Press Release - Marathon Duesseldorf - 4/10/13

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

       Kenya's Duncan Kibet Runs Marathon Comeback in Duesseldorf

Kenya's marathon star Duncan Kibet will make a return to the classic 
distance in Duesseldorf on 28th April. Organisers of the METRO GROUP 
Marathon Duesseldorf today confirmed the start of the 34 year-old. Back in 
2009 Duncan Kibet won the Rotterdam Marathon with a sensational time of 
2:04:27. At that time it was a Commonwealth record. No runner has ever 
entered a German spring marathon with such a fast personal best. The METRO 
GROUP Marathon Duesseldorf is an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race.

"The fact that Duncan Kibet will run the METRO GROUP Marathon Duesseldorf 
shows the fine development of our race in terms of elite runners. We are 
now able to bring world-class runners to Duesseldorf and it is our aim to 
build on this in the future," said Race Director Jan Winschermann.

It was four years ago when Duncan Kibet took the Rotterdam Marathon after a 
thrilling sprint finish and established a Commonwealth record of 2:04:27. 
This time still stands as Rotterdam's course record. At that time he was 
only 28 seconds slower than Haile Gebrselassie's the world record. 
Naturally Kibet was regarded as one of the runners who could beat the 
global record. But then a series of injuries stopped the Kenyan. After 
running as a pacemaker in the Seoul Marathon recently he now returns to the 
full distance in Duesseldorf.
 
Four fellow-Kenyans are among his strongest rivals on 28th April. The most 
prominent one is David Barmasai. The 24 year-old sensationally won the 
Dubai Marathon in 2011 with a personal best of 2:07:18. He then was fifth 
in the World Championships' marathon in Daegu (South Korea) in the same 
year. Paul Biwott (2:06:54), Duncan Koech (2:07:53) and Pius Ondoro 
(2:08:00) are the other three. Germany's André Pollmächer is the main 
national contender in Duesseldorf. He ran his personal best of 2:13:09 in 
this race in 2009. 
 
So far the fastest woman in the field is Melkam Gizaw from Ethiopia. She 
ran her personal best of 2:26:52 two years ago in Eindhoven. The 22 
year-old will return to the METRO GROUP Marathon Duesseldorf, where she was 
third with 2:27:50 in 2012. More elite women will be announced at a later 
stage.
 
More information and online entry is available at: www.metrogroup-marathon.de
 
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