• Koech is the fastest in the men's elite field with a personal best time of 59:32.
•His win in 2019 saw him ranked as the fourth fastest man over 21km.
Image: HANDOUT
2019 Birell Prague 10k champion Geoffrey Koech and Viola Chepngeno have confirmed participation at the Wizz Air Cardiff Half Marathon on October 2.
Koech is the fastest in the men's elite field with a personal best time of 59:32. His win in 2019 saw him ranked as the fourth fastest man over 21km.
Koech will be in the company of namesake Geoffrey Yegon who has a PB time of 59:44 and Kelvin Kibiwott whose PB time stands at 1:01:58. The field has attracted some of the top athletes from the world including the Ethiopian quartet of Abeje Ayana, Hailemaryam Kiros, Chimdesa Gudeta and debutant Workineh Tadesse.
Ayana is the second fastest in the field with a PB of 59:39 while Kiros and Gudeta have pBs of 1:00:01 and 1:00:15 respectively.
Kiros was placed 11th at the 2020 World Half Marathon Championships in Gdynia while Gudeta is the African Championships 10,000m silver medallist.
Japan's Ken Nakayama also starts a pre-race favourite if his 1:00:38 PB is anything to go by. Uganda's Mathew Chekwurui will also be in the race as a debutant having dominated the 10,000m.
Great Britain's Dewi Griffiths is also a man to watch, having placed 11th in the marathon at this year's Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. He also placed fourth at the 2017 Cardiff Half Marathon.
Canada's Ben Preisner will also be in the race with a personal best time of 1:03:08.
In the women's field, Chepngeno is the fastest with a PB time of 1:06:48. She will be in the company of compatriots Beatrice Cheserek (1:07:38), Cynthia Nolari (1:08:04) and Susy Chemaimak (1:12:10).
The Ethiopian duo of Zewditu Aderaw and Birhan Mhretu will also be in the race. Aderaw has a PB of 1:08:03 which makes her the third fastest in the field while Mhretu is seeking to better her fifth place at the 2019 edition. She has a PB of 1:09:25.
Others enlisted are Great Britain's Natasha Cockram (PB 1:10:47) and Compatriots Naomi Mitchell (1:13:10) and Anna Bracegirdle (1:14:53). Cockram finished 12th in the marathon at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.