It was an enormous surprise when Kenya&rsquo;s Edwin Kibet Kiptoo won the Blom Bank Beirut Marathon a year ago but his victory in this IAAF Silver Label Road Race blew his anonymity completely out of the water.
The 29-year-old will now bear the pressure of being the defending champion when he returns to the Lebanese capital on 12 November for the 15th edition of this race.
&ldquo;I remember something big,&rdquo; he says of his initial trip to Beirut. &ldquo;I didn&rsquo;t expect to win the race, so, when I think back to Beirut, I just remember a big victory in my running career.
&ldquo;It was a highlight in my running career, a day that I won&rsquo;t forget in my life. I believe that when you train hard and are disciplined in all that you are doing in your daily life, you will get victories. I believe that being the boss over your own life will make you reach far.&rdquo;
After a third place finish at the 2016 Brighton Marathon, a race in which he set his personal best time of 2:11:29, he turned his attention to a an autumn marathon accepting an invitation to race Beirut. But the unseasonably warm day, 25 C with no cloud cover, coupled with a difficult course meant his winning time was &lsquo;only&rsquo; 2:13:19.&nbsp;
Recent changes to the course, including the removal of a lengthy and stamina testing 14% climb along the Mediterranean coast, will certainly help this year&rsquo;s field challenge the event record of 2:11:04 set by Jackson Limo in 2015. Certainly Kiptoo believes he is up to the task.
He reveals his training has been going extremely well and he can certainly point to some fine results which have boosted his confidence. He won the Luxembourg Night Marathon on 27 May and then finished second in the Hamburg Half Marathon. More recently he came close to beating his personal best half marathon time of 1:00:11.
&ldquo;My training this year had been going very well. On October 1st I won the Breda half marathon in 60:42,&rdquo; he declares. &ldquo;I feel the body is still strong and I was fresh when I finished the race. I am now counting down the weeks and doing my last part of the training towards Beirut. I am happy to defend my title.
&ldquo;My goal is to improve my time and also to retain my position of last year. Though I have pressure as defending champion, I know I can make it.&rdquo;
Represented by the Dutch agency, Volare Sports, he trains in Iten, Kenya with a talented group of marathoners known as Mwisho wa Lami. The group includes Wilson Kipsang the former world record holder (2:02:23 best) and John Komen. The latter has a personal best of 2:07:13, a time that Kiptoo would certainly like to beat one day.
The Beirut Marathon now in its 15th year was founded by May El Khalil who remains Chairperson of the organisation.
El Khalil was hit by a truck while out running 20 years ago and while enduring a lengthy hospital stay she conceived the idea of having an elite world class marathon in the Lebanese capital. World marathon record holders Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia), Paula Radcliffe (Great Britain) as well as IAAF President Sebastian Coe have attended the marathon over the past three years, an indication that interest in the event is growing at a phenomenal rate.
If Kiptoo were to win this year he would be the first man to repeat as Beirut Marathon champion since Ethiopia&rsquo;s Mohammed Temam in 2010. Clearly, the $15,000 USD first place prize money would come in handy to a man nearing the end of his career. He has reasons to invest money earned through his racing.
&ldquo;I am married and blessed with one son. His name is Kiplimo,&rdquo; Kiptoo explains. &ldquo;We live in Iten. I like staying with my family and spend time with them. I don&rsquo;t travel mostly, unless I have a mission, like going to races.&rdquo;
As the Beirut Marathon fast approaches the excitement builds. There is a new and faster course for the athletes to tackle but will there be a new men&rsquo;s champion or can Edwin Kiptoo repeat? It will surely take an incredible performance to deny him.
Paul Gains (organisers) for the IAAF

It was an enormous surprise when Kenya’s Edwin Kibet Kiptoo won the Blom Bank Beirut Marathon a year ago but his victory in this IAAF Silver Label race blew his anonymity completely out of the water.

