FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Abel Kirui, a Luxury in the Mitja Marató de Barcelona
- The Kenyan, twice marathon world champion, will be the big star next
February 26th at the Barcelona race
- The test will break a great participation record with more than 12.500
runners, 55% more than in the previous edition
The Kenyan Abel Kirui, twice marathon world champion, will be the big star
next February 26th at 22nd edition of the Mitja Marató de Barcelona, which
will break its participation record, after closing the registration period
with more than 12.500 runners, 55% more than in the previous edition, in
which they were 8.111 runners. Along with Kirui, his compatriot Peter
Kamais is also confirmed, an old acquaintance of Barcelona, since he has
won twice the Cursa Bombers (2006 and 2007).
Abel Kirui, 29 years old, won his first world title in Berlin in 2009,
where he won with the best record achieved at a World Championship
(2h.06'54"), and two years later he revalidated his crown in Daegu, where
he won with 2h.07'38" and 2'28" lead over the second, the greatest mark
ever achieved in the history of the World Championship. His personal best
mark for the distance is 2h.05'04", reached in 2009 in Rotterdam, where he
finished third after his compatriots Duncan Kibet and James Kwambai.
Besides his two World titles in 2009 and 2011, Abel Kirui has won the
Vienna Marathon in 2008 while that same year he finished second in Berlin
when the Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie broke the World Record. His best mark
in the Half Marathon is 1h.00'11", achieved in 2007 in Rotterdam.
Peter Kamais, 35 years old, won the Cursa Bombers in 2006, when he beat the
race record (27'29"), and did it again in 2007. His best mark in a half
marathon (59'53") was achieved in 2009 in New York, city which that same
year he debuted in marathons (2h.14'58"). In 2011 he finished fifth at the
Beijing Marathon with 2h.12'58", and last January 7th he won the Xiamen
(China) marathon setting a new record for the test and his personal best
mark for the distance (2h.07'37").
The Mitja Marató de Barcelona will start at 8h45 next February 26th in a
route starting at Passeig Pujades and finishing at Passeig Lluís Companys,
a few meters before the Arc de Triomf.
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