Kenya's female marathoners have confirmed their participation at the ING New York Marathon on November 2.
According to a news release from the global athletic body, IAAF, former world record holders, Catherine Ndereba and Tegla Loroupe will line up at the start of the Big Apple race.
The 2006 Boston Marathon champion, Rita Jeptoo and the 2002 New York winner, Joyce Chepchumba are also listed in the star-studded field.
Ndereba, the world champion, won her second Olympic silver medal in Beijing to complete a remarkable 16th podium finish out of 17 marathons she has ran.
She ran a then world record of two hours 18 minutes 47 seconds in winning the 2001 Chicago Marathon that was lowered to 2:17:18 by Britain's Paula Jane Radcliffe the following year at the same event. Ndereba also won the World marathon title in 2003.
Loroupe will take on New York a decade after she set a world best of 2:20:43 at the 1999 Berlin Marathon.
Former world record holder, Paul Tergat, is penned to spearhead the Kenyan challenge in the men's race in what is widely-expected to be his swansong run.
Tergat, held a world best of 2:04:55 from the 2003 Berlin Marathon that was first lowered to 2:04:26 last year and then to 2:03:59 in September by archrival and friend Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie.
Others include Wilfred Kigen, the three-time winner of Frankfurt Marathon with a personal best of 2:07.33 ran in Hamburg last year, Isaac Macharia and exciting prospect Hosea Rotich.
Meanwhile, reigning world marathon champion Luke Kibet will this weekend attempt to defend his BUPA Great South Run title in Portsmouth. The 25 year old will also be looking to make up for a poor Beijing Olympics where he dropped out.
"I'm really looking forward to running there again, it's a fast course and flat which suits my style of running," said Kibet after his fourth place finish at the half marathon distance at the recent BUPA Great North Run.
Kibet believes that race marked a return to form after injury wrecked his Olympic marathon ambitions. He did not finish in Beijing.
"I'm fully fit again and confident I can pull off another win no matter who else is in the field. I don't think about them," said Kibet. |
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