Kiptoo to defend Beirut title

Oppressive heat and humidity conspired against athletes at the Blom Bank Beirut Marathon on Sunday (13), denying them any chance of fast times at the IAAF Silver Label Road Race.
Indeed, even before IAAF President Sebastian Coe had fired the starter&rsquo;s pistol at 7:00am, the temperature had reached 21C and climbed quickly in the absence of any cloud cover, reaching 25C at the finish.
Kenya&rsquo;s Edwin Kibet Kiptoo proved strongest on the day, crossing the finish line at Martyr&rsquo;s Square in a time of 2:13:19 with Abebe Gizachew of Ethiopia coming in second (2:14:06).
The defending champion from Kenya, Jackson Limo, finished third in 2:15:02 to round out the podium places.
&ldquo;Today was very hot and very humid,&rdquo; said the 28-year-old winner. &ldquo;It was a good race and I was comfortable in winning. My target was 2:09 but today you cannot run for time. The humidity, it was very hot. From 31 to 32km I looked back and there were no people behind. I was able to increase my lead to the finish.&rdquo;
Two pacemakers had been charged with the responsibility of towing the field through an opening half of 1:04:30, but with the pacemakers exercising a great degree of caution, they reached halfway almost four minutes slower than expected. Not surprisingly there were nine athletes in contention at that point. Kiptoo ran the second half much faster and that proved the undoing of his rivals.
&ldquo;The pace was a little slow today because of the heat,&rdquo; said a disappointed Limo afterwards. &ldquo;We tried to push but the time didn't come. I saw when we were halfway that the pace was too slow. I knew we weren't going to run a good time.
&ldquo;I was expecting to defend my title but unfortunately I didn&rsquo;t. But I am very happy with the results. At about 32km Kiptoo pushed and I tried to go with him but I had a small stitch in my stomach. I tried to close the gap to get on the podium.&rdquo;
The women&rsquo;s race became a solo effort shortly after the half way point as 23-year-old Tigist Girma of Ethiopia followed closely on the heels of a designated pacemaker, dropping the entire field.
The pacemaker had been expected to take Girma right to the finish but he experienced cramps and, for a short time, followed the young Ethiopian until he could run no farther.
Girma finished in 2:32:48 to claim her first ever marathon victory &ndash; she was seventh in Lanzhou in June and second at this year&rsquo;s Marrakech Marathon. Despite the heat and the fact this was her third marathon of 2016, her time was a personal best.
&ldquo;I am very, very happy that I won this marathon; the Beirut marathon is good for me,&rdquo; she said with a smile. &ldquo;The pacemaker ran well until his legs hurt and he dropped back.
&ldquo;I trained very hard in preparation for this race. My coach is Haji Adilo and I train with his group with runners like Mare Dibaba, Amane Gobena and Tirunesh Dibaba. I am very, very happy.&rdquo;
A broad grin creased her face when she was asked if she had expected to win in Beirut. Both she and Kiptoo will receive US$10,000 for their respective victories.
A crowd of Ethiopians, resplendent in their national colours and waving the country&rsquo;s flag, were conspicuous at the finish. They had further reason to celebrate. Their compatriots Seada Kedir, who won in Beirut in both 2011 and 2012, and Alemenesh Guta rounded out the top three. Kedir finished in 2:34:12 with Guta crossing the line in 2:37:23.
More than 43,000 runners of all ages took to the streets for a variety of events from a 1km children&rsquo;s run to the full marathon. IAAF President Sebastian Coe boldly took part in the 7km fun run along with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
Paul Gains (organisers) for the IAAF

Oppressive heat and humidity conspired against athletes at the Blom Bank Beirut Marathon on Sunday (13), denying them any chance of fast times at the IAAF Silver Label Road Race.

Girma and Kiptoo victorious at Beirut Marathon

With seven men having run faster than 61 minutes and a strong women&rsquo;s field, the course records at the Mattoni Karlovy Vary Half Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, could be under threat on Saturday (23).The current men&rsquo;s course record of 1:01:21 was set 12 months ago by Ethiopia&rsquo;s Teshome Mekonen. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s expected that (this year) the men&rsquo;s category will be dominated by Kenyan runners. The two biggest favourites are Nicholas Kipkemboi and Edwin Kibet Kiptoo,&rdquo; said elite athlete coordinator Jana Moberly. Kipkemboi is familiar with Czech races, and ran his best time of 1:00:11 when finishing fourth at last year&rsquo;s Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon. But Kibet Kiptoo (not to be confused with the Edwin Kiprop Kiptoo who is also a good half-marathon runner) will be racing in the country for the first time. The latter has been running in great form this year and his personal best of 1:00:10 is almost exactly the same as his compatriot and hails from the RAK Half Marathon in February.&ldquo;The elite start pack is of a high calibre, and on top of this, for the first time ever the race will be streamed live on Seznam.cz,&rdquo; added president of the organising committee, Carlo Capalbo.<h3>Ethiopian women expected to triumph</h3>Breaking the stream of African winners in European road races, the top spot on the podium in last year&rsquo;s race went to the French runner Christelle Daunay, who ran a course record of 1:09:17 and then proceeded to win the European marathon title later in the summer.This year, though, the main favourites are the Ethiopian pair of Tsehay Desalegn, who has a half marathon personal best of 1:09:04 and who finished ninth at last year&rsquo;s IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, and Mulu Seboka.Seboka&rsquo;s half marathon best stands at a relatively modest 1:13:20 but she has won big city marathons in Dubai, Daegu and Toronto, all faster than 2:26:00. Just a few months ago, the 31-year-old lowered her marathon best to 2:21:56 when finishing sixth in Dubai.A number of good European runners will also be taking part, including Ukrainian pair Olha Kotovska and Olena Burkovska and Belarusian talent Volha Mazuronok.Ireland&rsquo;s two-time European cross-country champion Fionnuala Britton will also be on the start line. She will be racing this distance for the first time although she took part in last year&rsquo;s European Championships marathon.Queen among the Czech women runners in Karlovy Vary for the past two years has been 2012 Olympic marathon competitor Ivana Sekyrova and she will be competing against regular rival Petra Kaminkova to be the leading domestic competitor.Organisers for the IAAF

With seven men having run faster than 61 minutes and five women quicker than 71 minutes, the course records at the Mattoni Karlovy Vary Half Marathon, an IAAF Silver Label Road Race, could be under threat on Saturday (23).

Kiptoo to defend Beirut title

Girma and Kiptoo victorious at Beirut Marathon

Course records under threat at Karlovy Vary Half Marathon