Running News Daily

Chumo and Bekere take Barcelona half marathon wins

Kenya’s Victor Chumo and Ethiopia’s Ashete Bekere took their respective titles at the eDreams Mitja Marato Barcelona, a World Athletics Gold Label road race, on Sunday (16). On a perfect day for running, the 33-year-old Chumo succeeded after a thrilling sprint finish in 59:58 while Bekere was an overwhelming victor to smash her career best by exactly four minutes to 1:06:37.

Paced by the Kenyan pair of Cornelius Kiplangat and Boniface Kibiwot, the men’s race kicked off at a moderate tempo as the large main group went through the opening 5km in 14:18. The rhythm then heated up over the following kilometres, with the lead pack reaching 10km in 28:04, well on schedule to attack the course record of 59:44 set in 2018. Six men remained in contention: Kenyans Chimo and Moses Koech, Uganda’s Stephen Kissa and Mande Bushendich, and Eritrea’s Abrar Osman and Ethiopia’s Tesfahun Alkanew.

Once the pacesetters dropped out the six athletes took turns with the pacing duties. First Chumo took command, then Osman, the only athlete with sub-60 minute credentials, pushed hard. Even Kissa moved to the front on his first ever try over the distance.

By 15km, the clock was reading a promising 42:24 with six men still battling it out. But the speed decreased a bit over the following kilometres with a 54:14 19km split eliminating any chance of a course record. Over the closing kilometre, Chumo, Koech and Kissa proved to be the strongest and pulled away targeting a sub-one hour run.

Chumo prevailed at the tape in 59:58, clipping five seconds from his previous best with Kissa and Koech next in 1:00:00, an interesting debut for the Ugandan and a career best for the 22-year-old Kenyan by 11 seconds.

“I have been looking for an under 60 minute time for so long so I’m very satisfied with my win and my clocking today,” Chumo said.

Bekere dominates women’s race, Dereje falters

Held simultaneously with the men’s race, the women’s contest began conservatively as the four-woman leading group went through the opening five kilometres in 15:51. That pack included pre-race favourite Roza Dereje, her fellow Ethiopians Ashete Bekere and Asnakech Awoke plus Kenya’s Dorcas Kimeli. Always paced by Daniel Feyisa, the quartet passed 10km in 31:32 for a 15:41 5km split, but not fast enough to threaten either the world record or the course record set by Florence Kiplagat in a then world record of 1:05:09. By then, Britain’s Charlotte Arter travelled in fifth (32:390 alongside Ugandan Rachael Chebet while Germany’s Alina Reh ran 22 seconds behind that duo.

After another 15:51 5km section for an overall 47:23 15km split, the big surprise came when Dereje simply could not live with the pace and began to struggle leaving behind any chance of a podium finish. Simultaneously, Bekere, the winner at the last Berlin marathon in a PB of 2:20:14, began to push hard and Kimeli soon lost ground. Awoke managed to keep up with her compatriot for some 1200m, Bekere’s relentless pace proved too fast. She broke from Awoke with three kilometres remaining and finished unchallenged in 1:06:37 for a massive PB. Awoke’s 1:07:04 was also a lifetime best by over three minutes. Kimeli completed the podium six seconds behind Awoke in 1:07:10 also a career best for the Kenyan. As for Dereje, she finished two minutes behind the winner in 1:08:38.

Arter managed to hold off the late challenge by fast-finishing Reh to finish fifth in 1:10:01, seven seconds ahead of the German.

Jemma Reekie wins 1500m in Glasgow to continue fine start to 2020

Jemma Reekie continued her sensational start to 2020 by winning the 1500 metres at the Muller Indoor Grand Prix in Glasgow.

The 21-year-old had already broken three British indoor records this month and produced a blistering final lap to overtake Ethiopian Dawit Seyaum on the home straight and finish in four minutes and 4.07 seconds.

The time did not threaten the British record she set last weekend – it was about three-and-a-half seconds out – but the Scot showed impressive determination and composure to make her move down the inside.

Reekie admitted she feared she might be boxed in at one stage but she forced her way through.

"A few points I had to get my elbows out," she said. "That's middle-distance running for you. I am just learning so getting the confidence that I can do that was good.

"I was hoping I was going to beat my own British record but it's OK, I will take the win."

Kenya's Fancy Chemutai targets fast time at Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon

Two years ago, Kenya's Fancy Chemutai narrowly missed out on breaking the world record at the Ras Al Khaimah (RAK) Half Marathon.

However, as she returns to the United Arab Emirates city for the Al Khaimah Half Marathon on February 21, only one thing rings in her mind, win the race and prepare for her transition to the full marathon later this year.

"I had problems with my leg last year and it was the reason I did not post good results. But I have overcome it and I am looking forward to doing well in at the Al Khaimah Half Marathon next week," said Chemutai on Thursday.

Chemutai came just one second shy of the world record in February 2018 when she won in Ras Al Khaimah in a stunning 64 minutes 52 seconds.

Last year in January, Chemutai ran off an ankle injury to finish second at the Houston Half Marathon in a time of 66:48.

Now she believes she will be strong enough to challenge the course record in UAE, currently held by compatriot Joyciline Jepkosgei in 64:52.

Chemutai will, however, be up against a strong challenge from compatriots Brigid Kosgei, who was seventh at 66:49 in 2018, Joan Chelimo (65:04), Peres Jepchirchir (65:06) and debutante Rosemary Wanjiru as well as Ethiopia's reigning world half marathon champion Netsanet Gudeta.

"I have plans to run the full marathon, but the injury slowed me down," she said. "Now that I am back in action, I will discuss with the coaches and see how fast I can move to the marathon." 

A refugee athlete has been selected as an elite runner for the Tokyo Marathon for the first time in the event’s history

Yonas Kinde, who currently lives in Luxembourg, will take part in the Marathon on March 1 2020.

Yonas participated at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 as a member of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He continues his training as an IOC Refugee Athlete Scholarship Holder and will compete as part of his efforts to secure selection in the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Tokyo 2020.

He comes from Ethiopia, the country of the famous “barefoot runner” Abebe Bikila. Abebe is known for winning gold medals in the marathon at two consecutive Olympic Games, including the Olympic Games Tokyo 1964. For Yonas, it has been a dream to run in Tokyo, as he deeply admires Abebe – an Ethiopian hero.

“Growing up, Abebe was an inspiration to me and I am delighted to be able to run in Tokyo, where he achieved so much”, Yonas says. “Through my participation, I hope to send the message that, if supported, refugees can unlock great potential.”

Those who participate at the elite category are runners who meet specific requirements set by the Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF).

Yonas received the elite runner status following an initiative of Japan for UNHCR (J4U), the national partner of the UN Refugee Agency in the country. 

It will be Yonas’s first visit to Japan. During his stay, he will train at the Tokorozawa Campus of Waseda University.

The refugees’ participation at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 gave courage and hope to millions of people who have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict and persecution. It also testified to the enormous strength of refugee athletes, who strive to do their best despite facing adversity.

Yonas Kinde is a marathon runner and Ethiopian refugee, who arrived in Luxembourg five years before he was selected for the IOC Refugee Olympic Team Rio 2016. He threw himself into life in Luxembourg, taking French classes regularly, and working as a taxi driver to earn a living, all the while pushing himself to become a better runner. Yonas began running in Ethiopia as a teenager, and after fleeing to Luxembourg he competed and won several titles in Luxembourg, France and Germany.

Course and Mexican all-comers’ records under threat at Guadalajara Half Marathon

Kenya’s Geoffrey Koech, Shadrack Korir, Lucy Cheruiyot and Perine Nengampi lead the Kenyan contingent aiming to rewrite the course and Mexican All-comers’ records at the 34th Electrolit Guadalajara Half Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label road race, on Sunday.

Almost a month after running personal bests under 60 minutes in Houston, Korir (59:27) and Koech (59:36) will now target the course record of 1:01:48, set by their countryman Mathew Kisorio last year. The fastest half marathon run on Mexican soil is 1:01:27 by Simon Biwott in 1999.

Two more Kenyans, Benson Kipruto, a 2:05:13 marathoner, and Cosmas Kipchoge, who boasts a personal best of 1:00:06, are also top contenders for the podium. 

Ethiopia’s Haymanot Alewe will try to spoil a Kenyan medal sweep. A 1:00:26 runner over the distance, the 22-year-old showed his fine early season form with a 28:17 10km in Thailand on 26 January. 

Two-time Olympic finalist and two-time winner Juan Luis Barrios (2015-2016) carries the Mexican hopes in the elite race. He finished fifth in 2019.

In the women’s race, Lucy Cheruiyot is well positioned to threaten the Mexican all-comers’ and course record of 1:08:53, set by Ethiopia’s Afera Godfay Berha last year. The 23-year-old has run faster six times in her career, twice in 2017 when she set her personal best of 1:07:23 and more recently last October when winning the Cardiff Half Marathon in 1:08:20.

Her fellow Kenyan Perine Nengampi, a 1:08:04 half marathoner, will join her in trying to regain the top spot on the podium for the country, but Abeba Gebremeskel, who shows a marathon lifetime best of 2:22:29, will try to keep the trophy in Ethiopian hands. 

Three other sub-70 minute Kenyans, Margaret Agai (1:09:43), Visiline Jepkesho (1:08:12) and Winfridah Moseti (1:08:44) should also feature prominently on Sunday.

Mexico’s Madai Perez, the fastest Spanish speaking woman over the marathon distance (2:22:59), returns to Guadalajara after missing the 2019 edition. The 40-year old has stepped on the podium seven times, including wins in 2003 and 2006.

The 34th edition of the race, powered by Granvita, celebrates Guadalajara’s 478th anniversary of its foundation. A Marathon Parade with 21 sculptures representing the race’s 21 kilometres, will also grace the 34th edition. This urban art exhibit will be displayed throughout a month, before moving to other Mexican cities.

Ethiopia’s rising star Roza Dereje is the one to beat at the Barcelona half Marathon

The 22-year-old Roza Dereje won last year with a 1:06:01 lifetime best and seems ready to improve on that performance. She also bettered her marathon career best thanks on  December 1 to 2:18:30 to win the Valencia Marathon. That time placed her among the top-ten on the all-time world list.

“I want to run as fast as possible on Sunday,” Dereje said. “I have my own dream and a clear goal in terms of clocking but I need to see how I feel on the race day. If the weather is fine I hope you all can enjoy something special.”

The world record is 1:04:51 set by Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei in Valencia in 2017. Dereje will be paced by her compatriot Daniel Feyisa.

Her stiffest opponent should be fellow Ethiopian Zeineba Yimer who holds the quickest time among the entrants, 1:05:46 for third at Ras Al Khaimah exactly one year ago. The 21-year-old made a remarkable marathon debut in Valencia last December clocking 2:19:28 for fifth, the same place she managed at the last World Half Marathon Championships also held in Valencia. Yimer enjoyed a fine 2019, clocking a 10,000m career best of 30:46:24 in Hengelo and a winning 46:52 time at the Valencia 15km in June.

Kenya’s Dorcas Kimeli should also be a factor. The 22-year-old belongs to the exclusive sub-30 minute 10km club, breaking that barrier in Prague last September when she ran an impressive 29:57 to finish second. More recently, Kimeli finished second in a cross country race in Thika where she beat world half marathon record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei by a couple of seconds.

Germany’s Melat Kejeta will try to give a scare to the theoretical podium placers. The 28-year-old Ethiopian-born runner boasts a 1:08:41 best for the distance and made a solid marathon debut in Berlin last September clocking 2:23:57.

Two other women have dipped under 70 minutes, Germany’s Alina Reh and Britain’s Charlotte Arter. Reh, a multiple European U20 and U23 champion with a 1:09:31 best, will contest her third race over the distance while Arter, 28, returns to the setting of her 1:09:41 best.

Kenya's Peres Jepchirchir will be back for another shot at the Ras Al Khaimah half marathon title on February 21

Peres Jepchirchir will be up against women’s marathon world record-holder Brigid Kosgei while the men’s race will see Benard Kimeli, battle with Mosinet Geremew – one of only five men to complete a marathon in under two hours and three minutes.

European half marathon record-holder Julien Wanders of Switzerland is also in the line up.

A prize purse of Sh32.9 million (AED 1,219,000) will be distributed among leading elite runners as well as the UAE national and age group categories. Registration will close on Saturday.

The annual premier road race hosts a variety of race categories including elite runners, club and recreational runners, people of determination and juniors.

This year, it will also introduce a new relay race category for the first time, while a 1km fun race designed for children will allow families to enjoy themselves as well.

Jepchirchir, who set the then world record of 65.06 at the course, is keen to bounce back to victory this year.

“I have prepared well. I just want to run a good time on the course,” she said.

Jepchirchir, the Lisbon Marathon winner, broke Florence Kiplagat’s mark before Joyceline Jepkosgei slapped a new record.

