These three outstanding
athletes face tough opposition and success will be far from guaranteed.
In the men’s field another nine runners have personal bests of under 62
minutes. Alongside Mary Keitany will be half a dozen women who have
broken 70 minutes. This array of talent makes the Mattoni Olomouc Half
Marathon one of the top road races anywhere in the world this summer and
delivers further proof why it is an IAAF Gold Label event. „You don’t
often see these three superstars compete in one race. This happens in
London or New York, but now we have them in Olomouc – I am super
excited,” said Carlo Capalbo, the President of the organising team. Live
stream of the race can be seen on Saturday from 1855 CET on www.runczech.com.
The
Olympic and World Marathon champion Stephen Kiprotich will be running
his first half marathon of the year and only his second competition in
2015. The 26-year-old showed strong form in the Tokyo Marathon in
February, finishing second and improving his own Ugandan national record
by 47 seconds to 2:06:33.
The Half Marathon in Olomouc will be an important test of his form as
he builds towards the defence of his title at the World Championships in
Beijing in August. At present his best for the half marathon is 61:15.
„I have been preparing for Beijing, that is why I did not race in the
past few months,” said Kiprotich.
This will be the first time
that Stephen Kiprotich and Wilson Kipsang have run against each other in
a half marathon. So far they have raced each other five times and
Kiprotich has come out on top only once – but that was in the Olympic
Marathon in London in 2012 when he overtook the longtime leader Kipsang
to achieve a surprise victory with Kipsang finishing third. In their
subsequent marathon encounters in London (2013 and 2014) and New York
(2014), Kiprotich has been the loser.
Wilson Kipsang is usually
the stronger over the half marathon compared to Stephen Kiprotich, who
has been more of a marathon specialist. The Kenyan’s best for the half
marathon is 58:59, a truly world class time which makes him the fastest
runner in the field for Olomouc. But you never know – Kipsang was the
clear favourite a year ago yet was beaten by one of his training
partners, Geoffrey Ronoh (Kenya), who emerged a surprise winner with a
course record of 60:17. This year Ronoh has had to withdraw because of
injury but there is another Kenyan in the field who has broken the hour
by a big margin: Jonathan Maiyo has a best of 59:02, only three seconds
slower than Wilson Kipsang.
“I really enjoyed last year’s race
in Olomouc. So I was happy to come back,” said 33 year-old Wilson
Kipsang and added: “This time I am back to win and I am ready. The race on Saturday will also be a test for the World Championships’ marathon in August in Beijing. After Olomouc I will focus on this race.”
Mary
Keitany is the outstanding athlete in the women’s field. The second
fastest ever at the half marathon with a best of 65:50 which was the
world record until a little over a year ago, has shown the kind of
recent form which suggests an impressive performance: the 33-year-old
Kenyan ran 31:15 for the New York 10k in warm conditions and she has
already produced world class form in the half marathon with 66:02 to win
in Ras Al Khaimah (United Arab Emirates) in February. Given favourable
weather conditions, Mary Keitany could break the course record of 68:53,
set by the double World Champion Edna Kiplagat of Kenya last year. “I
am ready and hope for a good race,” said Mary Keitany, who did not want
to project any times.
The race will be far from a time trial for
Mary Keitany. Her strongest rivals are likely to be fellow Kenyans:
Helah Kiprop arrives in Olomouc with a best time of 67:39 and Rose
Chelimo is unbeaten this year. The 26-year-old recently achieved her
fourth half marathon win of the year, taking the title at the Mattoni
Ceske Budejovice event which also forms part of the RunCzech Running
League. In conditions of torrid heat she won by a big margin in 72:01.
Chelimo won the prestigious Lisbon title in March, setting a personal
best of 68:22 and will be another of Mary Keitany’s challengers.
Main contenders with personal bests
Men:
Wilson Kipsang KEN 58:59
Jonathan Maiyo KEN 59:02
Nicholas Bor KEN 60:09
Felix Kandie KEN 60:42
Atalay Yirsaw ETH 60:59
Cosmas Birech KEN 61:05
Gladwin Mzazi RSA 61:12
Stephen Kiprotich KEN 61:15
Polat Kemboi Arikan TUR 61:22
Josphat Kiptis KEN 61:23
Kenta Matsumuto JPN 61:55
Women:
Mary Keitany KEN 65:50
Helah Kiprop KEN 67:39
Rose Chelimo KEN 68:22
Atsedu Habtamu ETH 68:29
Mulu Seboka ETH 69:11
Angela Tanui KEN 69:14
Viola Jelagat KEN 69:27
Alyson Dixon GBR 70:38
Eunice Chumba BRN 70:46
Yuka Takemoto JPN 71:11
Lucy Karimi KEN 71:23
Further information about the Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon can be found online: www.runczech.com
Photo credit: Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon