byJustin LagatThe Nike Prefontaine Classic will be the focus of many track fans this weekend, along with state high school meets and the Regional NCAA meetings.
For Justin Lagat, the Pre Classic is one fantastic middle distance race after another. Viewing the meet from Kenya, Justin provides for RunBlogRun readers a view from Kenya of the Pre Classic.
Well, we will only have to wait 24 hours to see how the meet pans out!
Conseslus Kipruto, Soufiane El Bakkali, Evan Jager, photo by PhotoRun.net
Amazing lineups in the Pre Classic diamond league distance events this weekend
Two days of exciting track and field actions begin tomorrow in Eugene, Oregon. Two events of greatest interest that will happen on Friday the 25th will be the men’s 800m and the 2 mile races. On Saturday, the 26th, there will be the women’s 800m, 1500m and 5,000m. There will also be the men’s 3,000m steeplechase and the Bowerman mile.
Wycliffe Kinyamal will finally get to meet Emmanuel Korir. Both have each won a diamond league race this season and it should be interesting to see who between them will maintain the winning streak when they meet in the men’s 800m. Korir won the Doha diamond league race while Kinyamal won the Shanghai race.
The men’s 2 mile race brings together the world’s top 5000m runners. With the absence of Joshua Cheptegei, who relegated Mohammed Ahmed to the silver medal position in both the men’s 10,000m and 5,000m races at the Gold Coast Games, could this be Ahmed’s chance to finally win a high profile race? However, it won’t be an easy task for anyone here since the field is very loaded with the presence of Selemon Barega, Edward Cheserek, Muktar Edris, Paul Chelimo and Paul Tanui, among others.
Genzebe Dibaba, Hellen Obiri, Magaret Chelimo, Lilian Kasait and Alica Aprot are some of the women who will light up the 5000m race. Dibaba has an amazing personal best time of 14:15.41, but Obiri is the reigning world champion and a strong fighter. The two should make an interesting race to watch.
After winning the 3000m steeplechase race at the Shanghai diamond league, Beatrice Chepkoech will be back again in her new distance; the 1500m race at the Prefontaine Classic event. She will be facing three other women with personal best times under 4 minutes in the distance: Laura Muir with 3:55.22, Jenny Simpson with 3:57.22, Dawit Seyaum with 3:58.09, and Winny Chebet with 3:59.16.
The combination of Soufiane El Bakkali, Conseslus Kipruto and Evan Jager in the men’s 3000m steeplechase race will make this arguably the most competitive event in the meeting. With the home ground support, will Jager manage to beat such a strong competition to win here? Will Kipruto let down the Kenyan fans by allowing another nationality to win the nation’s special event?
The best is always saved for the last and the men’s Bowerman mile will be the last event of the meeting. Elijah Manangoi is seen by many as the pre-race favorite. The home crowd will be rooting for Mathew Centrowitz and there will be other strong contenders here too that will include Timothy Cheruiyot and Tefera Samuel.