She is still fresh from winning winning Saitama Marathon in Japan, the Lisbon Half marathon champion is optimistic that despite the classy line-up, she is not worried to take on the world-beaters in a race set for February 21 in the United Arab Emirates.

Kosgei, the world marathon record holder at 2:14:0 set at 2019 Chicago Marathon, will carry his 64:28 personal best, to the quality field.

Women’s defending champion Fancy Chemutai (64.52), Joan Chelimo (65.04), a former world half marathon silver medallist Mary Wanjiru as well as world half marathon champion Netsanet Gudeta of Ethiopia, are also hungry for glory.

But the stars must be at their best to stop the 25-year-old Kosgei, who will compete in her first race this season -and still enjoying a 10-race winning span since 2018 Chicago Marathon.

Chicago Marathon champion Lawrence Cherono will replace injured Farah, to battle Bekele in London Half Marathon

Chicago Marathon champion Lawrence Cherono has been drafted in to replace injured Mo Farah and battle Ethiopian Kenenisa Bekele in the March 1 Vitality London Half Marathon.

Cherono, one of the world's most successful marathon runners, will take on Bekele as part of his training ahead of his title defense on the streets in Boston in April.

Cherono, who has been selected to represent Kenya at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, is the reigning champion of both the Boston and Chicago Marathons and has an incredible record of eight wins in 11 races over the 42km distance.

"I am really looking forward to going to London to run in such a high-quality race. I'm thankful for the opportunity. It is exactly the test I was looking for as I prepare for the Boston Marathon and I am sure it will be a great race," Cherono said on Wednesday.

The London Half Marathon, which starts close to London's iconic Tower Bridge, will offer Cherono a stern test gauging his fitness against Bekele, he is to fight at the Tokyo Olympic games later in August.

Bekele is the current world record holder for 5000m and 10000m and the second-fastest marathon runner in history having clocked 2:01:41 in winning Berlin race in 2019.

Both men will use the London Half Marathon as crucial preparation for upcoming marathons.

Bekele is working towards a mouth-watering match-up between himself and marathon world record holder Eliud Kipchoge on April 26 while Cherono will defend his Boston Marathon title six days earlier on April 20.

As well as Cherono and Bekele, the reigning Rotterdam Marathon champion Marius Kipserem from Kenya and a host of leading British athletes including Chris Thompson, Dewi Griffiths and Ross Millington will race in this year's event.

Mo Farah withdrew from this year's race due to injury and is still in Kenya to continue with his training.

British distance-running great Mo Farah has withdrawn from next month's Big Half race in London with an achilles injury, organizers announced on Wednesday

The four-time Olympic gold medalist, preparing for the 2020 Games in Tokyo, suffered the minor injury in training.

Farah, 36, has won the half-marathon event for the past two years and was due to take on a field featuring Ethiopia star Kenenisa Bekele on March 1.

"I was really looking forward to racing the Vitality Big Half again," said Farah in a statement issued by event organizers.

"Everyone knows how much I love racing in London, but my priority is to be fit, healthy and competitive for the summer season and for that reason I have had to make the tough decision not to race this year."

Farah will continue his Olympic preparations in Africa after changing his mind about running the marathon in Tokyo to return to the track, having won double gold over 5,000 meters and 10,000m at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games.

He won the 2018 Chicago marathon in a European record time but could only manage a fifth-place finish at last year's London Marathon.

Eliud Kipchoge, the world record holder, is the favorite to win marathon gold in Tokyo. Farah is set to defend his 10,000m title in Japan instead.

Ethiopia´s distance runner Abadi Hadis has died at the age of 22

A regular competitor on the international track and road circuits, Hadis made his big breakthrough in 2016. Clocking PBs of 13:02.49 and 26:57.88, he was the fastest U20 athlete in the world that year at both 5000m and 10,000m. He also represented Ethiopia at the Olympic Games in Rio that year, finishing 15th in the 10,000m.

In 2017, while still a teenager, he finished third in the senior men’s race at the World Cross Country Championships in Kampala, leading Ethiopia to the team gold medal. He went on to finish seventh in the 10,000m at the World Championships in London later that year.

Hadis went on to record a 5000m PB of 12:56.27 in 2018 and followed it with a half marathon best of 58:44. He replicated that half marathon time at the start of 2019 and followed it with a 26:56.46 10,000m PB in Hengelo. His last competition was the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, where he exited in the heats of the 5000m.

He is one of just five men in history to have bettered 13 minutes for 5000m, 27 minutes for 10,000m and 59 minutes for the half marathon.

Josh Lunn flies to Barcelona to make his Granollers Half Marathon debut

Josh Lunn in good shape for his England debut in Barcelona.

The 27-year-old second claim Helpston Harrier is part of an eight-strong national team who will battle it out with a star-studded international field.

The race boasts household names such as Ethiopian superstar Heile Gebrisellasie and two times London marathon winner Wilson Kipsang amongst its illustrious line-up of former winners.

“I’m really excited to run for England said Lunn. “It’s something I didn’t think I’d achieve.

“I’m in reasonably good shape as I’ve been training towards the London Marathon in April.”

The former King’s schoolboy smashed his 10km PB two weeks ago with a 29.44 clocking on the roads of Cardiff.

Kenyan Dickson Chumba faces stiff test in Tokyo marathon

Dickson Chumba faces an acid test at the Tokyo Marathon slated for March 1.

Chumba, a two-time winner in the Japanese city and the 2015 Chicago Marathon winner, faces a formidable field but starts among the favorites with a personal best of 2:04:32. 

With a personal best time of 2:04:46 All African Games half-marathon, Titus Ekiru remains a formidable challenger having previously grabbed victories in Seville, Mexico City, Honolulu Marathon (twice) and Milano Marathon.

World marathon bronze medalist Amos Kipruto is also in the mix for the event and has a personal best of 2:05:43 while another Kenyan, Bedan Karoki will also be seeking to win his first marathon.

Karoki has a personal best time of 2:06:48 which he ran in Chicago last year. He also finished third at the 2017 London Marathon after clocking 2:07:41

Simon Kariuki, with a personal best of 2:09:41, has also been entered for the event. 

The Kenyan contingent faces a Herculean task from Ethiopia's defending champion Legese Birhanu, who has a personal best of 2:02:48. He leads compatriots Getaneh Molla (2:03:34), Lemina Sisay (2:03:36), Mengistu Asefa (2:04:08), Lemi Hayle (2:04:33) and Bahrain's El Abbassi El Hassan (2:04:43) also frontrunners.

Tokyo Marathon race director Tadaaki Hayano said the race will serve as trials for Japanese athletes, who are fighting for the last ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Marathon.

Kenyan Bedan Karoki and world marathon bronze medalist Amos Kipruto are among a star-studded line up for this year’s Tokyo Marathon on March 1

The duo will be joined by two-time winner Dickson Chumba, Honolulu marathon champion Titus Ekiru and defending champion Birhanu Legese of Ethiopia.

Karoki will be returning to the Japanese capital after clinching silver last year when he clocked 2:06:48 just two minutes shy off Legese.

Kipruto, the 2018 Berlin Marathon silver medallist will be making his debut alongside the in-form Ekiru who enjoyed massive success in 2019 winning Milano City Marathon, Portugal City Half Marathon while also clinching gold in Half Marathon in African Games in held in Rabat, Morocco.

For the experienced Chumba- the 2014 and 2018 champion- he will be looking to claim a third title after dropping to a third-place finish last year in 2:08:44.

Kenyans will however be wary of the threat posed by Legese whose mark of 2:04:48 is the second-fastest winning time in the Japanese capital after Wilson Kipsang’s 2:03:58 in 2017.

In the women’s field Kenya’s duo of Sally Chepyego and Frankfurt marathon champion Valary Aiyabei will take on the defending champion Ruti Aga and 2015 champion Birhane Dibaba both of Ethiopia.

Aga attained the third-fastest time during last year’s win as she clocked 2:20:40

Tokyo marathon is the first stop of six World Marathon Majors.

Kenyan Philes Moora Ongori and Ethiopian Dadi Yami Gemeda will join 2020 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon elite field

In a statement signed by Head Communications and Media, Olukayode Thomas, he said Ongori who started her career in Japan and won a number of All-Japan Corporate titles is delighted to be selected to run in Lagos.

Ongori was on the track running the 10,000 meters for Kenya at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.

She came to prominence in the half marathon in 2008 when she won the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon in the fastest time of the year.

At the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships she won the silver medal.

Ongori won on her marathon debut at the Rotterdam Marathon in 2011, setting a time of 2:24:20 hours.

Ongori made her full marathon debut in April 2011 at the Rotterdam Marathon and she outran the more experienced Hilda Kibet in the final stages to win the race in a quick first-time run of 2:24:20 hours.

Defending champ Ruti Aga and last year's winner Birhanu Legese will be back for 2020 Tokyo Marathon

Ethiopia is pretty far down the road to overtaking Kenya as the world's leading marathon nation, and its presence is heavy in both the women's and men's fields for the Olympic year 2020 Tokyo Marathon. Lacking London's star power the Tokyo fields won't win many nominations for best of 2020, but with loads of World Marathon Majors top three finishers and winners of next-tier gold label marathons they're still fields at a level most other races would love to be able to pull off.

On the women's side, with PBs of 2:18:34 and 2:18:46 defending champ Ruti Aga and past winner Birhane Dibaba lead a main of twelve top-tier invited elites, of which nine were born in Ethiopia. The other three, Valary Jemeli Aiyabei, nationality transfer Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, and Selly Chepyego Kaptich, were all born in Kenya.

With Tokyo not counting in last-chance Olympic qualification for Japanese women the top entrant from outside those two countries is Japan's Haruka Yamaguchi, an amateur who took 7th in this past weekend's Osaka International Women's Marathon in 2:26:35. Former Canadian national record holder Rachel Cliff and locals Kaori Yoshida, Risa Noguchi, Shiho Kaneshige and Yurie Doi fill out the rest of the sub-2:30 set.

On the men's side Ethiopians make up five of the eleven invited internationals including the top four, with last year's winner Birhanu Legese leading the way in 2:02:48. Things are heavily stacked in the 2:04 to low-2:05 range, perfectly designed to set it up for the Japanese men. Their task and its payoff are simple: be the top Japanese guy in 2:05:49 or better and replace national record holder Suguru Osako (Nike) on the Sapporo 2020 Olympic marathon team.

Osako's there to stop them, fresh off a 25 km tempo in Dubai. His main competition is previous national record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda), who said last week that 2:05 isn't good enough and that if he doesn't run 2:04 in what he's calling his final marathon in Japan then he'll turn down the Olympic team spot.

Shitara's got that crazy edge working, which can count for a lot, but the biggest danger to Osako is probably going to be the ultra-disciplined Hiroto Inoue (MHPS), who ran 2:06:54 in Asics behind Shitara's NR two years ago, then made the switch to the Next% this season and promptly crushed the course record on the New Year Ekiden's longest stage. Put him in the same shoes as Osako and Shitara and they'd better watch out.

Kenta Murayama has the goods to be the other three's equal, but with his sponsor team Asahi Kasei having lost the plot when it comes to marathoning it would be a surprise to see him go much below 2:08. With twelve current sub-2:10 Japanese men in the field it's one of the best domestic races ever assembled, but apart from Murayama and possibly his talented teammate Shuho Dairokuno it's hard to see any darkhorses breaking through to the level of Osako, Shitara and Inoue. 

Mizuki Matsuda's 2:21:47 win in Osaka last weekend bumped her up into the 3rd Olympic women's spot but left her vulnerable to others in Nagoya, but with all the main men in Tokyo it's even harder to see anyone in Lake Biwa a week later going better than what they might do here.

Breaking away from her final challenger after 30km, Mizuki Matsuda went on to win the Osaka Women’s Marathon in 2:21:47 on Sunday

It was the third-fastest time in the history of the Osaka Women’s Marathon and puts Matsuda sixth on the Japanese all-time list, but more importantly, she ran under the time (2:22:22) required to be considered for the third spot on the Japanese Olympic marathon team.

If no one runs faster than 2:21:47 at the Nagoya Women’s Marathon in March, Matsuda will clinch the team spot.

“I don't think anybody in Japan can run such a time,” said Matsuda, who finished fourth at last year's Marathon Grand Championship, Japan's main trial race for the Olympic Games.

“It was not the time I was hoping for, but I had achieved the minimum requirement,” added Matsuda, who also won in Osaka in 2018. “In order to be competitive at the Olympics, I need a national-record-level personal best. I also need to work on the final part of the race because I slowed down too much at the end today.”

