Frankfurt Marathon
The BMW Frankfurt Marathon will see its best elite field ever when it takes place on 30th October. Eight runners with personal bests of sub 2:08 will be competing, among them is the course record holder and defending champion Wilson Kipsang.
In 2010 the Kenyan clocked an amazing 2:04:57 in Frankfurt. The women’s race will see four athletes with personal bests of sub 2:25. Organisers of the race have done their best to prepare for a memorable jubilee race. Germany’s oldest city marathon will see its 30th edition on 30th October. It fits well to the occasion that the BMW Frankfurt Marathon has reached its capacity of 15,000 runners. This is a record for this race, which is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.
“We are very happy that we have managed to continue our strong development of recent years, regarding both the elite race and the mass race. Now we are looking forward to an exciting race and hope that weather conditions will be fine,” said Jo Schindler, the Race Director of the BMW Frankfurt Marathon.
In the men’s race 15 runners have been entered with personal bests of sub 2:10 while three of them have been faster than 2:07. Besides the defending champion Wilson Kipsang the main competitors will probably be Kenya’s Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot (2:05:52) and Ethiopia’s Deriba Merga (2:06:38). Unfortunately Gilbert Kirwa (Kenya), who had won in Frankfurt two years ago with 2:06:14, had to cancel his start due to an injury.
The women’s elite field has very good depth as well with 13 runners featuring personal bests of sub 2:30. Among them are four who have run sub 2:25. These are Merima Mohammed (Ethiopia/2:23:06), Rita Jeptoo (Kenya/2:23:38), Agnes Kiprop (Kenya/2:24:07) and Mamitu Daska (Ethiopia/2:24:18). Germany’s Sabrina Mockenhaupt, who had won the race in 2008, and Ethiopia’s Fate Tola, who had taken the Vienna City Marathon in April this year, could also be in with a fine performance.
The elite field of the BMW Frankfurt Marathon:
MEN:
Wilson Kipsang KEN 2:04:57
Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot KEN 2:05:52
Deriba Merga ETH 2:06:38
Philip Sanga KEN 2:07:10
Levy Matebo KEN 2:07:31
Wilfred Kigen KEN 2:07:33
Shentema Gudisa ETH 2:07:34
Deressa Chimsa Edae ETH 2:07:39
Siraj Gena ETH 2:08:39
Henry Sugut KEN 2:08:40
Chumba Dickson Kiptolo KEN 2:08:45
Sila Toek KEN 2:09:09
Albert Matebor KEN 2:09:16
Raymond Kandie KEN 2:09:23
Lusapho April RSA 2:09:25
Tesfaye Eticha ETH 2:10:05
Henryk Szost POL 2:10:27
Duncan Koech KEN 2:10:27
Damt Kuashu Taye ETH 2:10:31
Dino Sefir ETH 2:10:33
Günther Weidlinger AUT 2:10:47
Meftah Abdellatif FRA 2:10:53
André Pollmächer GER 2:13:09
WOMEN:
Merima Mohammed ETH 2:23:06
Rita Jeptoo KEN 2:23:38
Agnes Kiprop KEN 2:24:07
Mamitu Daska ETH 2:24:18
Sabrina Mockenhaupt GER 2:26:21
Fate Tola ETH 2:26:21
Liz Yelling GBR 2:28:33
Alena Samokhvalova RUS 2:28:47
Lisa Weightman AUS 2:28:48
Aniko Kalovics HUN 2:29:04
Kirsten Melkevik NOR 2:29:12
Susanne Hahn GER 2:29:26
Beata Rakonczai HUN 2:29:54
Tatyana Borisova KIR 2:30:35
Andrea Mayr AUT 2:30:43
Volha Dubovskaya BLR 2:31:41
Flomena Chepchirchir KEN Debut
image credit: PhotoRun