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Sunday's Messe Frankfurt Marathon will be the 25th anniversary for the race which boasted 8,299 finishers last year and four men under the 2:09 barrier.
One of those men was Wilfred Kigen, a Kenyan, who set a 2:08:29 personal best to beat compatriot Jason Mbote by just one second. He returns to Frankfurt again on Sunday, and will face Boaz Kimaiyo, a younger brother of the great Erick Kimaiyo (2:07:43 PB). Kigen, 31, trains in the Ngong Hills near Nairobi while Kimaiyo, 30, trains at the Kapsait camp jointly founded by his brother and Dr. Gabriele Rosa, the respected Italian coach.
Kimaiyo had ruled the roost at Frankfurt, winning both the 2003 and 2004 editions of the race, but did not finish the race last year.
Kigen, who, according to the race organizers has been training with former steeplechase world record holder Wilson Boit Kipketer who plans to make a marathon debut next year, is the favorite for victory this year, and is looking to run another fast time off of a 64 minute first half.
"If we have good weather and even pacing, I hope to be close to last year’s time," he told the race organizers yesterday.
Peter Chebet should give Kigen a run for his money on Sunday. He has a 2:08:43 personal best (Chicago, 2003), and was in good form last May when he finished second at the Vienna City Marathon in 2:08:56.
German athletes are not expected to contend for either the men's or women's titles. The last German champion at Frankfurt was 2002 European Championships silver medalist Luminita Zaitic, but she is not entered in this year's race. Race organizers are looking towards Russian Gulnara Vygovskaya to do something special, despite her modest showing at the Zürich Marathon last April where she ran 2:48:52. That's because in the recent IAAF World Road Running Championships Vygovskaya ran 66:30 for 20 km, equivalent to a 2:27:50 marathon.
Vygovskaya will be facing a trio of Africans, led by Ethiopians Robe Tola and Kutre Dulecha. Tola won the Conenergy Hamburg Marathon last April in a course record 2:24:35, while former 1500m specialist Dulecha is coming off of a 2:37:08 12th place finish at Boston last April. Dulecha also won the 2005 Amsterdam Marathon in 2:30:06, her personal best time. Tanzanian Banuelia Brighton Katesigwa, the former Banuelia Mrashani, is also expected to take part. She won last April's Maratón Popular de Madrid in 2:34:54, and has a career best time of 2:24:59, the Tanzanian record, which she set when she won the Tokyo International Ladies Marathon in 2002.
According to the website, weather.com, the weather in Frankfurt may be a little challenging for marathon running on Sunday. For the 11:00 a.m. start, the forecast calls for light rain and a temperature of 12°C (53°F), accompanied by high humidity and steady winds from the WNW at 21 km/h (13 MPH).
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