Doha champ Rono to challenge Guangzhou marathon title

NAIROBI, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Georgina Rono and Ethiopia's Mulu Seboka will be the athletes to beat in the women's race during the Guangzhou marathon on Sunday.

With over five women having run the fast time under two hours and 30 minutes, organizers are hopeful of fast time.

Seboka set a course record of 2:26:46 at the Guangzhou Marathon in 2012 and will return to the event on Sunday to try to regain her title. Kenya's Georgina Rono could be her main threat.

"I feel strong and ready. The training has been good and though the caliber of opponents I expect is also strong, I hope to weather the storm and take the challenge to them," said Rono in Nairobi on Saturday.

With the absence of defending champion Kassahun, who raced in Valencia three weeks ago, Kenya's 37-year-old Rono could be Seboka's biggest threat.

With a 2:21:39 PB set five years ago, the 2014 Hamburg Marathon winner is the fastest woman on the entry list. She won the Doha Marathon in January and clocked a season's best of 2:28:52 to finish third in Dongying in May.

Rono's compatriot Anne Cheptanui Bererwe is also among the favorites. The 35-year-old improved her best time by more than one minute to finish second in Chongqing in March in 2:27:18, making her the fastest entrant of the current season.

Rahma Tusa of Ethiopia, He Yinli of China and Diana Lobacevske of Lithuania will be the other elite runners at the starting point.

Markos Geneti of Ethiopia is the fastest of 12 sub-2:10 men with a 2:04:52 personal best time. Evans Chebet of Kenya, who has run 2:05:31, and Edwin Kipngetich Koech (2:07:13), are also in the field.

Over six men have run under 2:10.000 and will be targeting the course record of 2:10:01 set two years ago by Morocco's Abdellah Tagharrafet.

With a best time of 2:04:54 set when finishing third in Dubai in 2012, Markos Geneti is the fastest in the field, but the Ethiopian has slipped off the radar in recent years.

The 33-year-old's last notable performances were in 2015 when he finished sixth in Tokyo in 2:07:25 and third in Orlen in 2:08:11.

By contrast, Kenya's Evans Chebet has shown solid form in recent years. Last year he registered two sub-2:06 clockings and set a Personal best time of 2:05:31 in Berlin.

The 29-year-old went on to clock 2:06:42 to finish fourth in Tokyo in February and he improved his PB by one second to finish second in Valencia three weeks ago.

His performance in Guangzhou will depend on how quickly he has recovered from that effort. Enditem