic and the 2021 Rugby Africa U20 Barthes Trophy.

Others are Sports Kenya, the Kenya Academy of Sports, Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya, Sports, Arts and Social Development Fund and all Ministry of Sports frontline staffers.

Can pacemaker and three-time Toronto Marathon champion Philemon Rono help Kipchoge hit another milestone?

Pacemaker Philemon Rono is all fired up for the ardours task of pacing a strong field, led by world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge, at Sunday's NN Mission Marathon in Enschede.

Rono, who clinched the 2016, 2017 and 2019 Toronto Marathon titles will link up with another Toronto Marathon champion Laban Korir, former Olympic and world marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich, Augustine Choge and Jonathan Korir.

The race — initially set for April 11 in Hamburg, Germany — is set for Enschede in the Netherlands and an upbeat Rono is confident he has what it takes to cap off Kipchoge's glittering career with another feather.

“As a pacesetter, you have a lot of mathematics to do in a race, unlike the athlete. You need to be tactical, timely and stay focused on the laid down rules,” said Rono.

He proved his mettle during his stint at the Global Sports Communication training camp, where he set up Wilson Kipsang for a 2:03:38 world marathon record at the 2013 Berlin Marathon.

Rono's exploits also saw him fire up three-time world half marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor to a decent fourth finish at the Rotterdam Marathon.

“With such experience in pace-setting, I will do my best to achieve the results as demanded by the race organisers,” added Rono, nicknamed 'junior police' because of his short stature.

World half-marathon record falls to Ruth Chepngetich in Istanbul

Istanbul race promised fast times due to red-hot line up and it delivered despite damp conditions

Ruth Chepngetich took almost half a minute off the women’s world half-marathon record in Istanbul on Sunday (April 4).

The Kenyan, who won the world marathon title in the heat and humidity of Doha in 2019, clocked 64:02 for the 13.1-mile distance as she smashed the 64:31 mark held by Ababel Yeshaneh of Ethiopia.

The 26-year-old is certainly familiar with the roads of Istanbul. She has now won the city’s half-marathon three times and in 2018 she ran 2:18:35 to win the Istanbul Marathon.

Yeshaneh’s world record was set at the RAK Half in February last year. That race was called off this year due to the coronavirus, which effectively meant many of the leading entrants competed in Istanbul instead.

Racing less than 24 hours after Beth Potter ran the fastest ever 5km on the roads at the Podium 5km in Lancashire, Chepngetich drew away from a strong field in Istanbul in damp and cool conditions.

The event featured a mass participation field and also inline skaters and saw the runners tackling the distance on the banks of the Bosphorus on a wet morning in Turkey.

Not only was Chepngetich’s time a world record, too, but it was quicker than the fastest-ever half-marathon set on the roads – the 64:28 by Brigid Kosgei on a Great North Run course that is disallowed for record purposes.

Runner-up Yalemrzew Yehualaf clocked 64:40 to go No.3 on the world all-time lists while Hellen Obiri, the world cross-country champion, clocked 64:51 on her debut, making this the first time three women had broken the 65-minute barrier in the same race.

Joan Chelimo Melly was fourth in 65:09 and world marathon record-holder Kosgei fifth in 66:01 as the top seven broke 67 minutes.

The eagerly-anticipated men’s race head to head between Kibiwott Kandie beats Geoffrey Kamworor, meanwhile, saw Kandie take the win by three seconds in 59:35 as he gradually drew away from his rival in the closing stages.

The runners were well outside Kandie’s men’s world record of 57:32 but Kandie’s time was a course record and the top five men broke the one-hour mark.

World Records in danger at Istanbul Half Marathon Sunday

Super-strong fields tackle 13.1 miles in Turkish city on Sunday with Hellen Obiri, Brigid Kosgei, Peres Jepchirchir, Kibiwott Kandie and Geoffrey Kamworor among the entries

World records could fall at the Istanbul Half Marathon on Sunday (April 4) due to the red-hot line-ups that have been assembled.

The women’s race features marathon world record-holder Brigid Kosgei, world half-marathon gold medallist Peres Jepchirchir and world cross-country and 5000m champion Hellen Obiri.

Whereas the men’s race sees world half-marathon record-holder Kibiwott Kandie against former world record-holder Geoffrey Kamworor.

Obiri makes her half-marathon debut and she could hardly have picked a tougher first race.

In addition to Kosgei and Jepchirchir, the Kenyan faces world marathon champion Ruth Chepngetich, plus Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw, Melat Kejeta of Germany and Yasemin Can of Turkey.

All eyes will be on Kandie and Kamworor in the men’s race but watch out too for Ethiopia’s Amdework Walelegn and Uganda’s Stephen Kissa plus Turkey’s Kaan Kigen Ozbilen.

Kandie and Kamworor were due to have a much-anticipated showdown at the RAK Half on February 19 but it was called off due to the pandemic.

If conditions are good Kandie’s world record of 57:32 – which was set in Valencia in December – will be under threat, whereas the women’s world record of 64:31 held by Ababel Yeshaneh is also in danger.

The races start 10am local time on Sunday April 4.

The most remarkable line-up has been announced for Istanbul Half Marathon

Organizers of the N Kolay Istanbul Half Marathon have announced the most remarkable line-up in the history of this World Athletics Elite Label road race, to be held on 4 April.

Having staged a successful edition under intense measures against Covid-19 in September last year, the event is now set to host a limited number of 4000 participants on its traditional date of the first Sunday of April.

The race will see the long-awaited clash of the reigning and former world record-holders over the distance. Kibiwott Kandie of Kenya, now the world’s fastest half-marathon runner, improved the time set by his compatriot Geoffrey Kamworor in Valencia in December, bringing down the world record to 57:32 from 58:01. Kamworor, who has three World Athletics Half Marathon Championships gold medals under his belt, will be back on the roads following his recovery from surgery after he was hit by a motorcycle in June last year.

The two Kenyans will be joined by two sub-59 minute runners in Amedework Walelegn of Ethiopia, the Istanbul Half Marathon record-holder who won in 59:50 in 2018, and Uganda's Stephen Kissa, who made his debut over the distance in February 2020 and finished the year with a time of 58:56. Kenya’s Leonard Barsoton, sixth at the World Athletics Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia last year, will also be one of the fastest athletes on the start line.

Home hopes in Istanbul will be led by Kaan Kigen Ozbilen, who holds the national record with 59:48. Aras Kaya, European cross country champion in 2019, will also be a strong contender in the event that incorporates the National Half Marathon Championships.

The women’s field is equally as strong. Kenya’s marathon world record-holder Brigid Kosgei and the women-only half-marathon world record-holder Peres Jepchirchir, plus the second fastest female half-marathon runner of all time Yalemzerf Yehualaw of Ethiopia, will head the line-up.

Kenyan Ruth Chepngetich, the race record-holder and the reigning world marathon champion, will be a co-favorite in the race along with Joan Chelimo Melly.

The European women-only record-holder Melat Kejeta from Germany will also be on the start line on 4 April. The home crowd expects Kejeta’s record to be challenged by Yasemin Can.

Kamworor, Kandie, Kosgei and Yehualaw had been among the athletes set to race at the Ras Al Khamimah Half Marathon in February before it was cancelled due to the pandemic.