by Justin LagatThe London Marathon will be held this Sunday, on April 28, 2019. The fields on the elite mens and womens are two of the finest ever. The races should very exciting to watch, and digest. Providing us some insight into the race is Justin Lagat, who will be watching the race via TV in Kenya this weekend. We thank Justin for his observations and look forward to the race.
Vivian Cheruiyot and Mary Keitany, photo by London Marathon
The organizers of the London marathon have assembled such incredible fields for this weekend in both the men’s and the women’s races. There is no doubt that it will be such an amazing race to watch. Many fans have always seen this marathon as the major of the six major marathons given the elite entries that are usually assembled here every year and that is not going to change this year.
The winners from four other major city marathons in 2018 will all be here to face each other in the women’s race. Vivian Cheruiyot will be defending her London marathon title. Brigid Kosgei won the Chicago marathon, Mary Keitany won the New York City marathon while Gladys Cherono won the Berlin marathon titles last year. With the four stars toeing the line of this year’s London marathon, a great race should be expected and perhaps something special, like a world record, could happen.
Depending on the angle that one may see it, the women’s race will be more about the new marathon stars of Vivian Cheruiyot and Brigid Kosgei versus the experienced Mary Keitany and Gladys Cherono. It will also be a race for the Abbott World Marathon Majors jackpot prize of $500,000 as Cherono, Keitany and Kosgei stand chances to accumulate 50 points if they win here.
Eliud Kipchoge and Mo Farah, photo courtesy of the London Marathon
The men’s race is also loaded with the best marathon runners in the world, although the pre-race talk is mostly centered on two runners. Will Mo Farah finally manage to push Eliud Kipchoge off the tight rope that he has been balancing and walking on? Of all the eleven marathons he has run, Kipchoge has won all except one in which he finished second behind Wilson Kipsang in 2013 when the latter ran a world record of 2:03:23. Since 2014, Kipchoge has never been beaten in any marathon, and he has almost entirely been running in the world’s major marathons! This unbeatable record clearly puts him as the greatest marathon runner of all time, but for how long he will remain unbeaten is the question.
While the talk is more about Kipchoge versus Farah the runners who finished just behind them in their respective London and Chicago victories last year; Shura Kitata and Mosinet Geremew, will also be there to appeal and have a second chance to try their luck in beating them. Relatively new stars like Abraham Kiptum who broke the long-standing world record in the half marathon distance last year will also be there, together with Wilson Kipsang who is the only runner in the world to have ever beaten Kipchoge in a marathon race.
