Posted: August 31, 2006

Athletics: Jeptoo Out Of Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon

From David Monti

© 2006 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

Reigning BAA Boston Marathon champion and co-leader of the World Marathon Majors series, Rito Jeptoo of Kenya, has been forced to withdraw from the Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon in Virginia Beach on Sunday and will instead run the Hydro Active Women's Challengs 5-K in London. "She did not get the USA Visa because the USA Embassy gave the slot to her on 24th of September," said her manager Gianni Demadonna in an e-mail message to the Race Results Weekly office. Demadonna had explained to RRW earlier this month that the visa appointment process at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi had become much more regimented and that getting an appointment was more difficult than ever. The Rock 'n' Roll Half-Marathon still has Ethiopian Elfenesh Alemu (1:10:03 PB), Japanese twins Yoko Miyauchi (1:10:04) and Hiroko Miyauchi (1:11:21) and Belorussian Olga Kravtsova (debut/14:47.75 5000m PB). The London race, which will have Paula Radcliffe as its official starter, already boasts a strong field led by Australians Benita Johnson and Eloise Wellings, Kenyan Susan Chepkemei, Ethiopian Berhane Adere and New Zealander Kim Smith.

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