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Prague Marathon Elite Field 2011 - TheEd - 06-05-2011 Prague, 6th May, 2011: At a press conference held today at the hotel Hilton Prague, Prague International Marathon spol. s r.o. (“PIM”) announced its final elite start list (attached) for the 2011 Volkswagen Prague Marathon this Sunday, 8th May. The list includes some of the leading long distance elite runners in the world today, including ten men with sub-2:09 PB's. There will also be two men’s debuts, Samuel Kiplimo Kosgei of Kenya and Sérgio Silva of Portugal, and two women’s debuts, Filomena Costa of Portugal and Eva Kurova of the Czech Republic. In the men‘s category, the favourites will include the Ethiopian runner, Yemane Tsegay, who finished 4th in 2009 in both the World Championships in Berlin and the Paris Marathon, where he achieved his personal best time (2:06:30). For Yemane, last year was all about Prague, where he ran a new personal best and finished third in the Hervis Prague Half marathon and soon after finished second in the Volkswagen Prague Marathon. He was not, however, satisfied with either his marathon time or his place and he hopes to improve on both this year. The Kenyan, Samuel Kiplimo Kosgei, who set a new 25 km world record last year in Berlin and whose PB running half marathon is 00:59:39, is also expected to be one of the favourites. In addition, the last minute entry of Rachid Kisri, one of the top Morrocan marathon runners, whose PB from the Paris Marathon in 2009 is 2:06:48, should make for an interesting and challenging men’s race. The women’s race should also make for an interesting competition with a diverse, international field consisting of runners from Kenya, Ethiopia, Namibia, Russia, Brazil, Portugal, the USA and, of course, the Czech Republic. Serena Burla of the USA has an amazing story, as she overcame cancer just one year ago, having undergone surgery to remove a Synovial Sarcoma in her right leg in February of 2010. She has very quickly and successfully returned to competition with strong performances, most recently running 1:11 in a half marathon in January, 2011. Lydia Cheromei of Kenya, a World Champion at age 13 and still running at 34, is the new record holder from the Hervis Prague Half Marathon this year and is hoping to break the record in the Volkswagen Prague Marathon as well, given good weather conditions on race day. Jana Moberly, Elite Athletes Coordinator, Prague International Marathon, commented: “Continuing on from the successes and broken records of the Hervis Prague Half Marathon, the diverse international field represented in this year’s Volkswagen Prague Marathon will certainly make for many surprises on race day. We are pleased to see such an international contigent of some of the world’s best athletes here in Prague and wish them a successful race with, hopefully, some new course records!“