Press Release - Marathon Hamburg - 3/17/22

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                    Haspa Marathon Hamburg on 24th April

     Berlin champion Guye Adola and Tsegaye Mekonnen to run in Hamburg

Former Hamburg winner Tsegaye Mekonnen and reigning Berlin Marathon 
champion Guye Adola are among the top runners for the Haspa Marathon 
Hamburg on 24th April. The two Ethiopians feature personal bests of sub 
2:05 as do three other runners on the start list. Guye Adola heads this 
list with a time of 2:03:46. Organisers announced athletes of the men's 
elite field today. The women's race will feature the debut marathon of 
Ethiopia's 10k world record holder Yalemzerf Yehualaw, which was announced 
a fortnight ago. 

Organisers of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg expect a total of 20,000 runners 
including races at shorter distances on 24th April. Online entry is still 
possible at: www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de 

It was back in 2017 when Guye Adola ran a sensational marathon debut in 
Berlin. Clocking an unofficial world debut record of 2:03:46 which remains 
his PB he came surprisingly close to beating Kenya's superstar Eliud 
Kipchoge. Adola was even leading the Olympic Champion until around 40 k 
before Kipchoge finally managed to overhaul him and win by just 14 seconds. 

Injuries, health problems and Covid 19 restrictions stopped him from 
competing a couple of times in the past few years. However Guye Adola then 
came back to Berlin to beat Ethiopia's superstar and pre-race favourite 
Kenenisa Bekele comfortably in September last year. In very warm conditions 
the 31 year-old clocked 2:05:45. 

Having coped so well against the fastest marathon runners on the planet 
Guye Adola could be in a position to take away the course record from Eliud 
Kipchoge. The Kenyan won his debut race at the distance in Hamburg in 2013 
and set the current mark of 2:05:30.

While Guye Adola has never raced in Hamburg Tsegaye Mekonnen is a former 
winner of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg. The 26 year-old clocked 2:07:26 in 
2017 when he took the race, denying the 2012 Olympic Champion Stephen 
Kiprotich of Uganda by just five seconds. Tsegaye Mekonnen had made 
headlines before when he triumphed at the Dubai Marathon in 2014. As an 18 
year-old he achieved a time of 2:04:32 which still stands as the unofficial 
world junior record today (World Athletics does not recognize junior 
records in the marathon).

There are four other runners on the start list of the Haspa Marathon 
Hamburg who have run faster than Kipchoge's course record. Kinde Atanaw ran 
2:03:51 when he took the Valencia Marathon in 2019 while fellow-Ethiopian 
Abebe Degefa was fourth in that race with 2:04:51. Barselius Kipyego of 
Kenya showed fine form last autumn when he ran 2:04:48 for fourth place in 
Paris. Eritrea's Afewerki Berhane, who has a personal best of 2:05:22, is 
also going for Germany's biggest spring marathon. 

Among a number of debutants Stephen Kissa might be capable of a surprise. 
The Ugandan ran a very fast half marathon time of 58:56 in New Delhi in 
2020. 

More information about the Haspa Marathon Hamburg and online entry is 
available at: www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de
 
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