Kenya’s Bernard Rotich is the leading contender for the Hengshui Lake International Marathon, China slated for tomorrow.
Kiprotich is the fastest man on paper and the only sub-2:10 entrant. Still a relative newcomer to the marathon, the 25-year-old clocked a career best of 2:09:47 to win the Brescia Marathon in March. It will be his first time running on the round-way course that stretches around the Hengshui Lake in China’s Hebei Province.
Kenya’s Michael Njenga, 30, also had a marathon victory to his name in 2017 as he registered a convincing 2:10:43 win in Padua five months ago. The field also includes Kenya’s Alfonce Kibiwot, who clocked a PB of 2:10:24 to finish
Other athletes to look out for include Bonsa Dida of Ethiopia also arrives in Hengshui in high spirits. He has improved his PB twice this year, finishing third at the Mumbai Marathon in January and setting a winning mark of 2:10:16 to claim the Madrid Marathon title in April. The 22-year-old, who finished 10th at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships Kampala 2017, will be looking to continue his sound form in Hengshui and perhaps even challenge the course record of 2:07:38 set by compatriot Markos Geneti in 2014.
In the women’s category, Kenya’s Peninah Arusei leads the cast With a PB of 2:27:17 from 2011,The 38-year-old has a better record at the half marathon, having earned a bronze medal at the 2010 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships and finished fifth in the same competition two years earlier.
Arusei’s best marathon performance in recent three years was a second-place finish in Warsaw last year with a 2:29:21 clocking. She competed in the Yellow River Estuary International Marathon in Dongying this year and finished fifth in 2:33:10.
Nancy Jebet, meanwhile, has improved her PB to 2:29:30 in 2017, finishing fourth in Daegu. Compatriot Betty Wilson Lempus also proved her competitiveness in April when she took a comfortable victory in Enschede in 2:29:31.