The race was fast from the start with Matsuda clocking 16:36 at 5km, 33:07 at 10km, 49:44 at 15km and 1:06:17 at 20km. “In the early part of the race I was bit worried that we were going too fast,” said Matsuda, who reached the half-way mark in 1:09:54. “It was faster than my half marathon personal best (1:10:25).”

By 25km, the lead pack consisted of Matsuda, Bahrain’s Mimi Belete and two pace-makers. “The race went well until 30km,” said Matsuda, “but then it started to get tough. Each kilometre felt very long.

“I knew four runners had faster personal bests, so I expected them to be running in front of me. When I started to run alone in front (after 30km), I looked around and asked myself, ‘where are they?’ I was running with the goal of breaking the national record (2:19:12). I had to think that way to get under 2:22.”

Immediately after the 30km check point, Matsuda checked her watch and appeared to pick up the pace for the next two kilometres. She was unable to get back on schedule for a finishing time inside 2:20, but she started to open up a gap on Belete before going on to win in 2:21:47.

Belete, who suffered from stomach problems, particularly in the latter stages, held on for second place in 2:22:40, just 78 seconds shy of the PB she set in Amsterdam three months ago.

“In my country the Olympic team spots are given to those with the fastest times,” explained Belete. “Although someone may run a faster time, I think I can be selected with the today’s time.”

Ethiopia’s Sintayehu Lewetegn finished third with 2:23:03, the second-fastest time of her career and just 18 seconds short of her personal best. Meskerem Assefa, one of the favourites, was fourth while Australian veteran Lisa Weightman was fifth in 2:26:02, the second-fastest time of her career.

Matsuda and compatriot Haruka Yamaguchi, who clocked 2:26:35 as the second Japanese finisher, were the only athletes among the top 10 to set a PB.

Last year’s runner-up Rei Ohara was suffering from a cold and achilles problems. She lost contact with the leaders after 17km and eventually finished 13th in 2:28:12.

Kayoko Fukushi, the 2013 world bronze medallist, lost contact with the leaders after 20km and dropped out after 25km. “I will start my training with running the Nagoya Women’s Marathon in mind,” said Fukushi, who is still pursuing what would be a fifth consecutive Olympic team.

Moroccan athlete Hicham Laqouahi won the 31 Annual Marathon International de Marrakech

Laqouahi covered the distance of 42,097 km in 2h 06mn 32sec, thus breaking the marathon record which was since 2013 under the credit of the Kenyan athlete Stephan Tum (2h06mn35s). The second position in this 31st edition of MIM went to Kenyan Jacob Kendagor (2h 07mn 16s), followed in third place by the Ethiopian Feleke Wondouser (2h 07mn 32s).

In the Ladies category, the Ethiopian Negeri Hawi Alemu won the title of this 31st edition by finishing the race in 2h 27mn 56s.

Great performance for the Moroccan athlete Souad Kanbouchia who gleaned the second position with a time of 2h 28mins 07s, followed by the Ethiopian athlete Bere Asayech Ayalew who climbed the third step of the podium, with a time of 2h 28mins 20s.

In the Men's Half Marathon, the Moroccan athletes dominated the race by holding the top three steps of the podium hands down.

Thus the athlete Mohamed Reda El Aaraby won the title by finishing the race with a time of 1h 01mn 25s, followed by his compatriots Omar Ait Chitachen (1h 01mn 52s) and Hamid El Janati (1h 01mn 58s) respectively.

In the Ladies category, the domination was also 100% Moroccan. Thus, the first place was occupied by the athlete Oumaima Saoud (1h 11mn 20s), followed by his compatriots Kaoutar Farkoussi (1h 11mn 25s) and Hajjiba Hassnaoui (1h 12mn 13s).

In a press statement at the end of this international sporting event, the winner of this edition, Hicham Laqouahi, said he was very proud and happy to have broken the Marathon of Marrakech record and his personal record .

"This performance is the result of long and hard training throughout this year," added this native of Marrakech and member of the Achbal Marrakech athletics club, highlighting the excellent quality of the circuit as well as the good organization of this event.

In a similar statement, the winner of the men's half-marathon, Mohamed Reda El Aaraby, congratulated himself on having managed to achieve "the minimum which allows him to participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games", expressing the wish to be in able to represent Morocco well at this major international sporting event.

In a statement to the MAP, the director of this sporting event, Mohamed Knidiri, stressed that this 31st edition was a success on all fronts, since we exceeded the number of 14,000 participants, who come from 70 nationalities, indicating that 50% of the participants are foreign to the Marathon, while 30% are foreign to the half-marathon.

I never expected to hold to world marathon record for so long said Paula Radcliffe in Dubai this weekend

British marathon legend Paula Radcliffe revealed that she hadn't expected her world record to stand the test of time for so many years and said that it was only a matter of time before a new mark came about.

Radcliffe's women's world record of 2:15:25 seconds mark set at the London Marathon in 2003 had stood for 16 years until Kenyan Brigid Kosgei etched a new mark of 2:14:04 seconds at the Chicago Marathon last October.

And Radcliffe, who won the London Marathon in 2002, 2003 and 2005 apart from clinching gold at the World Championship in Helsinki in 2005, had felt an inkling of what was to transpire after watching Kosgei at the Great North Run just a month prior to the new world record being set. "I think when I saw Brigid Kosgei running in the Great North Run prior to Chicago, I knew that she was in shape to be able to beat the time," Radcliffe told the Khaleej Times on Friday.

As always, Radcliffe was in Dubai to attend the 21st edition of the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon.

"You never expect to hold a world record even as long as I did but certainly not forever. So, it is always a matter of time until it is beaten," she added.

The 46-year-old Radcliffe also did the commentary for the race and felt that it was a great day of racing. Ethiopian Olika Adugna Bikila won the men's title while countrywoman Worknesh Degefa Debele won the women's title.

"Again, we saw excellent racing," felt Radcliffe. "Every year, the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon produces usually very fast times and very good racing.

"Today (Friday), because of the conditions maybe, the times were not so fast. But still, it was very impressive racing and it was exciting to watch. Getting to see so many men coming into the final 300-400 metres together, produced a very, very exciting finish. And good wins and first and second for debutants in Dubai.

"Dubai is always known for bringing through the debutants with a good race. On the women's side, I think Worknesh went out very bravely and very strongly.

"She paid the price (recurrence of a back problem) a little bit in the second half but still managed to have a very dominant victory," added Radcliffe.

Radcliffe also paid a glowing tribute to Dubai after the city put on another good show. "I think it is the support, the course and the organisation. It is second to none," Radcliffe said about what makes the Dubai Marathon so special.

"It is a very fast course and conditions are usually good. The organisation is really strong so it helps the athletes to not have to worry about anything else other than their performance.

"And now, we are in the 21st year. Year upon year, it builds reputation and standing. So, now, it is the place to come in January if you are running well," she added.

Worku and Yavi are in the spotlight at the Cinque Mulini cross country in Italy

Ethiopian teenager Tadese Worku and defending champion Winfred Mutile Yavi from Bahrain will be in the spotlight at the 88th edition of the Cinque Mulini in San Vittore Olona, Italy, the seventh leg of this season’s World Athletics Cross Country Permit, on Sunday (26).

The 2020 edition of the famous Italian cross country race will be highlighted by a battle between the new wave of African stars, duded “Generation Z” by race organisers, and the best Italian middle distance runners.

Three of the top four finishers in the U20 race at last year’s World Cross Country Championships - Worku, Oscar Chelimo from Uganda and Leonard Kipkemboi Bett from Kenya - will line-up in the men’s race.

Worku, who turned 18 on 20 January, won the U20 silver medal in Aarhus last March. He has been one of most consistent cross country runners this season with back-to-back wins in the World Athletics Cross Country Permit meetings in Elgoibar and Seville. Worku also won the Giro di Castelbuono road race last July, finished third at the Giro al Sas in Trento and set career best times of 7:43.24 in the 3000m and 13:18.17 in the 5000m.

Chelimo, the younger brother of 2018 Cinque Mulini winner Jacob Kiplimo, won bronze in the same Arhus race and took bronze in the 3000m at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires. The 18-year-old Ugandan clocked 7:44.82 in the 3000m and 13:20.10 in the 5000m.

Bett won the world U20 steeplechase title in 2018 and went on to finish fourth in the U20 race in Aarhus. He set his 3000m steeplechase lifetime best of 8:08.61 in Doha last May.

Burundi’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo will fight for another top-three placing after winning in Alcobendas on 24 November and finishing second in Soria one week earlier. The 22-year-old trains with Italy’s Yemaneberhan Crippa under the guidance of Italian coach Massimo Pegoretti.

Morocco’s 1500m specialist Abdelati Iguider will test his shape over a longer distance with the aim to continue the proud Moroccan tradition in San Vittore Olona, which started with the wins of Khalid Skah in 1991 and Salah Hissou in 1999 and the runner-up finish by Soufian El Bakkali in 2017. Iguider won the bronze medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.

Another interesting entrant is Kenya’s Jackson Muema, who won the cross country race at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

Crippa will carry Italian hopes for a top-three placing after finishing fourth for the second consecutive year at the Campaccio Cross Country race on 6 January. During a successful 2019 season Crippa finished eighth in the 10,000m at the World Championships clocking 27:10.76 to break the national record. Last December he won European Cross Country bronze after winning the U20 race in 2014 and 2015 and finishing third in the U23 race in 2016 and 2017. Crippa trained for three weeks in Monte Gordo in Portugal in preparation for the Cinque Mulini and will be aiming to become the first Italian to reach the podium since Stefano Baldini in 2005.

The Italian line-up is completed by Yohanes Chiappinelli, the European 3000m steeplechase bronze medallist in 2018, Cesare Maestri, silver medallist at the 2019 World Mountain Running Championships and winner at last week’s Vallagarina Cross Country race in Rovereto, and Italian 5000m champion Marouan Razine, who finished sixth at the Campaccio this year.

Yavi targetting successful defence

Yavi will return to San Vittore Olona to defend the title she won last year in snowy conditions. The 20-year-old went on to finish fourth in the 3000m steeplechase at the World Championships after improving her lifetime best to 9:10.74 in Monaco.

Kenyan hopes will be carried by Mercy Cherono, world silver medallist in the 5000m in Moscow 2013, and Gloria Kite, who finished third in the 2019 Cinque Mulini and in the 2020 Campaccio and set her 3000m PB with 8:29.91 in Doha last May.

The women’s race will be also highlighted by 20-year-old Kenyan Jackline Jerono, who won two recent cross country races in Allonnes and Le Mans, France, and Jasmijn Bakker from the Netherlands, who was fourth in the U23 race at last month’s European Championships.  

Rising Italian middle distance star Nadia Battocletti will aim to continue her successful season after claiming her second European Cross Country U20 title and finishing sixth at the Campaccio. The daughter of former distance runner Giuliano Battocletti won the European U20 silver medal in the 5000m last year.

Other Italian runners in the field are world U20 mountain running champion Angela Mattevi and Valeria Roffino, who finished 11th at the European Cross Country Championships.

The Credit Union Cherry Blossom Race Committee is excited to Offer $10,000 World Record Bonuses at this year’s race

The Credit Union Cherry Blossom Race Committee is excited to announce new World Record bonuses being offered at this year’s race, scheduled for Sunday, April 5. These new bonuses are in addition to the $10,000 bonuses that have been offered to the first U.S. male and female breaking the American Record for the last three years.

Since the race started in 1973, the annual Runner’s Rite of Spring ® has been the site of 10 world and nine American records. The first World Record was set in 1986 when Portugal's Rosa Mota ran 53:09, and the most recent was in 2007 when Ethiopia's Teyba Erkesso set the Single-sex Women's World Record with a time of 51:44 (which still stands).

The first American Record set at the event was in 1976 by Julie Shea in 57:04, and the most recent by Janet Bawcom with a Single-sex Women's American Record of 52:12 in 2014.

Event Director Phil Stewart said, "As the 19 world and American records show, the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Mile has long been the venue for extraordinary international and American stars to showcase their talents on the streets of the Nation's Capital. We hope that offering the new World Record bonuses will set the stage for our 20th World or American record performance as the event closes in on its gala 50th running in 2022. Our organizing committee has always taken great pride in staging a world-class sporting event for these elite athletes alongside a beloved spring tradition for 16,000 participants taking up to three times as long to cover the same distance."

The addition of the bonuses brings the total amount of prize money and bonuses up for grabs in 2020 to $116,500. A complete breakdown of that $116,500 includes the aforementioned $20,000 should both men’s and women’s World Records be broken (see times below); $10,000 for the first American man to break Greg Meyer’s American Record of 46:13, set here in 1983; $10,000 for the first American woman to break Bawcom’s American Record of 52:12, set here in 2014; $40,000 in open prize money, plus a possible $3,500 in time bonuses, paid equally to the top-ten men and women; and $25,000 in American prize money, again paid equally to the top-ten American men and women.

