Paris Marathon preview

[Ryan]

Starting at 8.45am (CET) on the Champs-Elysée, the 32th edition of the Marathon de Paris – an IAAF Gold Label Road Race - will be held on Sunday 6 April. The contest for the wins is open, although Tsegaye Kebaye (ETH) and Linah Cheruyot (KEN) showed during the past months that their shape was picking up.

The men’s race record, 2:06:33 by Kenyan Mike Rotich, could fall as the field includes fast elite marathoners, although none seem to be clear favourite. The fastest is Asian Record Holder (2:06:16) Toshinari Takaoka, but the Japanese set this mark six years ago. A track specialist (still the national record holder at 3000m and 10,000m), Takaoka has been consistently under 2:10 since his Marathon debut in 2001 until he chose to focus on road races following 2006. Fourth in the 2005 World Championships, Paris could see a new start in his career after a deceiving 2007 season.

Looking back to the prize winners of the past decade, Africa lost only twice and will be represented by a large Kenyan team. James Rotich set his personal best (2:07:12) last year in Amsterdam. Although a fast performer, Rotich has not won a race since his successful debut in 2004. On the other hand, Philip Manyim, 30, displays more experience as he won in Berlin 2005 with 2:07:41 and in Valencia with 2:11:29 only seven weeks ago. Joseph Ngolepus, a pure road specialist with a five-year-old mark of 2:07:57, and Barus Benson, former World Junior Champion at 10,000m, who can take advantage of a very open race.

IAAF article