Kotut eyes Cardiff Half Marathon title after Paris conquest
What you need to know:
- Ugandan Ben Siwa ended Kenya’s five-year dominance in the men’s race in Cardiff with victory last year in a time of 1:02:06.
- Kotut boasts a personal best 59:12 from New Delhi in 2014.
- The women’s race will also feature Kenyans, with defending champion Lenah Jerotich, Violah Jepchumba, the 2014 Commonwealth champion Flomena Cheyech and Betsy Saina out to uphold Kenya’s dominance.
The reigning Paris Half Marathon champion Cyprian Kotut is out to reclaim the Cardiff Half Marathon crown Kenya lost to Uganda last year when the race goes down on Sunday in the Welsh capital.
The women’s race will also feature Kenyans, with defending champion Lenah Jerotich, Violah Jepchumba, the 2014 Commonwealth champion Flomena Cheyech and Betsy Saina out to uphold Kenya’s dominance.
It’s Ugandan Ben Siwa who ended Kenya’s five-year dominance in the men’s race in Cardiff with victory last year in a time of 1:02:06.
Gideon Kimosop of Kenya wound up second, with a strong sprint finish to beat fellow countryman Dan Tanui and Assefa Bekele from Ethiopia.
The only other foreigner to have won the race is a Briton Simon Lawson during the inaugural 2009 race.
Kotut, who also won this year’s edition of the Paris Marathon, has been on fire this year. The 24-year-old improved his personal best to 2:07:11 with victory in Paris Marathon in April, having warmed up for the race a month earlier with a 1:01:00 victory in the Paris Half Marathon.
However, Kotut boasts a personal best 59:12 from New Delhi in 2014.
Interestingly, Siwa is back to defend his title but whether he will live up to the billing is left to be known with the kind of challenge he faces.
OTHER KENYANS
Besides Kotut, other Kenyans in the race are Shadrack Korir who brings a 1:02:40 personal best to the line and Charles Muneria, who represented Kenya in 5,000m at the Rio Olympic Games, finishing 12th.
Paul Pollack of Ireland is the third fastest man in the field with a time of 1:02:10 and returns to action after his 32nd place finish in the Rio 2016 Olympic marathon where he clocked 2:16:24.
The 25-year-old Jepchumba has been on a tear on the road racing circuit this year, running undefeated in four events from early April through September.
In April, she clocked 1:05:51 at the Prague Half Marathon to move up to the number two spot on the all-time lists with the fourth fastest performance in history.
She followed it up with dominating performances in half marathon races in Istanbul and Gothenburg and after a three-and-a-half month break from competition, returned to action at the Prague 10km on 10 September where she clocked an African record 30:24, just three seconds shy of Paula Radcliffe’s world record set in 2003.
Cheyech has a 1:07:39 best with her 2:22:44 marathon lifetime best dating back to the 2014 Paris Marathon. Jerotich, the defending champion, who produced her 1:11:31 best on the Cardiff course.
Saina, who represented Kenya in 10,000m race at Rio Olympics, finishing fifth, has personal best 1:09:27 from 2014 Boston.
Uganda’s 19-year-old Rachel Chebet-Zena, a 5000m finalist at this year’s African Championships, will be making her debut over the distance.