In addition, race organizers have collaborated with the Road Runners Club of America to offer a total of $6,000 to the top-three American men and women who qualify as past recipients of RRCA Road Scholar Grants, or are RRCA RunPro Camp alumni. Finally, the Washington Metropolitan Area Team Championship Division offers $1,000 to the first place men’s and women’s teams consisting of talented, open-division DC-area Running Club Store or Running Club teams.

Ethiopian Haftamnesh Tesfay leads a quartet of sub-2:22 runners at the 39th edition of the Osaka Women’s Marathon

Four runners from abroad have faster personal bests than the Japanese: Ethiopians Tesfay and Meskerem Assefa, Mimi Belete of Bahrain and Kenyan Bornes Jepkirui. Tesfay ran 2:20:13 in her debut at the 2018 Dubai Marathon, at the time the fourth fastest marathon debut in history. She followed up with a 2:20:47 run in Frankfurt later that year. Assefa won the Nagoya Women’s Marathon in 2018 and later in the year finished 11 seconds ahead of Tesfay in Frankfurt with a 2:20:36 PB. Although they did not have a good 2019 season, both have sub-2:20 potential and said they are running to win on Sunday.

With a 2:21:22 performance to her credit, Mimi Belete is the third fastest in the field; more importantly, she set that at last October’s Amsterdam Marathon, clipping more than a minute from her previous best. Belete was a solid performer on the track, with 1500m and 5000m medals Asian Games medals in her collection.

Defending champion Fatuma Sado and Jepkirui, who was third last year, are back. Jepkirui improved her personal best to 2:21:26 in the 2019 Ljubljana Marathon. The last runner to win back-to-back titles was Lidia Simon who won in 1999 and 2000. Before the Romanian, Katrin Dorre also collected back-to-back victories. The German won in Osaka a record four times. Her daughter, Katharina Steinruck, a 2:27:26 marathoner, will be running this year.

For Japanese women, it is the second to last opportunity to secure the third spot on the Olympic marathon squad. The first two finishers at September's Marathon Grand Championships (MGC) were automatically selected for the team. But third place finisher Rei Ohara, who finished four seconds behind the automatic-qualifying spot for the team, is not confirmed. Four years ago at the Nagoya Women’s Marathon, Ohara finished one second behind Tomomi Tanaka who clinched the final spot on the team bound for Rio. Thus Ohara is a sentimental favourite here, but if somebody runs faster than 2:22:22 in Osaka, or later in Nagoya, Ohara will be out.

Ohara could have chosen to sit and wait, but she decided run in Osaka.

“The memory of missing the team by one second four years ago still haunts me,” Ohara said, speaking at today’s pre-race press conference. “I could have sat and waited, but I want to be a challenger. On Sunday I want to go after the team berth which eluded me at the MGC.”

That sets up the clash between Ohara, who was third in the MGC, Mizuki Matsuda, fourth in the MGC and Kayoko Fukushi, seventh in the MGC, as a potential highlight of the race. Fukushi is the fastest with a 2:22:17 personal best from the 2016 Osaka race. Matsuda is six seconds slower with 2:22:23, recorded in the 2018 Berlin Marathon.

“I have done the best training possible,” said Matsuda, who also attended today’s press conference. “I will run on Sunday as if it is the last race of my life.”

Finally, newly minted Japanese half marathon record holder Hitomi Niiya, who blitzed to a 1:06:38 victory in Houston last weekend, will run as a pacemaker. 

Ethiopians Worknesh Degefa sizzles 2:19:38 in Dubai, while debutant Olika Adugna prevails in men's race

For tenacity, Worknesh Degefa was the star of the show in the 21st anniversary race of the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon, a World Athletics Gold Label road race on Friday 24, the Ethiopian enduring mid-race physical problems to clock 2:19:38 and win the women’s race. But for sheer opportunism, debutants Olika Adugna of Ethiopia and Eric Kiptanui of Kenya carried the day, outwitting the tried and tested marathoners, to finish first and second in the men’s race, in 2:06:15 and 2:06:17.

Degefa won by half a minute from compatriot Guteni Shone, with another Ethiopian Bedatu Hirpa further back in third; but the measure of the blanket finish of the men’s race was that Beshah Yerssie ran 2:06:34, which would have been a world record two decades ago, yet his 11th place meant he got zero prize money.

The mass sprint was more reminiscent of a track event. And sure enough the sprinters won; or rather the former track men. The experienced marathoners were keeping a close eye on one other and ignoring Adugna and Kiptanui, but when it came down to speed rather than staying power, Adugna followed the initial sprint of Kiptanui from 500 metres out, then whizzed past him after another 100 metres, and took the victory and the $100,000 first prize. Two more Ethiopians followed on 2:06:18, with Tsedat Abeje getting the nod over Lencho Tesfaye.

Degefa won this race on her own debut in 2017, and finished fourth the following year, yet though she could only finish second to Ruth Cheongetich last year, she said that her national record of 2:17:41 followed by victory in Boston last April meant that she now felt "really confident as a marathon runner".

Accordingly, she set out to underline her status as world’s sixth fastest woman. She asked for a fast pace, and approaching halfway, with a lead of over a minute, she was on course for a 2:16 clocking. But then a back injury that has blighted her training and caused her miss New York in November flared up, and looking distinctly uncomfortable, she dropped off the pace.

With her lead reduced considerably by the end, she only just managed to cross the line before collapsing and needing medical attention. But she revived soon enough to say, "I’m really proud that I managed to keep going when my back was giving me so many problems. I want to sort them out, because my aim is to represent my country in the Olympic Games (Tokyo in August)." That would be after defending her Boston title in April.

Degefa also won $100,000, out of an overall prize pot of a million dollars. And after expressing his surprise that the leaders should have followed a relatively sedate pace - "At 40k, I realised that, with my speed I could win," - Adugna underlined the financial primacy of road running, and marathons in particular nowadays when he completely dismissed the idea of returning to track. Then again, a hundred grand is a powerful argument for sticking to the roads.

The Hong Kong Marathon prize money competes with major world marathons

The men’s and women’s winners of next month’s Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon  will each receive a cash award of US$65,000 (HK$507,000) from the organizers, a figure which does not lag far behind other major races around the world.

Although the amount remains the same as last year, the annual Hong Kong showpiece, to be held on Sunday, February 9, is still attractive to many distance runners from marathon powerhouses such as Kenya and Ethiopia, with all top 10 finishers to be rewarded.

The runner-up will receive US$30,000 with US$15,000 going to the third-placed finisher, down to US$1,000 to the runner who finishes 10th.

There will be an additional bonus for runners who can break the 42.195-kilometer course record starting from Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui to the finish in Victoria Park on the Island side. But after Barnabus Kiptum, of Kenya, set an impressive time of two hours, nine minutes and 20 seconds for the men’s in 2019 and Volha Mazuronak of Belarus’s 2:26:13, which was also set last year, it would be a touch challenge to collect that extra US$12,000 (HK$93,600) cash bonus.

But if they can’t beat the course record, there is still be a consolation prize of US$10,000 if a runner can finish below 2:10 in the men’s and 2:28 in the women’s.

Local runners may struggle to beat the overseas legions to collect the cash awards, but the best Hong Kong runner is still rewarded with a cash prize of US$3,400 (HK$26,500), down to US$200 for the 15th place finisher. 

Hong Kong runners may also find it difficult to set personal bests because of the difficult course, which involves running up to the top of Stonecutters Bridge from the 10km mark before going through the Western Harbour Tunnel when they reach the Island side. But it serves as a good opportunity to secure some prize money.

In Asia, the 2020 Tokyo Marathon, which will be held a month after the Hong Kong event, offers US$98,000 to the men’s and women’s champions as one of the six marathon majors in the world. The Seoul International Marathon, also in March, rewards each winner US$80,000, provided they can finish below 2:10 for the men’s and 2:24 for the women’s. If not, the two winners receive US$40,000 each.

The Dubai Marathon in UAE once offered a stunning cash prize of US$200,000 for the winners, but the 2020 event only sees a top prize of US$100,000, which is the same amount offered by the two Majors in the United States – the Chicago and New York City Marathons. The Boston Marathon, which began in 1897 and usually takes place on the third Monday of April, hands out the biggest cheque of US$150,000 to the 2020 champions.

At least 4,000 marathon runners have entered the IAAF “Gold Label” event in Hong Kong, including home favorite Christy Yiu Kit-ching who aims to get into the top five in the women’s category to secure her berth for the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Will the Course Records Fall For the Third Straight Year at 2020 Dubai Marathon!

It’s a good week to be a running fan and we  get an appetizer with the Dubai Marathon. Though it’s not the most historic race or the most challenging course (flat with only six turns), Dubai always cranks out fast times and sets the tone as the year’s first major (but not technically an Abbott World Marathon Major) marathon.

The names in this year fields aren’t all familiar, but the depth is certainly there again in 2020: there are 11 sub-2:08 men entered — among major marathons in 2019, only Boston (15) had more. On the women’s side, Boston Marathon champ Worknesh Degefa returns to Dubai, where she ran 2:17:41 to finish second last year, to lead a field of six sub-2:24 women. There’s also $100,000 for the win — one of the richest first-place prizes in marathoning, and life-changing money for most of these athletes.

Many athletes use Dubai as a stepping stone in their careers: show up, run a fast time, and use the performance to boost their appearance fees at major marathons. But since Dubai itself rarely offers appearance fees (outside of the years Haile Gebrselassie or Kenenisa Bekele showed up), the winner doesn’t always return to defend their title and it can be hard to predict a favorite from what is always a deep field.

This year’s men’s race is wide open. Ethiopia’s Solomon Deksisa, coming off a runner-up finish in Amsterdam, is the fastest in the field by PR (2:04:40), but seven other men have run within two minutes of his best. Realistically, any of those guys could win, but two stand out as particularly intriguing.

The first is another Ethiopian, Andualem Belay. Entering 2019, Belay had run 14 marathons, breaking 2:11 just once (2:09:59 at 2015 Dubai). Then Belay, now 27, dropped a 2:08:16 pb to win the Castellon Marathon in Spain, followed by a 2:08:51 victory in Riga and another huge PR of 2:06:00 to win Lisbon in October, breaking the course record in all three instances. That’s a pretty unbelievable breakthrough for a guy who was a relatively mediocre marathoner before last year, but after his 2019 campaign, he’s clearly among the favorites in Dubai.

Unlike the men’s race, there is a clear favorite on the women’s side: Worknesh Degefa. The Ethiopian, who won Boston last year, has raced Dubai three times and has run a PR each time: a debut 2:22 win in 2017, 2:19 for 4th in 2018, and 2:17 for 2nd last year. With reigning Dubai champ Ruth Chepngetich opting for London instead this year, Degefa is the class of the Dubai field.

While Degefa is the fifth-fastest woman of all time, only one other woman entered in Dubai has broken 2:21: Buzunesh Deba, the 2014 Boston Marathon champ who hasn’t done anything of note since finishing 3rd in Boston in 2015. Barring a major breakthrough, Degefa should roll here.

Switzerland’s Julien Wanders has already smashed one of his European records in 2020, and he will be looking to another record in Ras Al Khaimah

Switzerland’s Julien Wanders  is confirmed to compete at the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon on 21 February. He is one of eleven athletes with lifetime bests under the one hour-mark to be recruited for this year’s race. 

It was in the same race last year when Wanders set the current mark of 59:13 to break Mo Farah’s previous record of 59:32. Farah has since run faster - 59:07 in the Great North Run last September - although that mark was set on a downhill course and is not valid for record purposes.

Wanders has started his season in stellar form with a third place finish in the 10K Valencia Ibercaja in 27:13 - he also equaled his European 5km record of 13:29 en route - which sliced twelve seconds from his previous record and the Iten-based Swiss has aspirations of following suit in Ras Al Khaimah next month.

“RAK will be a perfect opportunity to test my shape and lower my PB over the half marathon before the World Championships in March,” said Wanders, referring to the World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia, Poland on March 29.

Wanders finished eighth at the last edition of the World Half Marathon Championships and fourth in the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon last year - something he will be looking to improve upon judging by his comments after last year’s race. "The only thing is I was fourth! I just missed out on the podium but otherwise I'm happy," he said.

The men’s field also includes Ethiopians Andamlak Berihu (59:10), Mosinet Geremew (59:11), Solomon Berihu (59:17) and Amdework Walegegn (59:22) and Kenya’s Benard Kimeli (59:07 PB) who finished one place ahead of Wanders in Valencia.

Ethiopians Soloman Deksisa and Seifu Tura lead a strong men's field for the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon

The men's race is guaranteed a new champion as no previous winners are entered for this year's Dubai Marathon.

Ethiopian men have triumphed at the past eight editions of the race and that trend looks set to continue as a strong Ethiopian contingent - including six men with PBs faster than 2:07 - will be in action on Friday.

