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Kenya's Kiplagat seeks Chicago Marathon conquest

Xinhua, September 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

World half marathon record-holder Florence Kiplagat of Kenya said she is in top form and will try another fast time at the Chicago marathon on October 11.

Kiplagat returns to Chicago after finishing second in 2:25:57 last year.

"I have done training well and I hope to be in top form for the marathon. I missed the chance to run 10,000m at the World Championships because I wanted to focus on this race and now I have to prove that my decision to sit out of Beijing worlds was right," she said Friday from Eldoret.

The 2010 world half-marathon champion and two-time Berlin Marathon champion broke her own half marathon world record in February, clocking 1:05:09 in Barcelona. She also has a marathon personal best of 2:19:44.

Mulu Seboka of Ethiopia enters Chicago seeking her first big city win. Over the past decade, she has run more than 35 marathons and is still improving, setting a PB of 2:21:56 in Dubai earlier this year.

In addition to Seboka and Kiplagat, Ethiopia's Amane Gobena hopes to be among the leaders down the homestretch. She arrives fresh off a personal best and a second-place finish at the 2015 Paris Marathon in 2:23:30.

Japan's Kayoko Fukushi will be hoping to prevent an East African sweep. The 2011 Chicago runner-up has a marathon personal best of 2:24:21 and a half marathon PB of 1:07:26.

Tsegaye Kebede of Ethiopia, the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist and 2009 world bronze medalist, is one of the most accomplished and consistent marathon runners of the past decade.

He has run faster than 2:07 on 10 occasions, winning in twice in London, twice in Fukuoka and once in Paris. He set his PB of 2:04:38 when winning in Chicago in 2012.

But Kenya will rely on fifth-fastest man in history over the half marathon, Sammy Kitwara. He finished fourth in 2012, third in 2013 and second in 2014. He set a personal best of 2:04:28 last year in Chicago, making him the fastest man in this year's elite field.

Kebede and Kitwara will be joined by Kenyans Dickson Chumba, Wesley Korir, Lucas Rotich and Sammy Ndungu. Enditem