Kenenisa Bekele battling to the Berlin finish, September 2016, photo by PhotoRun.net
Kenenisa Bekele is confident
DUBAI (UAE): Kenenisa Bekele is “confident” he can break Dennis Kimetto’s world marathon record of 2:02:57 in the Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon on Friday, informs Pat Butcher. “The marathon needs a long time to develop, you need experience. After two years, I feel that I am a marathoner now. (Dubai) is a similar flat course to Berlin, and I think I can do better. I plan to run the world record. Of course, it’s a race, so you can’t say for sure, and it depends on the conditions. But I was very disappointed not to finish here two years ago. My plan in Berlin was to run a fast time. I was focused on a personal best and the Ethiopian record. Here, Dubai is a fast course, I’m planning to run the world record, and I’m confident,” he said. Bekele is the fastest runner in the field with a 2:03:03 PB and will face opposition from Tsegaye Mekonnen (2:04:32 PB) and Dino Sefir (2:04:50 PB).