With a PB of 2:04:40, 25-year-old Deksisa is the fastest athlete on the men's start list. Despite his relatively young age, the talented Ethiopian has built up plenty of experience at the marathon distance after a brief track career.

At the age of just 20, he won the 2014 San Diego Half Marathon with a personal best of 1:00:12, then two years later he moved up to the marathon and ran an impressive 2:06:22 debut in Rotterdam to finish second.

Since then he has fully focused on the 42.195km distance and claimed his first marathon victory in Mumbai in 2018 before winning again in Hamburg a few months later. It proved to be his best year so far as he ended it with a 2:04:40 PB to finish third in Amsterdam. His lifetime best is just one minute outside the Dubai course record set in 2019 by Getaneh Molla.

Deksisa’s compatriot Seifu Tura is another of Ethiopia’s crop of rising stars who made an impressive marathon debut with a solid second place in 2:09:26 in Seoul in 2017.

Still just 22, Tura enjoyed his best day at the 2018 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon when he took full advantage of the renowned fast course to carve a big slice off his personal best, improving by four minutes to run 2:04:44 for seventh. The young Ethiopian has also sealed marathon wins in Milan and Shanghai, while setting a half marathon personal best of 59:17 in Buenos Aires in August.

With a best of 2:06:00, Andualem Belay Shiferaw may not be the fastest in the field, but he will be feeling confident after being unbeaten at the marathon distance in 2019. He set his PB in his most recent race, winning the Lisbon Marathon in October.

Aychew Bantie Dessie, 38-year-old Birhanu Bekele Berga and Limenih Getachew Yizengaw are the other sub-2:07 performers in the field. If the conditions are kind - temperatures are expected to be about 19C at the time of the race - then they could improve on their times on the flat and fast course.

Bahrain's Aweke Ayalew and Kenya's marathon debutant Eric Kiptanui will be looking to end Ethiopia's winning streak in Dubai. Ayalew made his marathon debut in Frankfurt last year, finishing third in 2:07:12, while Kiptanui's half marathon PB of 58:42 suggests he could run a swift time in the marathon.

Ethiopian record-holder Worknesh Degefa will target a second victory at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon

Worknesh Degefa will start as red-hot favorite thanks to her enviable record on the flat and fast streets of Dubai. In 2017, the diminutive 29-year-old stunned an experienced field by winning in Dubai on what was her marathon debut, clocking 2:22:36. A year later, she finished fourth and improved her PB to 2:19:53.

Last year she finished second in Dubai in 2:17:41, taking 15 seconds off the Ethiopian record with what is now the fifth fastest time in history.

Aside from her three appearances in Dubai, the only other marathon she has contested is the 2019 Boston Marathon, which she won in 2:23:31.

Fellow Ethiopian Bezunesh Deba will be racing in Dubai for the first time. The 32-year-old set her PB of 2:19:59 when winning the 2014 Boston Marathon, but didn't race at all in 2019 so will be treating this as a comeback race.

Kebede Megertu Alemu made a big step up in the second half of 2018. She chopped eight minutes from her half marathon PB with 1:06:43 in Copenhagen and reduced her marathon best to 2:21:10 to finish second in Frankfurt.

Bedatu Hirpa will be one of the youngest in the field. The 2015 world U18 1500m champion has switched to the roads in recent years and clocked a marathon PB of 2:21:32 in Frankfurt in 2018.

Two years after making her marathon debut in Dubai, world cross-country silver medalist Dera Dida is back and aims to improve on the PB of 2:21:45 she set on her previous visit.

Dubai has often been a happy hunting ground for marathon debutantes, so 20-year-old Hawi Feysa will be hoping for a strong run in her first race at 42.195km. The 2017 world U20 cross-country silver medalist finished eighth in the 5000m at last year's World Championships.

World marathon record-holder Brigid Kosgei is the standout name in the women’s field for the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon

Brigid Kosgei who broke the world marathon record (pending ratification) with her stunning 2:14:04 run in Chicago last year, will return to the UAE after finishing seventh at the 2018 edition of the race. Her official half marathon PB is 1:05:28, but she also won last year’s Great North Run – a slightly downhill point-to-point course – in 1:04:28, the fastest time in history for 13.1 miles.

“I am really excited to come back to the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon after two years,” said Kosgei. “I know that this year the line-up is one of the best ever for a half marathon and I really hope to run fast.”

The 25-year-old Kenyan is one of several women in the field with a PB inside 66 minutes. She will line up against Fancy Chemutai, whose best of 1:04:52 is just one second shy of the world half marathon record, 2016 world half marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir, who briefly held the world record following her 1:05:06 victory in Ras Al Khaimah in 2017, Ethiopia’s Netsanet Gudeta, who set a women-only world record to win the 2018 world half marathon title, and Joan Melly Chelimo, the fourth-fastest woman in history.

Rosemary Wanjiru, who recently went to third on the world all-time 10km list with 29:50, will be making her half marathon debut.

In the men’s race, world marathon silver medalist Mosinet Geremew will take on Two-time Prague Half Marathon winner Benard Kimeli and European record-holder Julien Wanders.

Ethiopian trio Andamlak Belihu, Solomon Berihu and Amdemwork Walelegn are also in the field along with Kenyan duo Alexander Mutiso and Kibiwott Kandie.

Kenyan Eric Kiptanui faces a stern test as he makes his full marathon debut at the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on January 24

Eric Kiptanui is the sole Kenyan contestant  in the elite men's field. The 29-year-old is half marathon specialist and is the sixth-fastest man over the distance, thanks to the 58:42 he clocked  while winning Berlin Half Marathon in 2018.

He won the Barcelona Half Marathon last year  in 1:01.40 and also bagged the 2018 Lisbon Half Marathon in 1:00:05. Kiptanui finished ninth at the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon in October last year, posting 1:02:23.

He was also one of the pacemakers used by world marathon record holder, Eliud Kipchoge when he broke the sub two-hour marathon mark in Vienna last year.

Kiptanui will have to contend with a strong Ethiopian lineup led by Solomon Deksisa and Seifu Tura. Deksisa has a personal best of 2:04:40 while Tura's PB is 2:04:44.

Despite his relatively young age, the talented Deksisa has built up plenty of experience at the marathon distance after a brief track career.

At 20, he won the 2014 San Diego Half Marathon with a personal best of 1:00:12, then two years later, he moved up to the marathon and ran an impressive 2:06:22 debut in Rotterdam to finish second.

Since then he has fully focused on the 42.195km distance and claimed his first marathon victory in Mumbai in 2018 before winning again in Hamburg a few months later. 

2018 proved to be his best year so far as he ended it with a 2:04:40 PB to finish third in Amsterdam. His life-time best is just one minute outside the Dubai course record set in 2019 by Getaneh Molla. Kenya last won the Dubai Marathon in 2012 through David Barmasai.

In the absence of defending and World champion Ruth Chepngetich, Ethiopia will have the edge in the race with the likes of Worknesh Degefa, Deba Dejene, Alemu Megertu, Dera Dida and Guteni Shone all present.

Ethiopian Derara Hurisa breaks the Tata Mumbai Marathon record in borrowed shoes

Ethiopians Brihanu Testome, Ayele Abshero and Derara Hurisa chatted among themselves as they strode along the Tata Mumbai Marathon route, before Hurisa took charge to finish in two hours, eight minutes, nine seconds — under the course record 2:08:35 (Gideon Kipketer, 2016).

Hurisa earned $45,000 first prize, plus a $15,000 bonus for the record. He also dragged Ayele (2:08:20) and Testome (2:08:26) under the course mark. The first seven runners in men’s elite category finished under 2:10min in this IAAF Gold Label event, run along a slightly revised course, in cooler January weather and pushed by pacemakers for a major part of the race.

The women’s winner, Ethiopian Amane Beriso (2:24:51s) did not get on top of the conditions and struggled in the last phase. But, with the nearest challenger far behind, she held on to breast the tape first, but missed the course record of 2:24:33s (Valentine Kipkieter, 2014). She will also be richer by $45,000.

Long-limbed pace-setter Sylvester Kipketer loped ahead of Amane from start to finish, even alerted the Ethiopian to forget fatigue and put in a burst to the tape as the course record was within grasp till the end. Rodah Jepkorir finished in 2:27:14 for the silver while Haven Hailu bagged the bronze in 2:28:56.

The men’s race turned into an engrossing tussle, seven remaining in the lead pack after the pace-setters had exited. Defending champion Cosmas Lagat from Kenya also faded away, supposedly due to injury. Ayele remained the name to watch (personal best 2:04:23). “My body felt good at the 30km mark and thoughts in my mind changed from finishing to running in record-breaking time.”

However, running in borrowed shoes, Hurisa stole the show with a stunning burst to leave his fellow countrymen behind. The champion is a cross-country runner with no marathon experience. “I knew Ayele is experienced over this distance and looked to him to show the way. I kept telling him to take charge of the race. Sensing that he was holding back, I decided to finish,” said Hurisa, a World junior athletics participant for Ethiopia in cross country.

His shoes were borrowed from Abraham Girma, a fellow elite runner. “I lost my regular shoes in flight,” said the champion. The TMM is organized by Procam International.

Kelkile Gezahegn, Askale Merachi take Houston marathon titles

Kelkile Gezahegn pulled away from countryman Bonsa Dida late in what had become a two-man race and won the Chevron Houston Marathon with a time of 2:08:36 Sunday morning, becoming the eighth different Ethiopian man since 2009 to prevail. In his first Houston start, the 23-year-old runner followed Kenya’s Albert Korir atop the podium but didn’t come close to threatening the Houston course record.

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Ethiopia’s dominance on the women’s side, however, is even more impressive with victories in Houston every January going back to 2007. Askale Merachi’s triumph in her Houston debut, claimed with a time of 2:23:29, made her the 10th Ethiopian to triumph since 2007. The last non-Ethiopian to win was Firaya Sultanova-Zhdanova in 2006.

Although Merachi, 33, slowed precipitously in the final stages, missing out on a chance to set a course record by 16 seconds, she still thwarted Birukayit Degefa’s bid to become the first four-time Houston champion. Also seeking a three-repeat, Degefa ran a 2:24:47, good for second place. She has finished on the podium six years in a row, after placing fourth in her debut in 2014.

Australian Michael Roeger became the first runner to set an official world record on the 26.2-mile Houston course. No Paralympian had cracked 2:20 before he posted a 2:19:32, lowering his personal best – the previous world record – from 2:22:51. Roeger, who said Friday he was running to honor the exhausted firefighters back home where catastrophic blazes have burned out of control for weeks, was born missing the bottom half of his right arm.

Gezahegn’s pace never made him a threat to the course record of 2:06:51, set by Ethiopian Tariku Jufar in 2012.

Chelimo floors Obiri at Cross Italica

World 1,500m silver medallist Margaret Chelimo stunned World Cross Country champion Hellen Obiri to win the ‘Cross Internacional de Itálica’ in Seville, Spain on Sunday.

Chelimo cruised to victory in 28 minutes and 37 seconds beating compatriot and World Cross Country Under-20 champion Beatrice Chebet to second place in 28:49 as Ethiopian Tsehay Gemechun settled third in 29:00.

Obiri, who is also the World 5,000m champion, came in fourth in 29:27 followed by fellow countrywoman Eva Cherono in 29:41.

Ethiopian Radese Worku reigned to claim victory in the men’s race in 27:31 as 2016 Rio Olympics 5,000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo from United States clocked 27:42 for second.

Kenya’s Richard Yator took the last podium place in 27:48.

Lagat and Alemu back to defend Mumbai titles

Defending champions Lagat and Alemu ready to battle at Mumbai Marathon

Defending champions Cosmas Lagat and Worknesh Alemu both proclaimed themselves fit and ready to not only bid for back-to-back titles at the Tata Mumbai Marathon, but the pair also aim to attack the course records on Sunday (19). 

Kenya’s Lagat won at this World Athletics Gold Label road race 12 months ago in decisive fashion when he broke away from the rest of the leading pack around 29 kilometres into the race.

He raced twice more in 2019 but injuries in the middle of the year derailed his hopes of building on his success in the City of Dreams last January.

“I had injuries to my left calf and Achilles tendon. It happens in training sometimes,” he reflected stoically, demonstrating where his problems were at the traditional pre-race press conference on Friday.

“However, I am back in good training now and I think all is well. I train with Lawrence Cherono, who was the winner of the Boston and Chicago Marathons last year, and I do the same training as him so I think I can perform as well as him.

“Running here last year and doing so well has given me confidence that I can win again, and I am thinking about the course record. I have learnt how to run this race better,” added Lagat.

Last year, Lagat crossed the line in 2:09:15, the second fastest time in race history and just 40 seconds outside the course record of 2:08:35 set by his compatriot Gideon Kipketer in 2016. The race has a first prize cheque of US$45,000 for both men and women with a US$15,000 bonus on offer for a course record.

