Press Release - Frankfurth Marathon - 10/14/15

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

         Vienna City Marathon champion Sisay Lemma and Koren Jelela 
           are late additions to Frankfurt Marathon's Elite Field

Frankfurth, October 14th - Sisay Lemma Kasaye, winner of this year's Vienna 
City Marathon, and his Ethiopian compatriot Koren Jelela Yal are two high 
quality late additions to the elite field for the Frankfurt Marathon on 
Sunday, October 25. Both athletes will be contenders for top honours in the 
race beside the River Main. Entries for the Frankfurt Marathon, which has 
an IAAF Gold Label, the highest category awarded to an international road 
race, are still open and can be accessed at: www.frankfurt-marathon.com. 
The race organisers expect approximately 15,000 participants.

All the signs from his career so far are that Sisay Lemma can produce a 
special performance in the Frankfurt Marathon. The Ethiopian, who began his 
career at the age of 17 running barefoot for lack of running shoes, 
achieved a breakthrough this year after he had already impressed by winning 
the Warsaw Marathon with 2:09:02 in 2013.

He began 2015 in fine style with a fifth place and a big improvement on his 
personal best with 2:07:06 in the traditionally high quality Dubai Marathon 
in January. This was just the beginning to a year which has already 
indicated his ability for the big occasion. Vienna in April was the setting 
for the biggest victory of his career so far. "If it hadn't been windy and 
had I been put under more pressure from my rivals, I could have run 2:05," 
reflected Sisay Lemma after he broke away from the field at 27 kilometres 
and won by almost five minutes in 2:07:31. Frankfurt could mark a major 
step forward as Lemma targets Olympic qualification for Rio next year. 
He'll certainly have plenty of African rivals to spur him on in Frankfurt 
as well as Arne Gabius, who will be aiming for the German record of 
2:08:47.

Another addition to the elite start list is Koren Jelela, a proven 
performer of world class, who has returned to top flight competition after 
maternity this year. The goal in Frankfurt for the 28-year-old Ethiopian 
will be to regain the level of her past performances where her best stands 
at 2:22:43 in winning the Toronto Marathon in 2011. This performance ranks 
her as the fastest woman in the field. Other notable successes include 
winning the 2011 Mumbai Marathon and the Istanbul title a year later. She 
also finished third in Paris in 2011.

More Information and online entry is available at: 
www.frankfurt-marathon.com 

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