Previews07 Apr 2017


Shumi and Gelaw eyeing Ethiopian sweep at Pyongyang Marathon

FacebookTwitterEmail

Road runners in action (© Getty Images)

Teshome Shumi and Tsega Gelaw will be gunning for a double victory for Ethiopia at the 28th Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race, in Pyongyang, People's Republic of Korea, on Sunday (9).

Shumi will arrive in Pyongyang on the heels of his 2:11:57 victory at November's Florence Marathon, a personal best.

He'll be backed up by compatriots Beyene Soboka and Alebachew Wale. The 30-year-old Soboka has a 2:12:52 lifetime best set in 2015 when he finished second at the Riga Marathon. Wale meanwhile, a member of the Ethiopian squad at the 2012 World Half Marathon Championships in Kavarna, Bulgaria, has a 2:10:06 career best set in Enschede earlier that year.

That trio will be challenged by Kenyan Lazarus Kiptoo, whose 2:10:57 best was set at the Rennes Marathon in 2014.

Rwandans Theoneste Kayiranga and Jean Baptiste Ruvubi, with 2:15:05 and 2:15:53 bests, respectively, are also in the field.

Also expected in the mix is Morocco's Youssef Sbaai, the winner in Turin last year in 2:13:43.

A trio of Ethiopian runners lead the women's field.

The fastest on paper in 26-year-old Tsega Gelaw with a lifetime best of 2:28:38 from the 2011 Istanbul Marathon. More recently she was fifth at the 2015 Marrakech Marathon where she clocked 2:33:58.

She'll be backed up by compatriots Yenealem Ayano and Ayantu Dakebo.

Ayano, 31, has a lifetime best of 2:34:10, set at the Barcelona Marathon in 2010 where she finished fourth. The 30-year-old Dakebo has a 2:33:59 run to her credit from her victory at the 2014 Reims Marathon.

They'll likely be challenged by Mercy Jelimo Too of Kenya, who has a 2:34:52 lifetime best set at the 2015 Seville Marathon. More recently the two-time Taipei Marathon winner finished second at the Jerusalem Marathon in late March.

The men's race record of 2:10:50 was set by local runner Jung-Won Kim in 1996. The women's record, set by Yong-Ok Jong, also from the DPRK, stands at 2:26:02, set in 2007.

This year the course reverts to its out and back format from recent years, starting and ending before a crowd of more than 50,000 spectators expected to turn out at the Kim Il Sung stadium in the center of Pyongyang. In between, it passes some of the city's iconic features, including Kim Il Sung Square, the Arch of Triumph and the Grand Theatre.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF

Loading...