Lagat will be aiming to become just the second man to win back-to-back titles in the race’s 17-year history, following in the footsteps of fellow Kenyan John Kelai who won in 2007 and 2008.

Race organisers have signed up 15 men who have run faster than 2:10:00, making the TMM 2020 the highest quality marathon ever staged in India.

Like Lagat, Ethiopia’s Alemu upset the form book in Mumbai 12 months ago and won in what was then a personal best of 2:25:25, which was also the second fastest winning time in race history.

She showed her win was no fluke when she improved her best to 2:24:42 later in 2019 at the Amsterdam Marathon in October so this time around her role has changed from underdog to favourite.

“I have had good races in 2019 so my confidence is strong. It is a tough field, but I am in good shape. If I do well here, it could set me on the road to representing my country at the Olympics in Tokyo. Why not?” said Alemu, all smiles and looking relaxed in front of a rapt audience. 

Alemu heads a very strong women’s field that has eight women who have run under 2:28:00.

The fastest women in the field is another Ethiopian, Amane Beriso, who had a stunning marathon debut when she ran 2:20:48 for second place in the 2016 Dubai Marathon, which placed her third on that year’s world list. However, a variety of injuries mean that she has not raced in 15 months.

All the leading women will have as their target the course record of 2:24:33 set by Kenya’s Valentine Kipketer in 2013.

Approximately 55,000 runners will take to the roads in Mumbai for six different races in what has become a traditional annual event in the city on the third Sunday of January.

Entries for the marathon itself are just under 10,000 runners which means that the anticipated number of finishers in the race will have more-or-less doubled in the last five years.

A similar upward trajectory can be seen in the half marathon which has more than 15,000 entries, with an expected increase in finishers which will have increased by approximately 20% in just two years.

Jemal Yimer, Jared Ward, Sara Hall, Molly huddle and more on Tap at 2020 Houston Half Marathon

Year-in, year-out, no American half marathon assembles better fields than Houston. In addition to being the site of both the men’s (Ryan Hall, 2007) and women’s (Molly Huddle, 2018) American records, there is always a deep list of sub-60:00 men and sub-67:00 women on the start line. Last year, Brigid Kosgei kicked off one of the greatest years in the history of distance running with a win in Houston.

The international fields in Houston, which takes place on Sunday, are strong once again. But from an American perspective, the more intriguing storyline is the impending US Olympic Marathon Trials, to be held in six weeks’ time in Atlanta. Several top Trials contenders — Molly Huddle and Sara Hall on the women’s side, Jared Ward and Shadrack Biwott on the men’s — will be racing on Sunday, and while no result will make or break their Trials hopes, it does give us one last piece of evidence to go on. 

When Huddle debuted in the marathon, placing third in New York in 2016, it looked to be the first step in a journey that would culminate at the 2020 Olympic marathon. Among Americans, Huddle was the queen of all distances between 5k and the half marathon and her grind-it-out style seemed well-suited to marathon success.

Tuliamuk, the 2018 US half marathon champ, is an option, though she’s got progressively slower in Houston the last three years, from 69:58 in 2017 to 71:41 in 2018 to 72:03 last year. She’ll need to get back to her 2017 form to crack the top two Americans on Sunday.

Katy Jermann (née Moen) and Molly Seidel both ran 70:27 last year, tied for third-fastest in the US. Of the two, Seidel, who in 2015 broke the “Foot Locker curse” to win the the 2015 NCAA XC title, is the more intriguing prospect. Seidel had never run a half before October 2019, but Houston will be her third in three months, and she plans to make her marathon debut at the Trials.

With a 2:09 in Boston and two sixth-place finishes in New York, Jared Ward has been the most consistent American marathoner over the last 18 months. Beating him on Sunday doesn’t guarantee a repeat result next month in Atlanta, but it would be a positive sign for the other Olympic hopefuls in this field.

With a high of 59, the temperature looks great for running on Sunday, though 13 mph winds mean the conditions won’t be perfect. Still, with the talent on hand in Houston, there should be competitive races up front. In the men’s race, there’s no clear favorite.

Ethiopia’s Jemal Yimer (58:33), the fourth-fastest man ever, was a close second last year after taking a wrong turn late in the race. He went on to run 59:09 in Valencia in October, where he finished two seconds behind Kenya’s Bernard Ngeno, also entered in Houston. Andamlak Belihu had a terrific 2019 (26:53/59:10, 5th at Worlds in 10k), while the last two Houston champs, Shura Kitata of Ethiopia and Jake Robertson of New Zealand, return as well.

Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku and Kenya’s Hellen Obiri will be the favorites athletes at the Cross Internacional de Itálica in Santiponce on Sunday

Ethiopia’s Tadese Worku and Kenya’s Hellen Obiri will be the marquee athletes at the ‘Cross Internacional de Itálica’ in Santiponce on the outskirts of Seville on Sunday, the sixth leg of the 2019/20 World Athletics Cross Country Permit series.

The event promises to be a rematch of last Sunday’s races in Elgoibar as both podiums will be on show again.

Will Worku confirm breakthrough?

Turning 18 the day after the race, the young Ethiopian will be happy to celebrate his birthday one day in advance with a victory to confirm his overwhelming win last weekend was no fluke. The reigning world U-20 cross country silver medalist proved to be in stellar form last Sunday and should be tipped as the main favorite in the 10km event.

One of his stiffest opponents should be Burundi’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo, the 22-year-old who will be making his sixth appearance on Spanish soil this cross country campaign. He’s produced three wins -- in Alcobendas (Nov 24), Aranda de Duero ( Dec 1) and Cantimpalos (Dec 8) -- plus a runner-up finish in Soria ( Nov 17). The Italy-based runner, who was ninth at the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus last year, only finished outside the top-five in Atapuerca (Nov 9) where he finished sixth.

Kenya’s Richard Yator and Aron Kifle, runner-up and third respectively in Elgoibar should also be in contention. The Kenyan was 13th in Aarhus while Kifle has changed his base from Madrid to Nijmegen after joining the Global Sports agency. He will be joined by fellow Eritrean Yemane Haileselassie, an 8:11.22 3000m steeplechase specialist who reached the Rio Olympics final.

Watch out too for USA’s Paul Chelimo and Shadrack Kipchirchir. The former is the reigning Olympic 5000m silver medalist and is fresh from a fourth place in Elgoibar while Kipchirchir came tenth at the Doha worlds over 10,000m and holds a PB of 27:07.55 set in 2017.

Obiri the woman to beat

The women’s cast is headed by the reigning world cross country champion Hellen Obiri. The 30-year-old Kenyan kicked-off her winter campaign successfully in Elgoibar where, after running alongside compatriot Beatrice Chebet for most of the race, broke away from the reigning world U20 cross country on the last lap.

The 19-year-old Chebet should pose the main danger for Obiri, again alongside the reigning world 5000m silver medalist Margaret Kipkemboi Chelimo. The 26-year-old captured a surprise silver in Doha where she set a lifetime best of 14:27.49 and has shown fine form recently by winning a 5km road race in Bolzano on 31 December before taking second at the Campaccio cross country on January 6.

Trying to deny a Kenyan clean sweep over the 9135m contest will be Ethiopia’s Tsehay Gemechu, fourth at the Doha worlds over 5000m in a career best of 14:29.60. Barely two weeks later the 21-year-old set a 1:06:00 personal record for the half marathon in New Delhi. She’ll be racing her first race of the year on Sunday. Gemechu will be joined by fellow Ethiopian Tsige Abreha, the winner in Amorebieta. Kenya’s Eva Cherono, third in Elgoibar, and Bahrain’s World Championships marathon silver medalist Rose Chelimo will also be on show.

Kenenisa Bekele and Eliud Kipchoge will face off at the London Marathon

Kenenisa Bekele has agreed to race Eliud Kipchoge in a London Marathon in April – and said he is not surprised Mo Farah is swerving the race in favour of returning to the track.

Bekele, a three-time Olympic gold medallist who has won 17 world titles over cross-country, track and road, roared with laughter when asked what he thought of Farah’s decision to leave the marathon and then added: “I am not surprised. Of course if you see Mo Farah’s races in marathons, he’s struggling – it’s not easy to get good results over a marathon. You need experience. It’s a different course, a different racing mentality.

“But it is really hard for all of us. You need to learn how to run it and also the training is different. I think it’s harder, not only for Mo, but for all of us – even I struggled.”

However the Ethiopian, who ran the second fastest marathon time in history in Berlin in September, two seconds shy of Kipchoge’s official world record of 2hr 01min 39sec, said Farah is still good enough to win a medal in the 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I’m sure we’ll see Mo doing better things on the track. If he focuses and concentrates like before I’m sure he will be in the medals in the 10,000. I’ve no doubt about that.”

Bekele still holds the 5,000m and 10,000m world records, which were set in 2004 and 2005 respectively, and insisted he was capable of claiming Kipchoge’s marathon best even at the age of 37.

“My training is going well and I feel well,” he said.“Before last year I was struggling with injury. Everyone knows I’m a strong athlete from 15 years on the track. When we came to the marathon I’ve struggled maybe to achieve good results but of course this is because of injury, not a lack of training or my personality. I was a bit behind but my health came back and now I’m doing a lot better in the marathon.”

Bekele also admitted the sight of his great Kenyan rival running a sub-two-hour marathonin Vienna in October, albeit in an event that was not recognised by World Athletics, has spurred him on.

“When he ran under two hours, and of course it is not recognised, but it made me very motivated,” he said. “If someone like me also gets this big chance we will do a similar thing or do better. I believe in myself – you need the opportunity of course but some athletes will do a similar thing.”

The pair have met four times over 26.2 miles, with Kipchoge winning all four races. However Bekele has the better head-to-head record across all distances and surfaces.

“I am looking forward to racing Eliud once again,” added Bekele. “We have had many great battles over the years on the track, roads and cross-country. My big dream is to break the world record and an amazing performance will happen at the London Marathon.”

2020 London Marathon features a strong line up, but it's missing the one match up we really wanted to see, Kipchoge-Bekele

Eliud Kipchoge announced in December that he would be running the 2020 London Marathon but until today it was not known who he would face. It turns out that the men’s lineup is almost as strong as the women’s but is missing one key player: Kenenisa Bekele.

Bekele finished the 2019 Berlin Marathon race just two seconds shy of Kipchoge’s world record, and seeing the two race head-to-head would’ve been special.

The 2020 London Marathon will see the entire podium from the 2019 race returning. They announced on Tuesday morning that Mosinet Geremew and Mule Wasihun, the Ethiopian duo, would be vying for first place again in 2020.

The 2019 event saw a fast finish–one of the fastest ever, with both second and third place finishing in PBs. Kipchoge finished in 2:02:37, just over a minute off his world record.

Since London 2019, Kipchoge became the first person to run a sub-two-hour marathon at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge. Through halfway, the runners were right on pace, coming through at 59:35, well ahead of Kipchoge’s 59:57 half at Breaking2 in 2017. The runner clicked off 1K splits like a metronome, never deviating from his 2:50 pace by more than two seconds. He finished in 1:59:40.

Olympian Sudha Singh and Srinu Bugatha will headline Indian challenge at Tata Mumbai Marathon

Army’s Srinu Bugatha and Olympian Sudha Singh will headline the Indian challenge in the men’s and women’s section respectively in the USD$420,000 Tata Mumbai Marathon (TMM) to be held on January 19th.

The 17th edition of Asia’s prestigious World Athletics Gold Label Road race will see in action defending champions Cosmas Lagat of Kenya and Worknesh Alemu of Ethiopia in the international elite athletes’ line-up. Their winning timing of 2:09:15 and 2:25:45 is the second fastest timings in Mumbai Marathon history.

Leading the Indian elite men full marathon line-up is Army’s Srinu Bugatha, who won the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon and the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K 2019 editions, finishing the races in 1:04:33 and 1:18:31, respectively in last two months. Challenging him will be Rashpal Singh, Silver Medalist in Kathmandu South Asian Games 2019 along with Rahul Pal, winner of the Pune International Marathon 2019.

The Women’s full marathon line-up has Olympian and Arjuna Awardee, Sudha Singh, eyeing to add to her 3 TMM titles and firmly set on a hat-trick this year. Sudha won her first title in 2016 and after a year’s gap, she was champion in 2018 and 2019. Sudha will be challenged by Jyoti Gawte who won the Mumbai Marathon in 2017.

In the men’s half marathon category, Avinash Sable, 3,000 steeplechase national record holder, who shattered his own national record at World Championship at Doha in October & qualified for Tokyo 2020 Olympics will lead the field along with Shankar Man Thapa, who was the runner-up in 2019. Likewise, in the women’s half marathon, veteran athlete Swati Gadhave will face stiff opposition from 2019 runner-up & winner of 2018 edition, Monica Athare.

