FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HASPA MARATHON HAMBURG ON SUNDAY
Course records and Olympic qualification the targets in Hamburg
World-class fields will go for course records and target Olympic
qualification in Sunday's Haspa Marathon Hamburg. Kenya's defending
champion and course record holder Bernard Koech, who tied his personal best
with 2:04:09 a year ago, is back while Gotytom Gebreslase, the World
Champion from 2022, is the favourite in the women's race. The Ethiopian,
who has a PB of 2:18:18, wants to secure the third spot for the Paris
Olympic race in Hamburg. Fellow-Ethiopian Yalemzerf Yehualaw holds
Hamburg's course record of 2:17:23. Late entry Nienke Brinkman will also
try to qualify for Paris. The Dutch runner is the bronze medallist from the
European Championships in Munich in 2022.
Organisers of Germany's biggest and fastest spring marathon have registered
a record total of 38,210 runners. Among them are 15,000 athletes who will
compete in the classic event. "If all goes well on Sunday and the
pacemakers run a bit more even and slightly faster we could see similar
results to last year. I am curious to see if Gotytom Gebreslase manages to
qualify for Paris and if she is able to break the course record. But even a
sub 2:20 time is something special since we only have one so far," said
chief organiser Frank Thaleiser, who introduced an additional bonus of
20,000 Euros for the course records. All runners - men and women - who
finish inside the course records share this amount. If there would be one
man and three women who clock faster times than the previous records they
would each receive 5,000 Euros. "This way we want to encourage the runners
in a leading group to go for a fast time after the last pacemaker has
dropped out," explained Frank Thaleiser.
"Training was going well and compared to last year in Hamburg I have
reached the same level. So if the weather conditions are fine then a fast
time is possible," said Bernard Koech. It is highly unlikely that he could
still be selected for the Olympic marathon, but he said: "I will give
everything and if they should select me then I will be ready." Bernard
Koech is one of seven runners in the race who feature personal bests of sub
2:05:00. While Ethiopia's Getaneh Molla is the fastest on the start list
with 2:03:34 he has not reached such times in recent years.
Brimin Misoi and Philemon Kiplimo are tipped to be among the strongest
challengers for defending champion Koech. Both have done very well on
German roads in the past. Misoi has won the Frankfurt Marathon twice in a
row. When he defended his title last autumn the Kenyan improved to 2:04:53
despite windy and rainy conditions. He now intends to run faster in
Hamburg. "I ran the Paris Marathon at the beginning of April. But because
of breathing problems I dropped out and then decided to go for Hamburg,"
said Misoi. It was in Berlin last year, where Philemon Kiplimo improved to
2:04:56 and finished eighth in a very competitive race. "German roads are
good for me, so I am looking forward to Sunday. I want to run with the
leading group and improve my time," said Kiplimo, who has a superb half
marathon PB of 58:11.
"We are planning a pace in the region of the course record, may be slightly
faster. Additionally there will be a really big group of probably 25
athletes who will target the 2:08:10 Olympic qualifying time", said
Hamburg's Elite Race Coordinator Jurrie van der Velden of Jos Hermens'
Global management. "We are not quite sure yet, but the women's leading
group might run a pace somewhere between 2:16 and 2:18. There is a group as
well which targets Olympic qualification, running sub 2:26:50 pace."
"It is my goal to qualify for the Olympics on Sunday," said Gotytom
Gebreslase, who surprisingly won her debut marathon in Berlin in 2021, then
went on to become World Champion in the following year and took the silver
medal at last year's global championships in Budapest. Jurrie van der
Velden explained that the Ethiopian federation usually selects the two
fastest runners during the qualifying window and then picks the athlete who
performed best at major championships as long as that athlete confirms good
form. When Gebreselase ran the Nagoya Marathon in March she did not finish.
"I got stomach problems during the race and dropped out after 35k. Then I
trained well and decided to run in Hamburg. I am in good form now and want
to run sub 2:18 here. Perhaps I can attack the course record. I would think
such a performance should be enough to get selected," said Gotytom
Gebreslase.
Nienke Brinkman joined Hamburg's elite field at short notice. The European
bronze medallist from 2022 has still not achieved the qualifying time for
the Olympics. She ran her PB of 2:22:51 in 2022, but that was outside the
qualifying period. A year ago Brinkman clocked a fine 2:24:58 in Boston,
but this course is not record eligible and results do not count as
qualifying times. However it is a far easier task for Brinkman to achieve
qualification in Hamburg than for Gebreslase. Reaching the qualifying
standard of 2:26:50 should be enough for the former Durch record holder.
A debutant could well be in the mix for at least a place on the podium:
Irine Cheptai is the World Cross Country Champion from 2017. "I started
preparing for my marathon debut in January and training went very well. I
think I will go with the second group on Sunday," said the Kenyan who has
already run a very fast and promising half marathon time of 64:53.
Among a number of German runners Katharina Steinruck is probably the one
who could produce the national highlight in Hamburg. She improved to
2:24:56 this winter and now hopes to break the family record: It was
exactly 25 years ago when Katrin Dörre-Heinig, the bronze medallist of the
1988 Olympic marathon in Seoul, won the Hamburg Marathon with 2:24:35. For
many years this remained the German marathon record. "It is my aim to break
my Mum's record and it would be great if I could do it in Hamburg," said
Steinruck.
Elite Runners with Personal Bests
MEN:
Getaneh Molla ETH 2:03:34
Bernard Koech KEN 2:04:09
Roland Korir KEN 2:04:22
Dickson Chumba KEN 2:04:32
Barselius Kipyego KEN 2:04:48
Brimin Misoi KEN 2:04:53
Philemon Kiplimo KEN 2:04:56
Oqbe Ruesom ERI 2:05:51
Haymanot Alew ETH 2:05:57
Tsedat Ayana ETH 2:06:18
Geoffrey Kirui KEN 2:06:27
Olivier Irabaruta BDI 2:07:13
Jake Robertson NZL 2:08:26
Amaury Paquet BEL 2:08:44
Martin Musau UGA 2:08:45
Benjamin Preisner CAN 2:08:58
Ebba Tulu Chala SWE 2:09:06
Therence Bizosa BDI 2:09:18
Maxim Raileanu MDA 2:09:22
Jorge Castelblanco PAN 2:09:24
Joaquim Arbe ARG 2:09:36
Yohannes Chiappinelli ITA 2:09:46
Paul Tanui KEN 2:09:57
Abraham Cheroben KEN Debut
WOMEN:
Gotytom Gebreslase ETH 2:18:18
Winfridah Moseti KEN 2:20:55
Sharon Chelimo KEN 2:22:07
Kidsan Alema ETH 2:22:28
Nienke Brinkman NED 2:22:51
Natasha Wodak CAN 2:23:12
Margaret Wangari KEN 2:23:52
Jessica Augusto POR 2:24:25
Ayantu Kumela ETH 2:24:29
Katharina Steinruck GER 2:24:56
Fadouwa Ledhem FRA 2:25:50
Ellie Pashley AUS 2:26:21
Sara Ribeiro POR 2:26:39
Rabea Schöneborn GER 2:27:03
Daiana Ocampo ARG 2:27:16
Kristina Hendel GER 2:27:29
Isabel Oropeza Vazque MEX 2:27:57
Irine Cheptai KEN Debut
Aminet Ahmed ETH Debut
More information about the Haspa Marathon Hamburg is available at:
www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de
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