Komon seeks World Record on Berlin Half Debut

[TheEd]

Leonard Komon hopes to make his half marathon debut one to remember. Speaking at a press conference two days prio to the Vattenfall BERLIN HALF MARATHON the Kenyan said he wants to break the world record at his first attempt.

Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) is the current record holder with a time of 58:23 from Lisbon 2010. Ethiopia’s Tadelech Bekele is the favourite in the women’s race while Germany’s Sabrina Mockenhaupt could do well. 30,028 runners have entered the nation’s biggest and best quality half marathon.

Although Berlin has seen plenty of road running world records in the past the half marathon distance does not feature on that list yet. Leonard Komon now wants to change this. It is an ambitious project for someone who has not run further than 10 miles in competition. But his world records at 10 k and 15 k suggest that the 26 year-old is capable of doing it. With his 10 k time of 26:44 Komon still is the only runner who has broken 27 minutes on the road. At 15 k his world record stands at 41:13.

Regarding the world record the Kenyan said during a press conference in Berlin: “I have this time in my mind. If the pacemakers are doing well I think it will be possible for me to break it.”

Breaking the course record on the flat and fast course would be some achievement as well. It was back in 2007 when Patrick Makau (Kenya) clocked a world-class time of 58:56. Komon already holds one course record in Berlin. In 2010 he won the 10 k race Asics Grand 10 with 27:12, which is also a German allcomers’ record. Actually the Kenyan won this race four times in a row, from 2010 to 2013. So when he now returns to the German capital he will be on familiar territory. This should be an advantage for Komon. “I am happy to be back in Berlin and compete here for the fifth time,” Komon said.

With Komen likely to run at world record pace he will probably only be surrounded by a couple of pacemakers. For the other elite runners this pace should be too fast. There are two Kenyans on the start list who have run sub one hour times already. Lucas Rotich has a personal best of 59:44 while Daniel Chebii ran 59:49. Ethiopia’s Abera Kuma (60:19) and Abraham Cheroben (Kenya/60:38) could also be in contention for a place on the podium.

Tadelech Bekele is the fastest runner entered into the women’s field. The Ethiopian has a personal best of 68:38. But more significant is her improvement at the 10 k distance last autumn in Berlin. She was second in the Asics Grand 10 with 30:38, moving up to seventh in the alltime list at that distance. This clearly shows that she has the potential for a much faster half marathon as well.

Sabrina Mockenhaupt is the second fastest on the start list with a time of 68:45. When she clocked this PB back in 2009 she won the Vattenfall BERLIN HALF MARATHON. In 2010 she came back to this race, taking third with 69:57. But there was a less good experience for her in 2011. Mockenhaupt had entered the race as the favourite, but dropped out. “With the exception of that race three years ago I have always done well when I ran in Berlin. So I am looking forward to Sunday. I believe this year can be a good one for me,” said Sabrina Mockenhaupt, who also clocked her 10 k best of 31:49 and her marathon PB of 2:26:21 in Berlin. „I hope to run sub 70 minutes on Sunday.” With such a result she could make the podium. Apart from Bekele two Kenyans will be her main rivals: Agnes Mutune has a PB of 70:05 while Alice Kibor has run 71:13.