Reuben Kipyego and Vivian Kiplagat face stern tests in their defence of the Abu Dhabi marathon Friday.
When the Abu Dhabi Marathon last went ahead in 2019, Kipyego was initially enlisted as a pacemaker but he went on to triumph in 2:04:40, a PB at the time.
He went on to reduce that to 2:04:12 in Valencia a year later and then 2:03:55 in Milan earlier this year, where he finished second.
Titus Ekiru was the winner on that occasion, clocking a world-leading 2:02:57 to move to equal fifth on the world all-time list.
Ekiru, who hasn’t raced since his Milan victory, will renew his rivalry with Kipyego, who last month placed eighth at the Chicago Marathon in 2:14:24.
Besides having the fastest PB in the field, Ekiru is also a formidable competitor, having won five of the six marathons he has completed to date.
Barnabas Kiptum, who finished third behind Ekiru and Kipyego in Milan, will also be in Abu Dhabi. He clocked a PB of 2:04:17 in the Italian city six months ago and will also arrive in the UAE capital on fresh legs.
Although he doesn’t have as many career marathon victories as Ekiru, Kiptum is extremely consistent and has finished in the top five in all of his last 14 marathons.
Two-time world champion Abel Kirui can never be discounted. More than 12 years have passed since his first World Championships victory, but the 39-year-old Kenyan came within one second of his PB last year, clocking 2:05:05 in Valencia.
In the women's category, Vivian Kiplagat’s 2:21:11 clocking from her 2019 Abu Dhabi victory still stands as her PB.
The 30-year-old Kenyan was on course to break that at last month’s Chicago Marathon, passing through the halfway point in second place in a swift 1:08:50, but faded in the closing stages and eventually finished fifth in 2:29:14.
Having had almost seven weeks to recover, Kiplagat – who set a half marathon PB of 1:06:07 in September – will aim to retain her Abu Dhabi title and improve on the course record she set two years ago.
Others to watch out for include 2011 world bronze medallist and 2012 Boston Marathon champion Sharon Cherop, 2014 Houston and Rotterdam winner Abebech Afework, 2014 Amsterdam champion Betelhem Moges and 2009 world 10,000m bronze medallist Wude Ayalew Yimer, the runner-up in Abu Dhabi two years ago.
