FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Impressive Talent Boosts Frankfurt's Field
Two years ago Berlin and Frankfurt produced two fascinating marathon races
within little more than a month. First Patrick Makau ran a world record at the
BMW Berlin Marathon, when he clocked 2:03:38. Then Wilson Kipsang took the BMW
Frankfurt Marathon, going agonisingly close to the mark as the Kenyan missed
out by just four seconds. Will there be a repeat of the 2011 performances in
both of Germany's top autumn marathons? Last Sunday Berlin made its
contribution, when Kipsang finally broke the world record with 2:03:23. Today
the organisers of the BMW Frankfurt Marathon added a number of world-class
runners to their impressive men's elite field plus two very exciting marathon
talents. There are now five runners on the start list for the BMW Frankfurt
Marathon on 27th October who have personal bests of sub 2:05:30. So strong is
the field, it might even give cause for concern to the newly crowned world
record holder Wilson Kipsang.
While online race entry is still available, organisers expect around 15,000
runners to take part in the 32nd edition of the BMW Frankfurt Marathon, which
is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.
The participation of the Kenyans Vincent Kipruto (2:05:13) and the former
Frankfurt course record holder Gilbert Kirwa (2:06:14) had already been
announced by the organisers. But in the list of elite entries they have now
fallen back into positions three and seven as far as personal bests are
concerned. The Ethiopians Dino Sefir and Feyisa Lilesa now have pride of place
as the fastest contenders.
The 25 year-old Sefir clocked his personal best of 2:04:50 when finishing
second in the Dubai Marathon in 2012. Lilesa was just two seconds slower when
runner-up in last year's Chicago Marathon. In contrast to Sefir he has more
experience and achieved a number of notable performances despite being two
years younger. In 2010 he ran 2:05:23 in Rotterdam and became the youngest
runner ever to clock a sub 2:06 time. However, despite the very fast time this
was only good enough for fourth place. He was the bronze medallist in a hot
and humid World Championships' marathon in 2011 in Daegu (South Korea) and
this year took fourth in the star-studded London Marathon (2:07:46). Lilesa
was among the favourites at this year's World Championships, but he dropped
out of the marathon in Moscow. Coming to Frankfurt his aim will be to run very
fast.
Two runners return to the BMW Frankfurt Marathon, having set personal bests in
a memorable race there two years ago: Levy Matebo Omari was second with
2:05:16 while fellow-Kenyan Albert Matebor took third in 2:05:25. Another one
to watch is Eric Ndiema. The 20 year-old Kenyan has had an amazing marathon
career so far and could spring a surprise. On his marathon debut he broke the
world junior record with 2:06:07 in Amsterdam. That was in 2011, when he was
just 18 years old and placed third. He has yet to improve on that, but Ndiema
has run sub 2:07 times in all his races, an impressive achievement. He was
fourth in Paris in 2012 (2:06:37), third in Eindhoven (2:06:17) and third
again in Paris this year with 2:06:34.
The other promising marathon talent who will be running on the fast Frankfurt
course is Moses Masai. After an unspectacular debut of 2:11:00 in this year's
Dubai Marathon, the 27 year-old could be ready to make an impact on the
marathon. The Kenyan, who was third in the 10,000 m final of the 2009 World
Championships, has superb speed with personal bests of 12:50.55 for 5,000 m
and 26:49.20 for 10,000. And just as a reminder, these PBs are very similar to
those of fellow-Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge, who improved to 2:04:05 in his second
marathon last Sunday. And that was in Berlin, of course.
Information and online entry is available at: www.bmw-frankfurt-marathon.com
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