Kenya looks forward to topple Ethiopia’s winning streak at the Dong-A Ilbo Gyeongju International Marathon
With the 2011 Dong-A Ilbo Gyeongju International Marathon kicking off this Sunday morning, Korea is all set to observe yet another fast performance at the Hwangsung Civic Stadium with Kenya determined to outperform Ethiopian contenders.
The meet, regarded as an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Silver Label Road Race, has been producing fast finishes lately.
Despite the fact that none of the top three finishers of the past two years will line up for the run, the overall field for the event seems to be robust.
So far, the meet title has been successfully claimed by the Ethiopian performers.
Last year, for breasting the tape in two hours, nine minutes and thirteen seconds, Ethiopia’s Yirdaw Dejene prevailed in the run.
Whereas, the previous year, Yemane Adhane hit the finishing line in two hours, eight minutes and fifty two seconds to conclude the run as victor.
However, expectations are slightly different this year. In absence of big names from Ethiopia, the spectators are looking forward to have new nationals lift the wining trophy.
As far as the field is concerned, Sylvester Teimet, the stellar performer from Kenya, stands out from the rest of the lot for having clocked the fastest finish of two hours, six minutes and forty nine seconds in Seoul back in March 2010.
Dwelling over his performance this year, the young athlete lined up for Seoul this March again, but decided to pull out without finishing the race.
On analyzing the runners’ performance this year, Sylvester’s countryman Yusuf Songoka already marked his dominance in Kenya before. While running in Daegu back in April, the 32-year old hit the finishing line in two hours, eight minutes and eight seconds.
Although there are big names to dominate the race, there are local favourites too who will strive to keep the event title within Korea.
The most prominent local athlete is Jeong Jin-Hyeong, the 21-year old runner who is looking forward to hit the track record in this Sunday’s run.
Some of the other big names likely to mark their presence at Hwangsung Civic Stadium are Michael Kimani, Negari Terfa, Solomon Bushendich and the woman runner Chung Yun-Hee who is also a pre-favourite for the meet.
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