Kenya’s John Mwangangi will return to defend his title at the Valencia Trinidad Marathon Alfonso in the eastern Spanish city tomorrow.
Mwangangi clocked a career best and Spanish all-comers’ record of 2:06:13 last year. Since then, the 26-year-old has raced only once, at a 10km road race in San Juan back in February when he clocked 28:00.
He spent several years as a half marathon specialist, setting a PB of 59:45 in Valencia in 2011 and earning bronze at the 2012 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships, before moving up to the marathon in 2013. After recording a 2:09:32 debut in Rotterdam, he has steadily improved each year.
But the defending champion will have to face Matthew Kisorio, who lowered his lifetime best to 2:06:33 when finishing second to Mwangangi last year. The 27-year-old clocked a below-par 2:14:13 at this year’s Donying Marathon, but recently rebounded with a 1:01:41 half marathon effort in Copenhagen.
Solomon Kirwa Yego clocked a world-leading 58:44 in Rome and went on to make his marathon debut in Prague, where he ran 2:08:31 to finish third. More recently, the Kenyan finished sixth at the Valencia Half Marathon held four weeks ago in 1:00:11.
Another in-form athlete is Cosmas Kiplimo Lagat, this year’s Seville Marathon winner in 2:08:14. Lagat, still 21, won in Seville two years ago in 2:08:33 to set one of the fastest ever times by an U20 athlete.
Peter Cheruiyot Kirui is also one to watch. The 28-year-old was sixth in the 10,000m at the 2011 IAAF World Championships and went on to set a marathon PB of 2:06:31 later that year. He has shown fine form this season with two sub-60-minute performances for the half marathon. The men’s field features no fewer than 16 runners who have run faster than 2:10 at least once, headed by Kenya’s Geoffrey Mutai who won the 2012 Berlin Marathon in 2:04:15. Hampered by injuries over the past three years, the 35-year-old is targeting a good performance in his first marathon this season.
Mutai recorded 2:09:29 in Berlin last year while his last appearance came in Trento over 10km when he recorded 29:44 for seventh.
Getu Feleke’s career best of 2:04:50 makes him the second-fastest entrant, but the Ethiopian will need to significantly improve on his season’s best of 2:18:46 to be in the hunt tomorrow. There will be a number of pacemakers, headed by Kenyans Eliud Kiprop Tarus and Geoffrey Yegon. Their target will be to pace the lead group until halfway in 1:02:50, putting them on schedule to break the course record of 2:06:13.