Kipkorir to top bill in the Athens Classic Marathon this month
Some of the world’s top Marathon runners have confirmed their participation in the 28th Athens Classic Marathon, scheduled to take place on October 31. This special version of the marathon along its original course, as it coincides with the 2,500th anniversary of the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC, will feature seven highly regarded Kenyan runners who will try to break the course record set on August 29, 2004 during the Athens Olympic Games by Italy’s Stefano Baldini (2 hours, 10 minutes and 55 seconds). Greek track and field federation SEGAS announced last week that among the 12,500 runners who have said they will take part in the 42.195-kilometer race from Marathon to Athens will be Jonathan Kosgei Kipkorir, who has a personal best of 2:07.31, which is the record among the participants. Also running will be fellow Kenyans Jackson Koech, who finished second in the Rotterdam Marathon in 2005, Jacob Kiplagat Yator, who won the Enschede Marathon last year, and Paul Lekuraa, the winner of the Athens Marathon in 2008 who also holds the event’s record with a time of 2:12.42. Other entries include Bett Raymond Kimutai, who came fourth in Utrecht last year, and this year’s Enschede runner-up Julius Korir. There will also be one of the world’s best female marathon runners, Ashu Kasim of Ethiopia, who clocked 2:25.49 in Paris this year. She will be aiming to break the course record for women, held by Japan’s Mizuki Noguchi, of 2:26.20, also set during the 2004 Olympic Games.
