FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon Sunday
Feyera Gemeda of Ethiopia is looking to return to the form which won him
his first two marathons, the second of which was the Standard Chartered
Hong Kong Marathon, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this Sunday
(17th). Gemeda's victory remains the course record of 2hr 11min 27sec.
Gemeda's victory here in 2014 was a gamble which paid off handsomely. The
Ethiopian was not an official entry, but he paid a thousand dollars for an
air ticket, slept on a colleague's hotel room floor, ran away from the
field in the last five kilometres, and netted the $65,000 first prize.
Having won the Tiberias Marathon the previous year, he followed up with a
fast 'half' win in Yangzhou, mainland China, and another victory in Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia. He missed last year's Hong Kong race with a leg injury, but
returns officially this year, yet is no more convinced of potential victory
than he was last time - which could bode ill for his opponents.
"There are lots of other good Ethiopians, and good Kenyans here this time,
and I don't feel in top form, so it might be more difficult to win on
Sunday," he said at the press conference held with the impressive backdrop
of a junk floating in the harbour. The proposed trip around the harbour had
to be cancelled due to an impromptu rainstorm, which left Gemeda worrying
about Sunday's potential weather, which at a likely 14-18C, with a 06.15am
start, seems ideal.
In contrast, his colleague, Koren Jelela was uncharacteristically confident
of her chances of victory in the women's race. It's over four years since
Jelela clocked her fastest, winning Toronto Waterfront in 2.22.43, but
said, "My training is very good at the moment; I feel strong, and think I
will run well".
Her likeliest opposition is from her colleagues Tsehay Desalegn, who
finished third here last year, and Letebrhan Haylay Gebreslasea, who
finished fourth. Another Ethiopian, Askale Tafa's best year goes back even
further than Jelela, to 2007/8, when she won Dubai, Paris and Milano, and
recorded 2.21.31. But two years off following the birth of her son, Kena
have given her new impetus to train. The principal European challenge comes
from Volha Mazuronak of Ukraine, who ran 2.25.24 in Prague last year, and
Rasa Drazdausakaite of Lithuania, former world military games champion.
The principal opposition to Gemeda in the men's race will be his colleague,
Fikre Robi, who finished second last year, after making most of the
running; and another colleague, megersa Bacha who ran a personal best
2.06.56 in Paris 2013. Then, almost inevitably there will be the Kenyans,
given that the East African neighbours have provided winners in over half
of the previous nineteen editions, since the race was revived in 1997. The
fastest man in the field is Albert Matebor, with the 2.05.25 he clocked in
his best finish in a major event, third in the Frankfurt Marathon 2011. And
Samuel Mwaniki, Robert Kipchumba and Cosmas Mutuku, Laurence Cherono and
Isaac Kosgei have all run sub-2.10.
Already in their inaugural race, the Hong Kong organisers achieved a
victory of sorts, ie daring to stage a marathon in one of the most densely
populated city-states in the world, with some of the heaviest traffic
circulation. That race in 1997 crossed the border to the mainland city of
Shenzhen, celebrating the return of Hong Kong as a Special Administrative
Region of China. The 1000+ participants in that event have escalated in the
intervening two decades, and Sunday's marathon and ancillary events will
involve 74,000 runners, making it by far the largest event in SE Asia.
ends
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