Kenyan runners to take part in Singapore marathon
21/11/2008 17:53
World champion Luke Kibet and three time World Cross Country Champion
Edith Masai will compete in next month's Standard Chartered Singapore
Marathon.
The 25-year-old Kibet, who became the first Kenyan in 20 years to
win the world title in Osaka last year, set his personal best time of 2:08:52 in
Eindhoven in 2006.
Douglas Wakihuri and Eric Wainaina had tried earlier but
finished second and third respectively despite the dominance the country has in
the 42km event worldwide.
Kibet finished 11th in London this year with his
season's best of 2:12:25, and will have a lot to prove in Singapore as his last
marathon, at the Beijing Olympic Games, ended in a "did not finish".
However,
he will not be part of Kenya's delegation in the Asian city for the Greatest
Race on Earth (GROE) marathon series. In the GROE series, runners compete in a
relay marathon in four cities -- Nairobi, Singapore, Mumbai and Hong
Kong.
Kenya's Amos Tirop Matui will carry the country's baton in the GROE
race as he seeks to extend Kenya grip in the hunt for the US$1 million jackpot.
Kenya has taken the top prize every year since the series' inauguration five
years ago.
Kibet's personal best time of 2:08:52 was two years earlier in
Eindhoven, the Netherlands. He has switched from his original event, the 3,000m
steeplechase. Singapore is the second leg of the GROE after Nairobi.
Kibet,
the former footballer turned athlete will be hoping to end a tumultuous year on
a high. Kibet was a victim of post election violence when he was attacked
twice.
The first time he was hit on the head suffering a concussion, while
the second attack happened on his way to Nairobi.
"We were coming to (Kenya
Prisons) training camp in Nairobi when we were attacked," he recounted. "I drew
my official gun that scared away the youths, who were armed with pangas
(machetes). I cannot say that they were targeting me and it was just bad
luck."
Masai will be looking to better her second place finish in last year's
race. The 41 year old placed eight in last year's World Championships. The
mother of one set her personal best in 2005 Hamburg marathon which she won in
2:27:06.
Masai who started running in her mid thirties became the first woman
ever to win three short course titles before turning her sights on road
running.
The Kenyan men team has John Ekiru Kelai (Mumbai), Cyprian Kiogora
Mwobi (Hong Kong) and Philemon Lisoreng Yarasia, who ran in last months Standard
Chartered Nairobi Marathon.
Masai returns to Singapore after a year to try
and improve on her second finish position last year, where she competed under
Group 'B' of the Kenyan GROE team.
Organizers of the GROE have cut down the
number of Kenyan teams to just two -- one women and men's team. Masai has not
competed in any top marathon this year. After an eighth place in the World
championships in Osaka last year, she returns to Singapore to enhance her team's
chances in the relay-marathon hunt.
Masai was the Hamburg marathon champion
of 2005 where she set her personal best time of 2:27:06.
Over 50,000 applied
to enter one the three events in the revamped race's seventh year. Over 15,000
of them will run the full marathon.
Singapore marathon will be the second
race of the Greatest Run on Earth Series. The first leg was held in Nairobi in
October. Other legs include Mumbai and Hong Kong.
Singapore's location, with
permanently warm temperatures and high humidity, similar in fact to Osaka in
summer, means that Area let alone world records are pretty much out of the
question.
Xinhua
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