International Marathon weekend preview April 10/11

April 9, 2010

With the following weekend, the marathon spring will be opened. A hot and fast spring can be expected and experience shows, that already on the first weekend fast times are on the road.

Especially the marathons in Paris and Rotterdam (both on April 11th) provide a lot of excitement with deep and fast fields. Other big marathons take place in Milan, Zürich, Linz

The marathon in Paris will be started on the Champs Elysées at 8.45AM (local time, i.e.CEST). Last year six runners ran sub-2:07h. In 2010 ten runners with PBs of sub-2:09h are on the entry list. The best chances for a victory have marathon-debutant Wilson Kipsang (KEN) with a halfmarathon-PB of 58:59min, Ethiopian Gelana Teshome (ETH, winner of last years Houston marathon with a PB of 2:07:37h on a rather slow course) and Kenyans James Rotich (PB: 2:07:12h) and Benjamin Kiptoo (last years Rome marathon winner)
In the womens race a duel between defending champion Atsede Baysa of Ethiopia and last years 3rd-place Frenchwomen Christelle Daunay (French record of 2:25:43 in last years race) is expected.

The marathon in Amsterdam will be started at 11.00 AM. Unforgotten is the 2009 finish with James Kwambai and Duncan Kibet both crossing the line in 2:04:27h. Kwambai also leads the entries of the 2010 edition of the marathon and wants to win this year. However, also last years Paris marathon winner Vincent Kipruto might be able to run under 2:05h on this super-fast course. Patrick Makau is another hot favorite. With his halfmarathon time of 58:52min he is the third-fastest man ever. Overall, eleven men have PBs of sub-2:09h in this race.
The womens race is not as open as the mens race it seems. Chinese Zhu Xiaolin (5th in the Beijing Olympics) might only be challenged by Kenyans Anne Kosgei and Irene Jerotich.