Running is the fastest growing urban sport and the participation numbers at the 2020 edition of TMM is a testimony to this – 19% increase in total participation. 9,660 runners in the full marathon, 15,260 runners in Half Marathon, 19,707 runners in the Dream Run, 8,032 runners in 10K, 1,022 runners in Senior Citizen Run and 1,596 runners in Champion with Disability. Women participation has surged to 35%, while the outstation participation and full marathon participation saw a growth of 22% and 15% respectively.

Vivek B Singh, Joint Managing Director, Procam International said: “More than 9000 runners doing the full marathon and crossing the 50,000 mark for total number of participants – both are humbling milestones for us. To see India, embrace running is a dream come true for us.

We are thankful to the Government of Maharashtra, Mumbai Police, MCGM, our sponsors and our runners who have given their rock-solid support in the incredible journey of the Tata Mumbai Marathon. We wish all the participants a successful and enjoyable race day!” he added.

Ethiopian duo Mosinet Geremew and Mule Wasihun, have confirmed they will return to the Virgin Money London Marathon

Mosinet Geremew and Mule Wasihun, the Ethiopian duo who pushed the legendary Eliud Kipchoge to the limit at the 2019 Virgin Money London Marathon, have confirmed they will return to the World Athletics Platinum Label road race on April 26. 

With Kipchoge, the 2018 and 2019 World Athlete of the Year already confirmed, it means all three podium finishers from last year will be back for the 2020 edition.

Geremew, 27, ran the fifth fastest time in history of 2:02:55 to take second place behind Kipchoge in last year’s race and then had to settle for second again in his next marathon, the World Championships in Doha last October.

Wasihun’s time in finishing third in London last year, 2:03:16, was the 11th fastest marathon the world has ever seen.

Shura Kitata, who was fourth last year and second in 2018, has also been confirmed, ensuring that it looks likely to be a year when it is the Ethiopians who will be the biggest threat to Kipchoge winning an historic fifth London Marathon title.

Spencer Barden, Head of Elite Athletes, said: “Last year’s elite men’s race was one of the best races we have seen for many years. Mosinet Geremew and Mule Wasihun pushed Eliud Kipchoge as hard as I have ever seen but ultimately could not hang on to the great man in the final two miles. But they will have taken confidence from last year and will come back this time round looking to cause a real shock.”

Kipchoge, who made history by becoming the first human to cover the marathon distance in under two hours at the INEOS 1:59 Challenge in October, is looking to become the most successful able-bodied athlete in London Marathon history by winning a fifth title in 2020.

World record holder Brigid Kosgei will defend her title at the Virgin Money London Marathon

The 25-year-old Kenyan broke Paula Radcliffe’s 16-year-old marathon world record at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon last October clocking an incredible time of 2:14:04. The record-breaking run came six months after Kosgei won the London Marathon for the first time.

“I am very much looking forward to returning to the Virgin Money London Marathon," Kosgei said. "Last year was an incredible year for me and it started by winning in London. Coming back will be very special and I hope it can be the start of another memorable year.”

Brigid Kosgei is joined in the elite women’s field by a stellar list of rivals, four of whom have also run sub-2:19 marathons.

The list includes 2018 London Marathon winner Vivian Cheruiyot of Kenya, three-time BMW Berlin Marathon champion Gladys Cherono of Kenya, 2019 Valencia Marathon champion Roza Dereje of Ethiopia and the reigning world champion Ruth Chepngetich, also from Kenya.

Also on the start line will be the world half marathon record holder and 2019 TCS New York City Marathon champion Joyciline Jepkosgei who is joint top of the Abbott World Marathon Majors (AWMM) Series XIII leaderboard alongside Kosgei and Chepngetich.

The London elite men's field will be announced on Tuesday 14 January and the complete fields announced on Friday 17 January.

Rhonex Kipruto breaks world 10km road record in Valencia

Rhonex Kipruto smashed the world record at the 10k Valencia Ibercaja on Sunday (12), clocking 26:24 to win the World Athletics Gold Label road race.

Sheila Chepkirui, meanwhile, ran 29:46 to win the women’s race. Her time was initially reported as 29:42, which would have been a one-second improvement on the world record, but her official time was later confirmed as 29:46, consolidating her position as the second fastest woman of all time.

Kipruto’s half-way split of 13:18 was also an improvement on the 5km world record. His second half of 13:06 was even faster, although would not be eligible for ratification.

The world 10,000m bronze medallist, still aged just 20, took 14 seconds off the yet-to-be-ratified mark set just six weeks ago by Joshua Cheptegei in the same city, albeit on a different course.

Held in the Spanish coastal city that played host to the World Half Marathon Championships in 2018, the standard of performances surpassed all expectations.

The men’s race kicked off at a brisk pace of 2:38 for the opening kilometre with a five-man group led by the main favourites: Kipruto and Benard Kimeli, Ethiopia’s Chala Ketema Regasa and Switzerland’s Julien Wanders perfectly paced by Shadrack Kosgei and Jacob Kiprop.

The 3km point was reached in 7:59 and only Kipruto, Kimeli and Wanders remained close to the pacemakers. By the fourth kilometre the pacemakers had already dropped out of the race and Kipruto was running solo as Kimeli could not live with his pace and was soon caught by Wanders.

Kipruto, the world 10,000m bronze medallist, reached the halfway point in 13:18, bettering the official 5km world record, with Kimeli and Wanders seven seconds in arrears, the Swiss breaking his own European record.

Despite running on his own for the entire second half, Kipruto increased his pace and clocked 2:37 for the sixth kilometre. After a slightly slower seventh kilometre of 2:40, the world U20 10,000m champion ramped up his speed again for the eighth kilometre, which he covered in 2:36. By then, having passed 8km in 20:11, it became clear that, barring disaster, Kipruto was going to improve Cheptegei’s world record.

Closing kilometres of 2:38 and 2:35 secured the world record for the 20-year-old Kenyan who covered the two halves in 13:18 and an impressive 13:06.

Well behind Kipruto, Kimeli and Wanders fought fiercely for the runner-up spot, the Kenyan finally prevailing, 27:12 to 27:13. Wanders’ time is a European record, improving his own mark by 12 seconds.

Only the legendary Ethiopian duo Kenenisa Bekele (26:17.53) and Haile Gebrselassie (26:22.75) have recorded faster times on the track, while Paul Tergat holds the Kenyan 10,000m record at 26:27:85.

“I’m over the moon,” said an ecstatic Kipruto, who is coached by Colm O’Connell. “When I clocked 26:46 in Prague in 2018, I set myself the target of breaking the world 10km record and today my dream came true. I’m very thankful to the organisers for relying on me to set the record and to the city and the people of Valencia for treating me so well and for their support throughout the race.”

Chepkirui leads Kenyan sub-30-minute sweep

Held at the same time as the men’s race, the women’s contest was a thrilling battle between the Kenyan trio of Rosemary Wanjiru, Norah Jeruto and Chepkirui. These three, alongside Israel’s Lonah Salpeter, travelled at a steady 2:58/2:59-per-kilometre pace to reach halfway in 14:51, perfectly on schedule to challenge Joyciline Jepkosgei’s world record of 29:43.

Shortly afterwards Salpeter lost ground and the race became a three-woman Kenyan battle with the added interest of a world record threat. It was inside the final kilometre that Chepkirui proved to be the strongest and during the long home-straight it seemed as though the 29-year-old would join Kipruto as a world record-holder, but ultimately she had to be content with a lifetime best of 29:46.

Wanjiru, who finished fourth in the 10,000m at the recent World Championships, obliterated her career best to 29:51 while Jeruto also bettered 30 minutes for the first time with 29:51. Their performances move them to equal third on the world all-time 10km list.

Mary Cain Is Officially Back on the Track As She Races the Men and a Former World Junior Champ

Thursday night at the NYRR Night at the Races #2 at the Armory, Cain, running in heat 2 of the men’s 3,000m race, finished in 10th place in 9:25.50 to finish her first track race since she placed 2nd in the 1500 at the NACAC Under-23 Championships on July 15, 2016.

Mary Cain, 23, wearing a nondescript yellow outfit, went out conservatively. She was in last place on the first lap, hit 1600 in 5:00.5 and would slow slightly over the second half, but move up through the field.

Believe it or not, Cain wasn’t the only former world junior champion in her race. The West Side Runners’ Nuhamin Bogale, who won the 2010 world junior 1500m title for Ethiopia as Tizita Bogale and has a 4:03 pb, is also trying to come back from injury and raced the men like Cain. Bogale, 26, and Cain were close through the mile, then Bogale began to pull away from Cain and Bogale finished in 9:19.78.

Afterwards we spoke to Cain, who was all smiles. Cain compared the experience to a “middle school race” because she spent much of it in lane 2 passing other runners. Cain was glad to be back finishing a track race and she said she had to start somewhere and the plan is to try and improve each time out. Cain said she has just started with track workouts and the fastest 800 she has done was in her 3,000 tonight. She and her coach John Henwood would not commit to a distance for Mary and said they’ll see how her training and racing goes.

World U20 10,000m champion Rhonex Kipruto is confirmed for the Valencia Ibercaja 10km road race on Jan. 12 in Spain

Rhonex  Kipruto, who is eyeing to make the Kenya team to the Tokyo Olympics, will use the road race in Valencia to gauge his endurance before returning to the track to prepare for the explosive Kenya trials.

"The Olympics is the main target for me this year. However, to attain the best fitness, I need to gauge myself against top runners and this platform will be provided in Valencia, which I hope to take up the challenge in my strides," Kipruto on Sunday.

Kipruto will be up against European record-holder Julien Wanders from Switzerland (27:25), Uganda's Stephen Kissa (27:13) and reigning champion Chala Regasa from Ethiopia (27:23). Brits Callum Hawkins (28:55) and Ben Connor (28:56) are also confirmed.

"It is a strong line-up and I have to be in my best form. I have rested enough since the World Championships in Doha and I will hope for some fast time in Valencia," he added.

The women's line-up is headed by Kenya's Sheila Chepkirui (29:57), Israel's European 10,000m champion Lonah Chemtai Salpeter (30:05) and Kenya's Norah Jeruto (30:07).

Chepkirui holds Africa's all-time best record and is the world leader in the 10,000m distance. But she will have no chance if she looks down upon the caliber of opposition facing her in Valencia.

"I am really happy with my performance in 2019, especially the fast time in Durban, as it was my first road race in South Africa," said Chepkirui.

"I usually stay at the back in the beginning and then make my move closer to the race finish. It is the same strategy I will apply to Valencia. However, I will try to stay with the leading pack," said Chepkirui.

Chepkirui, who was seventh at the World Championships in London back in 2017, hopes to make the Kenya team to the Olympics in the 10,000m and hopes a good performance in Valencia will earn her slot in the team.

Caroline Chepkoech, the sixth all-time fastest runner at half marathon will lead Kenya's bid to conquer the Houston Half Marathon on Jan. 19

Kenyan Caroline Chepkoech, who has ruled out any hopes of competing at the Tokyo Olympics in the marathon, will have to calculate her steps to perfection if she has to beat Kenyan-turned Israeli Lonah Chemtai Salpeter, the reigning European 10,000m champion.

With a personal best time of 65:07, Chepkoech is the fastest ahead of Chemtai 66:09 and Ethiopians Burka (66:11), former champion Ruti Aga (66:39). Current champion Ethiopia's Biruktayit Degefa will also be back to defend her title.

"This will be a good testing ground ahead of the April marathon. The big challenge is here with top runners. But for me the focus is to improve the time and hopefully win the race," said Chepkoech on Wednesday.

Hassan El Abbassi (2:04:43) and Woldaregay Kelkile Gezahegn (2:05:56) are the quickest marathon entrants. Degefa's main opposition could come from fellow Ethiopian Askale Merachi.

In the men's race, Jemal Yimer, the fourth fastest of all time (58:33) is quickest in the line-up, one of eight sub-hour runners. Shura Kitata (59:16), Bernard Kipkorir (59:07) and Robertson (59:58) will oppose him.

Kipkorir will team up with compatriot Bernard Ngeno (59:07), Sam Chelanga (60:37) and Shadrack Biwott (61:25) to challenge the Ethiopians' dominance.

Strong elite field set for action at Lagos City Marathon

More top runners across the world are indicating interest to be part of the 2020 Access Bank Lagos City Marathon.

The latest set of elite runners to join the already star-studded list for the February 8 race are Philes Moora Ongori and Dadi Yami.

In a statement signed by Head, Communications and Media, Olukayode Thomas, Ongori, who started her career in Japan and won a number of All-Japan Corporate titles, is delighted to be selected to run in Lagos.

