Tough battle for Kenya’s Vincent Kipruto at Sunday Paris Marathon

Vincent Kipruto crosses the finish line to win the Frankfurt Marathon in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany, on October 27, 2013. Kipruto, who won in Paris in 2009 in a PB of 2:05:47 will be battling a field that has nine sub-2:07 runners in the IAAF Gold Label Road Race promises to be a quality competition. FILE PHOTO | AFP | DPA | BORIS ROESSLER

By  Ayumba Ayodi

Reporter

NMG Sport

What you need to know:

  • Kipruto, who won in Paris in 2009 in a PB of 2:05:47 will be battling a field that has nine sub-2:07 runners in the IAAF Gold Label Road Race promises to be a quality competition.
  • Kipruto improved on his personal best from his 2009 victory one year later with 2:05:13 and then took the silver medal at the IAAF World Championships in 2011.
  • Kipruto and Chimsa will be weighing through a tough course that has Laban Korir, Gilbert Kirwa, Seboka Dibaba and Raji Assefa.
  • Kenya’s Emily Ngetich will take the battle to Ethiopian Mulu Seboka who is favourite for the women’s race.

Kenya’s Vincent Kipruto hopes to be second time lucky when he fields at Paris Marathon on Sunday.

Kipruto, who won in Paris in 2009 in a PB of 2:05:47 will be battling a field that has nine sub-2:07 runners in the IAAF Gold Label Road Race promises to be a quality competition.

With defending champion Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele, who set a course record of 2:05:04 on his marathon debut out of action, Kipruto, will face tough competition from the likes of 2012 Prague Marathon champion Deressa Chimsa.

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Kipruto improved on his personal best from his 2009 victory one year later with 2:05:13 and then took the silver medal at the IAAF World Championships in 2011.

Kipruto is the fastest man on paper for this year’s race.

The 27-year-old has run faster than 2:07 five times, but only once since 2011.

The 28-year-old Chimsa has a PB of 2:05:42 from three years ago and more recently was victorious at the Guangzhou Marathon in November.

TOUGH COURSE

Kipruto and Chimsa will be weighing through a tough course that has Laban Korir, Gilbert Kirwa, Seboka Dibaba and Raji Assefa.

They have all run faster than 2:07 at their best.

The next fastest athletes in the field are Simon Munyutu, with a PB of 2:09:24, and Abdellatif Meftah, with a best of 2:09:46.

Pius Kirop, who has a half-marathon PB of 59:25, will be making his marathon debut.

Kenya’s Emily Ngetich will take the battle to Ethiopian Mulu Seboka who is favourite for the women’s race.

The 31-year-old was victorious at the 2014 Dubai Marathon and finished sixth in the same event this year, but smashed her PB with 2:21:56.

Also in the race is Ethiopian Atsede Baysa, who has a PB of 2:22:03 and was winner of the Paris Marathon in 2009 and 2010.

The 27-year-old also competed in Dubai earlier this year, but was a distant 17th in 2:27:24.

The 31-year-old Ngetich set a PB of 2:25:14 at the 2014 Frankfurt Marathon and last month smashed her half-marathon PB with 1:09:13 at Ostia Lido in Rome.

Kenyan born Martha Komu is the fastest French athlete in the field with her 2:25:33 PB, set when winning in Paris in 2008.

But the last time she ran faster than 2:30 was when finishing fifth at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

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