Wesley Korir will be hoping to resume his racing career with a win at the 16th edition of the BLOM Bank Beirut Marathon tomorrow.
The 35-year-old Kenyan, a winner of the Boston Marathon in 2012, has not raced in 19 months but is optimistic of a strong showing in this weekend’s race in the Lebanese capital.
“Everything is going well,” said Korir. “Getting a win in Beirut will give me a boost as I get back to the top level.”
A member of Kenyan Parliament since 2013, Korir took time out from his political career earlier this year ahead of the birth of his fourth child, re-committing himself to a return to top-level racing.
To succeed in Beirut he will have to be near his best, with Ethiopia’s Bazu Worku, who has a best of 2:05:25 and was a winner at the Houston Marathon this year, also in the field.
Kenyans Ezekial Omullo and Andrew Ben Kimutai, who have both run below 2:09, are also sure to feature. There will also be a duo of exciting prospects in Uganda’s Felix Chemonges and Morocco’s Mohamed Ahmami, who bring impressive pedigree at the shorter distances.
An interesting debutant at the distance is Kenya’s Kalipus Lomwai, who was a pacemaker at the race last year but carries a classy half marathon best of 1:01:22. Others of note include Bahrain’s Benson Seurei and Ethiopians Gemechu Edeo and Hiribo Shano.
The women’s race is set to be a wide-open contest with an international field spanning seven different nationalities. Though Kenya and Ethiopia are well represented it will come as no surprise if the title goes to one of their East African rivals, with Eritrea’s Nazret Weldu set to make her debut at the distance.
Earlier this year she finished 26th in the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia in 1:11:45 and if she carries that form to the full marathon she will be a force to be reckoned with. Kenyans Ednah Mukwana and Rebecca Korir are also sure to feature.
Mukwana has a best of 2:30:24 which she ran to take victory at the Zhengzhou Marathon earlier this year, while Korir has a best of 2:29:16, which she ran to finish third at the Rotterdam Marathon in 2016.
Meanwhile, Kenyans Stephen Chemlany and Dominic Ruto will line up for the Hefei International Marathon tomorrow with the hopes of breaking the 2:08:54 course record.
Chemlany is the fastest entrant on paper with a career best of 2:06:24 from the 2014 Seoul Marathon where he finished second. It will be his second race this year following his third place finish at the Prague Marathon six month ago where he clocked 2:09:42.
The 28-year-old Ruto has also run a solid race in the current season, clocking 2:09:49 to finish third in Hengshui, 41 seconds shy of his personal best achieved in Rome last April.