Ongori was on the track running the 10,000 metres for Kenya at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics.

She came to prominence in the half marathon in 2008 when she won the Kagawa Marugame Half Marathon in the fastest time of the year.

At the 2009 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, she won the silver medal.

Ongori won on her marathon debut at the Rotterdam Marathon in 2011, setting a time of 2:24:20 hours.

She made her full marathon debut in April 2011 at the Rotterdam Marathon and she outran the more experienced Hilda Kibet in the final stages to win the race in a quick first-time run of 2:24:20 hours.

Another rich addition is Dadi Yami, an Ethiopian runner with a personal best of 2:05:41 hours.

Yami made his marathon debut at the 2011 Eindhoven Marathon finished in 2:11:04 hours.

He ran 2:05: 41 hours, his personal best, at Dubai Marathon. In the extremely fast race, this was only enough for sixth place, but still ranked him in the top twenty in the world that year, and in the top forty on the all-time list.

He also did a 2:07:01 hours at Hamburg Marathon and 2:07:55 hour at Dubai Marathon recently.

Mr Thomas said that 52 elite runners from five continents will be Lagos. He also said about 30 Nigerian elite runners will join the foreign elites.

“In all, we expecting about a 100 elite runners’’ he said.

Past winners are set to defend their title at Houston Marathon and Half Marathon

Organizers of the Chevron Houston Marathon and Aramco Houston Half Marathon have revealed the elite fields for the World Athletics Gold Label road races on January 19.

The city’s marathon has now joined the half marathon as a Gold Label event, making Houston the only city in the world to host Gold Label marathon and half marathon races on the same day.

Defending marathon champion Biruktayit Degefa will try to become the first woman to win in Houston four times. Bahrain’s Hassan El Abbassi, the Asian record-holder for the men’s marathon, is the fastest in the men’s field.

Three former winners of the half marathon will be back in Houston to contest the 13.1-mile race: defending men’s champion Shura Kitata and 2018 winners Ruti Aga and Jake Robertson. Ethiopian record-holder Jemal Yimer and Kenya’s Caroline Kipkirui, the eighth-fastest woman of all time, have the quickest PBs of the half marathon fields.

Toronto Marathon champion Magdalyne Masai has set her eyes on running the Boston Marathon

The 26-year-old has only run three marathons and though she has little hope of making the Kenya team to the Tokyo Olympics, she will not pass the chance to have a dry run in March in the Japanese capital should organizers of the city marathon invite her.

However, it is the challenge of Boston Marathon that Magdalyne Masai, a former world cross country bronze medalist, is keen to conquer in 2020.

"My management has not got the invitation yet. But it will be a great step if I get a chance to fight against the best in Boston and gain the experience it comes with," Masai said on Monday.

The younger sister of former World 10,000m champion Linet Masai won silver at the Hamburg Marathon last year against a strong challenge from the Ethiopians and is also the winner from Hefei Marathon, in China.

"China was my first debut in marathon and I loved it because I went on to win in Hefei. It gave me the stage to showcase my talent in marathon and since then, I have been improving. Now I am ready for the big-city marathon and Boston looks a great place to run," she said.

Magdalene said out of the three marathons she has competed, Toronto remains her favorite.

"I know people will talk of London, Chicago, New York, Boston, Tokyo and Berlin but I prefer to start in Boston because of the magical experience people talk about. I want to experience it first hand," she noted.

Masai credits her elder brother Moses Masai, who is currently battling a career-threatening ankle injury, for motivating her to take up running. Though her sister Linet has played a part in her career, Magdalyne feels Moses is the cornerstone in the short marathon rise she has experienced.

"Moses always asked me to go for it. There is also former Commonwealth marathon champion Flomena Cheyech and former track star Sylvia Kibet who have helped me a lot," she added.

In 2016 she changed from the track to the road races with a debut at Ostia Half Marathon clocking 67:30. A year later she was fourth at the South Shields Great North Run in England clocking 1:10:39. She has also run in Lisbon (Portugal) and Belfort (France).

However, it was in Hefei in China that she launched her career in the marathon, and she won against a strong challenge clocking 2:28:20. And from China, Masai now targets to conquer the world.

"The Tokyo Olympics are coming a little bit earlier and I may not have the experience to be considered. But I want to represent Kenya in next Olympics," she added. Enditem

Faith Chepngetich is getting ready for Tokyo face-off with Sifan Hassan

As Faith Chepngetich Kipyegon gears towards defending her Olympic title at this year’s Summer Games in Tokyo, Japan, she is ready for the prospect of facing off with double world champion Sifan Hassan.

The pair clashed at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, Qatar with the in-form Hassan carrying the day as Kipyegon settled for silver.

As the clock ticks towards this year’s Olympic Games slated for July 24-August 9 at the Japanese capital, Kipyegon is optimistic of defending her title she bagged four years ago in Rio, Brazil.

“Yes, we are in an Olympic season and that is my main goal this year. I have already resumed my build up exercises to make sure that I make the team because everyone is also eyeing the tickets to Tokyo,” said Kipyegon.

Kipyegon hailed the Ethiopian-born Dutch Hassan while speaking on the possibility of renewing their rivalry again this year.

“I normally prefer not to talk about somebody else but it is true that she (Hassan) was on form (last year) having took part in many races and also notching the world record over the mile.

“I knew she was very strong ahead of the World Championships and I congratulate her. I know we shall meet again this year and let’s wait and see what happens (laughs),” said the soft-spoken athlete.

Prior to the Worlds, Kipyegon was just a few months into training after returning from maternity leave and the Keringet-born athlete is hoping to enjoy more success this year with early preparations.

“For sure I expect this year to be different from 2019 because I had a very short time to prepare for World Championships having come back from maternity break. I know that if I build up well towards Tokyo then I will be much stronger,” she said.

After the World Championships, the 25-year-old shifted her training base from Keringet in Nakuru County to the famous Global Sports Communication camp in Kaptagat where she now joins fellow world beaters including world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge and world half marathon record holder Geoffrey Kamworor among others.

“I am honoured to train at Kaptagat with the likes of Kipchoge (Eliud), Kamworor (Geoffrey) and Kiyeng (Hyvin). I also thank my coach Patrick Sang for the guidance he has offered me since I joined the camp,” said Kipyegon.

Armino rallies to retain Xiamen Marathon title

Ethiopia’s Medina Deme Armino waited patiently until the last 500 metres to launched her powerful charge, successfully defending her title at the Xiamen Marathon, the first World Athletics Gold Label road race of the year on Sunday (5).

The 22-year-old Armino cut 73 seconds from her personal best to win in 2:26:12, making her the fourth multiple women’s winner in the 18-year history of the race following China’s Zhou Chunxiu (2003-2005) and fellow Ethiopians Mare Dibaba (2014-2015) and Fatuma Sado (2013, 2018).

It is also the second straight year for Armino to improve her career best in Xiamen, but her winning mark was still more than six minutes shy of Dibaba’s course record of 2:19:52 set five years ago.

Helped by three male pacers, a leading group of nine stayed together for most of the race. After the leaders passed the 35km mark in 2:02:40, 2018 Dublin Marathon winner Mesera Hussen of Ethiopia began to push ahead and the leading pack soon became scattered.

Hussen pulled clear before 38km with Armino trailing around 100m behind as the sole chaser. But the surge seemed to drain too much energy from Hussen, who slowed gradually after 40 kilometres with the defending champion narrowing the gap metre by metre.

When Hussen reached the 500 metres-to-go mark, her pacer stopped. Armino seized the opportunity to speed up and soon overtook her rival. She never looked back before wrapping up her fifth marathon title in eight races.

It is the 11th consecutive women’s title taken by Ethiopians in the southern Chinese city.

Hussen finished second in 2:26:28, improving her PB by some two minutes. Afera Godfay, also from Ethiopia with a PB of 2:22:41, took third in 2:26:42.

Two-time reigning champion Dejene Debela failed to defend his title in the men’s race as his countryman Birhan Nebebew, third last year, built a sole lead after a fast 10km split from 30km to 40km and took the top honours in 2:08:16.

Nebebew’s victory also marks the fourth year in a row for Xiamen Marathon to witness an Ethiopian double.

The race was paced by a group of 10 to the 10km mark in 30:04. After another five kilometres, the leaders were cut to eight and the eight-man pack ran together to reach 20km in 1:00:39 and 30km in 1:31:35.

Kenya’s Kennedy Cheboror was the first to quit the leading group, then followed by Morocco’s Mohamed Zianni and Abdisa Duber of Ethiopia.

The 25-year-old Nebebew tried to pull away near the 35km mark with only Reuben Kerio of Kenya and Ethiopian veteran Girmay Birhanu Gebru managing to keep up with his pace.

The leading trio kept pushing ahead and the in-form Nebebew waited for three more kilometres to launch another charge. Gebru followed him for a little while but Nebebew soon cut the binds between them.

With a comfortable lead in hand, Nebebew never met any real threat afterwards. He broke the tape in style and knelt down to kiss the course to celebrate his first international marathon title.

Kerio, who improved his PB to 2:07:00 last October, overtook Gebru to settle for the second in 2:08:46. The 32-year-old Gebru, a 2:05:49 performer, finish third in 2:08:52, his first sub-2:10 mark since 2015.

Kenya will renew their rivalry with Ethiopia on Sunday in quest for Xiamen Marathon in China

Kenyan athletes are keen to end Ethiopian dominance in the Southern China city. Kenyan duo Reuben Kerio and Kennedy Cheboror also renewed their lifetime bests in 2019.

The 25-year-old Kerio clocked 2:07:00 in Eindhoven and won the Rock 'n' Roll Madrid Marathon last year, while Cheboror, 29, improved his personal best (PB) to 2:06:59 when finishing fourth in Daegu and went on to win the Gyeongju Marathon in October, which was his third title in six races since debuting over the classic distance in 2016.

"It is a tough race with top names from Ethiopia. But I believe we have a chance to showcase to the world that we are top of the game," said Cheboror on Friday.

Kenya's Moses Mosop was the last man to win in Xiamen, setting a course record of 2:06:19 in 2015.

"The course in Xiamen is tough and it requires strong preparations. I felt depleted after the race and it will not be easy for the athletes when they line up to improve the record," Mosop said.

The tall and long-legged Debela, who will celebrate his 25th birthday next Thursday, edged compatriot Afewerk Mesfin by just two seconds last year to take a second successive Xiamen victory in 2:09:26.

He went on to earn a runner-up finish in Chicago last October at 2:05:46, improving his personal best by 84 seconds, which suggests he has the ability to challenge the 2:06:19 course record set by Moses Mosop of Kenya in 2015.

While Debela is eyeing a hat-trick, Shura Kitata is expecting third-time lucky in Xiamen.

The 23-year-old Ethiopian has progressed rapidly in recent years and is the fastest man on paper with a best time of 2:04:49, which was set from his second-place finish at the 2018 London Marathon. He came close to that mark in April 2019 when he returned to London to finish fourth in 2:05:01.

After a third-place finish in 2016 and a runner-up spot in 2017, Kitata will be keen to set his foot onto the top step of the podium and challenge the course record which also stands as the Chinese all-comers' record.

Salah Eddine Bounasr of Morocco is another man to watch on Sunday. Although it will be his first outing in the southern Chinese city, the 29-year-old arrives in good form.

He has been unbeaten since his Beijing Marathon title in September 2017. He clocked a winning time of 2:09:29 in Vienna in 2018 and reduced his career-best to 2:07:52 in Otsu last March.

The 22-year-old Armino will also face a challenging title defense in the women's race. Last year Armino trimmed almost two minutes off her PB to score an upset victory over a strong field at 2:27:25. And the field she will face on Sunday is even stronger.

Armino's compatriot Yebrgual Melese leads the women's elite list with a best time of 2:19:36, which was achieved from her third-place finish in Dubai two years ago.

She is also the only woman in the field that has ever run faster than Mare Dibaba's course record of 2:19:52 set in 2015.

The 29-year-old Melese has built a reputation for her consistency, having won titles in Houston, Prague and two straight victories in Shanghai.

Fellow Ethiopian Afera Godfay is also a serious title contender. The 28-year-old grabbed her first international marathon victory in Dongying last April and improved her PB to 2:22:41, which made her the second-fastest entrant in Xiamen. More recently, she clocked 2:29:18 to finish 10th at the Ljubljana Marathon three months ago.

Ethiopian runners swept all 10 of the women's titles in Xiamen over the past decade. Volha Mazuronak of Belarus would be the biggest hope to break such dominance this year.

Mazuronak's best time of 2:23:54, which also stands as the Belarusian record, was set at the 2016 London Marathon.

The 2018 European champion has maintained a high level of competitiveness in recent seasons, taking the top honours two years ago in Dusseldorf and last year in Hong Kong before finishing fifth at the World Championships in Doha last September.