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Elisha Rotich adds to stacked Frankfurt Marathon field
Reading Time: 2min | Tue. 17.09.24. | 21:09
Seven runners with personal bests of sub 2:07 are on the start list
Paris Marathon 2021 winner Elisha Rotich will take to the streets of Germany for the 41st edition of the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon, set for Sunday 27 October, as one of the favourites.
Seven runners with personal bests of sub 2:07:00 are on the start list, led by Herpasa Negasa of Ethiopia who heads to the race with a world-class personal best of 2:03:40.
Rotich, one of the new additions to this year’s elite list holds a PB of 2:04:21, achieved while winning the Paris Marathon to set the current course record, one that is expected to rival the Ethiopian contingent led by Negesa.
This year in April, Rotich was third in Paris with 2:06:53. Together with Eric Kiptanui (PB: 2:05:47), whose participation had been announced earlier, he looks to be the strongest Kenyan in the elite field.
However, a surprise might come from Benard Biwott, a Kenyan debutant who has run a 59:47 half marathon this year.
Besides Negasa, Ethiopia will have four more runners with personal bests of sub 2:07 on the start line, including Lencho Tesfaye (2:06:18), Aychew Bantie (2:06:23), Boki Asefa (2:06:46) and Birhan Nebebew (2:06:52) could attack their PBs on the fast Frankfurt course where Kenya’s Wilson Kipsang clocked the 2:03:42 course record in 2011.
“We expect a very open race since there is no major favourite. It is difficult to predict what might be possible with regard to times. But the field surely has the potential for a surprise,“ said race director Jo Schindler.
While Spain’s Abdelaziz Merzougui is the fastest European runner on the start list with a personal best of 2:08:00 there is a novelty in the history of the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon; married couple Jake Robertson and Magdalyne Masai will be among the elite runners.
New Zealand’s Robertson has a personal best of 2:08:26 and could achieve a strong finishing position while his Kenyan wife has a PB of 2:22:16 and will be among the favorites in Frankfurt.
