Kenya’s Caroline Kilel will seek to score her first half marathon victory in almost two years at the Mattoni Karlovy Vary Half Marathon while the leading men will chase the course record at the IAAF Gold Label Road Race today.
Tucked 120km away from Prague in the Ore Mountains, the race follows a scenic route along the Tepla River to the colonnade and continues passing by many enchanting buildings and promenade halls.
The course can be fast, as was proven last year when both course records were broken. Kenya’s Elijah Tirop Serem won the men’s race in 1:01:01, while Ethiopia’s Mula Seboka took the women’s title in 1:09:11. But those records won’t last long if this year’s field has anything to say about it.
In the women’s race, everyone figures to be chasing the 35-year-old Kilel, the 2011 Boston Marathon champion and two-time winner of the Frankfurt Marathon. Kilel comes into the race in fairly strong shape, having won the Daegu Marathon last month in 2:27:39.
At the half marathon distance, it has been seven years since she clocked her PB of 1:08:16 in Birmingham and two-and-a-half years since her last triumph, in Keringet (1:12:15). But Kilel isn’t likely to be handed victory easily by her opponents.
Joyciline Jepkosgei of Kenya ran 1:09:09 at altitude to finish second at the Nairobi Half Marathon in March. Bekelech Daba of Ethiopia has a best of 1:10:09 and is coming off a solid 2:29:50 run at the Nagoya Marathon in March. And Risa Takenaka of Japan has run 1:10:10 for the half marathon and finished third at the Osaka Women’s Marathon in 2:29:14 in January. On the men’s side, there are three runners within realistic striking distance of Serem’s course record.