Posted: November 27, 2004

Athletics: Kipkoech, Marconi Headline Sunday's Citroen Milano City Marathon

From David Monti

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

by Bob Ramsak

MILANO, Italy -- Kenyan Raymond Kipkoech and Italy's Gloria Marconi headline their respective fields at Sunday's fifth edition of the Citroen Milano City Marathon.

Koech will be running his fourth marathon of the year, and second in just five weeks. The 26-year-old Kenyan won last month's Venice Marathon, clocking 2:09:54, and has a personal best 2:06:47 from his win in Berlin in 2002. Last spring, Kipkoech finished second at both the Vienna and Paris marathons.

David Makori, fifth in Venice last month, will race here again as well. Benjamin Kipchumba, winner of last month's Standard Chartered Nairobi International Marathon, also returns after just five weeks. 20-year-old Kenyan Solomon Busendich, a bronze medallist in the junior race at the 2003 World Cross Country Championships, makes his marathon debut here. He has a half-marathon personal best of 1:00:42.

Milan may signal the comback of 1996 Olympic marathon champion Josiah Thugwane. The 33-year-old South African hasn't raced at all in 2004, and did not finish his last marathon attempt, the 2003 World Championships in Paris. His personal best 2:07:28 dates back to his win in Fukuoka, Japan in 1997. His last win came on Feb. 22, 2003 at the Swedo Half-Marathon in Pretoria.

Italian hopes on Sunday rest on the shoulders of Gloria Marconi, who won last year's Roma Marathon in 2:29:35 at her debut over the distance. In her last race, the 36-year-old Marconi finished second in the Marseille-Cassis Classic 20.3 kilometer race four weeks ago. In mid-September, Marconi won the Brescia half-Marathon in 1:12:26 just two weeks before finishing 11th at the World Half-Marathon Championships.

23-year-old Rita Jeptoo, winner of half-marathons in Naples and Rio de Janeiro this year, makes her second marathon attempt. In her first, she won June's Stockholm Marathon in 2:35:14, nearly seven minutes ahead of her nearest competitor. Chemokil Chilapong, who beat a less-than-fresh Joyce Chepchumba in her debut at last month's Nairobi race, clocking 2:39:09, races again on Sunday as well.

A field of nearly 5,000 runners will participate Sunday on an altered course that winds past and through dozens of historical landmarks in northern Italy's largest city before finishing in front of its most famous landmark, the Duomo Cathedral. A total prize pot of 75,000 euros will be awarded to the top-ten male finishers and top-eight women. The event records are held by Tanzanian John Nada Saya (2:08:57, 2001) and Kenyan Margaret Okayo (2:24:59, 2002). The race day forecast calls for temperatures in the mid to upper 40s (F), with a chance of showers. The city is also expected to be cloaked in its typical autumn fog.