The second edition of the First Lady’s Half Marathon will be staged Sunday morning with an array of elite athletes taking to the treacherous course.
Two-time world marathon champion Abel Kirui, 2005 World Cross silver medallist Alice Timbilil and 2009 World Cross Country champion Lorna Kiplagat are among the over 15,000 participants set for the race.
Both the 21km and 10km races will start on Uhuru Highway outside Nakumatt and end at the Nyayo National Stadium arena as compared to the inaugural race started and ended at the Uhuru Gardens.
The event will for the first time draw wheelchair and tricycle constants. Kirui, one of the elite runners, has a personal best 1:00:11 from the 2007 Rotterdam Half Marathon.
Kirui, who won the 2007 Paderborn Half Marathon, claimed back-to-back wins in the World Championships Marathon in 2009 and 2011. The 32-year-old has already expressed his desire for the third world marathon title after he failed to defend his crown in Moscow last year due to an injury.
BOSTON MARATHON
Kirui will be using the race to prepare for the Boston Marathon due April 20. “I am ready and focused for the race as I refine for Boston Marathon,” said Kirui, who clocked 61 minutes to finish sixth during the Barcelona Half Marathon last month.
Kirui said a good performance in Boston is key to his selection in Team Kenya for the World Championships planned for September in Beijing, China.
“I just want to reclaim my world title then go for the Olympic crown in 2016 before I consider hanging up my spikes,” said Kirui, who won silver at the 2012 London Olympics.
Timbilil, the 1999 World Youth 10,000m champion, has competed in several half marathon races, winning the 2010 Roma Ostia Half Marathon in 1:10:34. She finished second in 2009 Philadelphia, 2009 Lisbon and Saltillo respectively.
Timbilil, 32, took part in the 2010 BIG 25 road race in Berlin and took second place with 1:24:38, although this was over three and a half minutes slower than Mary Keitany who set a world record.
She took on Keitany at the Portugal Half Marathon and was second best again, although she beat the rest of the field by some twenty seconds.
Winners of the 21km race will pocket Sh750,000, up from Sh500,000. Runners-up will get Sh500,000 each and third-placed Sh250,000.
-nation.co.ke
