• Joel Mwangi and James Mburu are some of the top Kenyan athletes in the event
• Lenah Jerotich is expected to push Lagat in highly competitive race
Kenyan quartet of James Kibet, Joel Maina Mwangi, Paul Tiongik and James Mburugu are the top names at the 12th edition of the Corsa dei Santi in Rome, an IAAF Bronze Label 10-km road race, today.
Kibet clocked his PB of 13:11.87 in the 5000m on the track at Berlin’s ISTAF meeting in 2017 and won the Campaccio IAAF Cross Country Permit race in January 2018. He also holds solid career-best times over different distances including 7:43.13 in the 3000m and 28:23.31 in the 10,000m.
Tiongik won the Italian Cross Country Club Championships in Venaria Reale near Turin last March and finished fourth at the Stramilano Half Marathon in 1:02:07. Last October, he clocked his half marathon PB of 1:01:46 in Zagreb. Mburugu clocked two 1:01 half marathon races this year with 1:01:37 in Jesolo and 1:01:35 in Cremona.
In the women's category, Lvyne Lagat and Lenah Jerotich will spearhead the country's chances of winning. Lagat finished eighth at the Stramilano Half Marathon last March and won the Aosta Half Marathon in 1:12:24.
Competition is expected to come from Clementine Mukandanga of Rwanda. The Rwandese will be bidding to win the race for the second consecutive year. She clocked a PB of 2:30:59 at the Florence Marathon in 2018 and finished sixth at the All-African Games in 2015.