by Larry Eder
Deep quality fields assembled for BMWFrankfurt Marathon
When it comes to the depth of the elite fields the BMW Frankfurt Marathon isGermany‘s number one road race. Once again there are amazingly deep quality fields for the event on 27th October. Organisers confirmed that 21 men are on the start list who have run under 2:10 and five of them even have personal bests inside 2:05:30. The women’s field will see ten athletes who have run faster than 2:30 with eight of them featuring PBs of sub 2:25.
The BMW Frankfurt Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race. Around 15,000 runners are expected to compete in the 32nd edition of Germany‘s oldest city marathon. Race entry is still available online at: www.bmw-frankfurt-marathon.com
“Despite the World Championships this summer we were able to put together a very good field,” said Race Director Jo Schindler. The extraordinary quality of the fields arouses strong expectations. A fast race is likely if weather conditions are better than last year, when temperatures were just above freezing in the morning. It will still be a tough task to break the course record, which stands at 2:03:42, requiring more or less world record pace to be put under pressure. The fastest runners in the field were announced earlier in the month: Dino Sefir (2:04:50), Feyisa Lilesa (both Ethiopia/2:04:52), Vincent Kiprutu (2:05:13), Levy Matebo Omari (2:05:16) and Albert Matebor (all Kenya/2:05:25) are those with PBs of sub 2:05:30. Eric Ndiema (2:06:07) is also regarded as one of the big favourites, but Moses Masai (both Kenya/2:11:00) could produce a surprise.
The women’s field sees two major additions, apart from those already announced. Tirfi Tsegaye (Ethiopia) returns to Germany a year after her second place in the Berlin Marathon with a PB of 2:21:19. In the meantime she has won the Dubai Marathon and placed fifth in Boston. As last year there is a promising debutant from Ethiopia: Gelete Burka will run her first marathon in Frankfurt on 27th O
ctober. The 27 year-old has won major medals in the 1,500 m and cross country. She’s also demonstrated her all round talent on the roads in the past two years, running a world class 30:53 at 10 k in Madrid‘s New Year’s Eve race in 2012. Burka has not run further than 15 k in competition but this might not turn out to be a disadvantage since the same applied to another Ethiopian, Meselech Melkamu, 12 months ago. The Ethiopian made a great debut, winnng the BMWFrankfurt Marathon 2012 with a course record of 2:21:01. Melkamu will return to Frankfurt and has no need to be reminded of Burka’s achievements. This potent mix could set up an attack on the course record and possible sub 2:20 performances for the leading women inFrankfurt.
Elite Fields for the BMW Frankfurt Marthon
Men:
Dino Sefir ETH 2:04:50
Feyisa Lilesa ETH 2:04:52
Vincent Kipruto KEN 2:05:13
Levy Matebo Omari KEN 2:05:16
Albert Matebor KEN 2:05:25
Eric Ndiema KEN 2:06:07
Gilbert Kirwa KEN 2:06:14
Feyisa Bekele ETH 2:06:26
Benjamin Maiyo KEN 2:07:09
Dmytri Baranovskiy UKR 2:07:15
Assefa Girma ETH 2:07:43
Tadesse Abraham SUI 2:07:45
Elijah Kemboi KEN 2:07:51
Gidena Mirach Gebremedhin ETH 2:08:28
Dereje Raya Tadesse ETH 2:08:46
Robert Kwambai KEN 2:09:14
Urige Arado Buta NOR 2:09:27
Jacob Chesari KEN 2:09:43
Meftah Abdellatif FRA 2:09:46
Lema Feiysa ETH 2:09:47
Jonathan Kiptoo KEN 2:09:57
Johnstone Maiyo KEN 2:10:03
Günther Weidlinger AUT 2:10:47
Moses Masai KEN 2:11:00
Edwin Kipyego KEN Debut
Richard Sigei KEN Debut
Abraham Chebii KEN Debut
Women:
Meselech Melkamu ETH 2:21:01
Tirfi Tsegaye ETH 2:21:19
Eunice Jepkirui KEN 2:21:41
Mamitu Daska ETH 2:21:59
Caroline Kilel KEN 2:22:36
Birhane Dibaba ETH 2:23:51
Flomena Chepchirchir KEN 2:24:21
Hilda Kibet NED 2:24:27
Yeshi Esayias ETH 2:25:31
Hayley Haining GBR 2:29:18
Anna Hahner GER 2:30:14
Maja Neuenschwander SUI 2:30:50
Lisa Hahner GER 2:31:28
Agnieszka Ciolek-Mierzejewska POL 2:33:
Catherine Bertone ITA 2:34:54
Information and online entry is available at: www.bmw-frankfurt-marathon.com
