Press Release - Belfast City Marathon - 4/30/19

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

           Belfast City Marathon Champions Aim for Victory Again 
                         in Biggest Ever Marathon

Three former Men's champions will clash in this Sunday's 38th Deep 
RiverRock Belfast City Marathon which has broken all entry records and is 
fast approaching some 5,000 applications.

This is a clear result of both the historic switch to a Sunday event plus 
the attraction of an entirely new faster course which eliminates the old 
tortuous lengthy climb on the Antrim Road.

Current champion Eric Koech returns to defend his title from a year ago 
when he enjoyed a two minutes victory margin over fellow Kenyan Dan Tanui 
in a time of 2 hrs 18 mins 19 secs. This win made up for the 37 year old's 
runner up spot in 2016 when he lost out to Joel Kositany.  Eric has not 
raced since his victory in Belfast as he is determined to repeat last 
year's result.

However, this is far from a foregone conclusion such is the caliber of the 
opposition which is probably the best ever.  It includes three times 
previous winner Kositany who took the titles with some ease in 2013, 2015 
and 2016.   However, Joel has bitter memories of last year when he was 
joint leader with Koech and looking comfortable with less than 3 miles to 
go.

He then suffered the athlete's ultimate nightmare of a pulled hamstring 
after which he painfully struggled to the finish for 3rd over 5 minutes 
behind the winner.

This experience has made him more determined to achieve a record 4 
victories and finally surpass the 3 wins of John Mutai over ten years ago. 

The 31 year old certainly has the pedigree to do this given the fact that 
he has the fastest marathon best in the field of under 2 hrs 10 mins.

Koech and Kositany will however have to keep a wary eye on yet another 
Kenyan Bernard Rotich.  He is also a former winner from 2017 when he 
secured victory in 2 hrs 16 mins which is the 3rd fastest time on the old 
course.

32 year old Rotich who was also second in 2013 is possibly the biggest 
danger of all next Sunday as he has the best recent form.  He followed up 
his Dublin Marathon victory of 2017 with a very useful time in the same 
race last October of 2.14.18. 

Gideon Kimosop is also a Kenyan from the Rift Valley who has easily the 
most experience of racing in the Province.  He is a treble winner of the 
Deep RiverRock Belfast City Half Marathon and was 2nd over the full 
marathon distance in 2015.

In his most recent win here in the Belfast Half last autumn 10k Gideon 
explained that the prize money in races went a long way towards supporting 
his huge extended family of 10 back home. 

NI's top marathon runners Laura Graham and Gladys Ganiel head the local 
challenge on Sunday 5 May.

33 year old mother of four Graham has impeccable credentials in this event 
with an emphatic victory two years ago in a personal best time of 2 hrs 41 
mins 46 secs.  She then followed this up last year with a runner up spot 
some two minutes behind Kenya's Caroline Jepchirchir who took the honours 
in a PB of 2.41.23.

In Laura's golden year of 2017 she ran 2 hrs 37secs in Berlin to place her 
second in the NI All Time list.  However after her Belfast race last year 
she suffered a serious leg injury which has essentially sidelined her until 
relatively recently.

After extensive rehabilitation the ever determined Mourne Runners athlete 
has now bounced back with useful wins in both the Larne and Omagh Half 
Marathons.  She will therefore be relishing her first marathon race in a 
year to see if she can approach something akin to her previous Berlin form 
en route to a possible Olympic Games next year.

Former Commonwealth Games runner Ganiel will be making her first appearance 
in Belfast following an illustrious career the latest of which was a 
2.42.42 time in the Euro Champs in Berlin last summer. The 42 year old 
North Belfast woman was 2nd behind Laura in the recent  Larne Half in a 
time of 76 mins 6 secs which is her fastest in 6 years.

This points to a good performance in a few days when she might get close to 
her sub 2 hrs 38 mins PB.

In Belfast however both Graham and Ganiel will struggle to shake off the 
attentions of last year's winner Jepchirchir whose sights are firmly set on 
another victory. Caroline was delighted with her first win last year 
following the birth of her daughter.  Her form since then certainly points 
to first past the post again in a potential fast time facilitated by the 
entirely new faster course .

The 36 year  old Kenyan finished 5th in Dublin last October in a huge PB of 
2.36 .23 and followed this up with 10th in Barcelona in March in 2 hrs 41 
mins. The current best time for a marathon in Belfast of 2 hrs 36 mins 49 
secs could therefore be under threat.

With this quality elite line up Marathon organisers are quietly hoping for 
very quick times on the new flatter course and perhaps a fastest ever 
marathon in Belfast which currently stands at 2 hrs 13 mins 41 secs.

For further details and updates on the biggest participation sporting event 
in Northern Ireland please visit www.belfastcitymarathon.com or follow the 
Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon is sponsored by Athletics Northern 
Ireland, Daily Mirror, Belfast City Council, Better, Translink, Daily 
Mirror, Spar, Belfast Live and Framar Health. Sampling partners are Deep 
RiverRock, Tayto, White's Oats and Linwoods.  This year's official 
charities are Belfast Arthroplasty Research Trust (BART); Cancer Focus NI; 
Stroke Association; Air Ambulance NI and Action Mental Health.  

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