Athens, Greece - About 3000 runners from around the world have confirmed their participation in the 23rd edition of the Athens Classic Marathon, to be held this Sunday 6 November. They will cover the distance over a gruelling course from the village of Marathon, which gave its name to this running event, to the marble Panathenaiko Stadium in the Athens city centre which hosted the first Olympics of the modern era in 1896, and which was also the setting for the finish of the 2004 Olympic Marathons. 

Men’s race

Of the significant elite runners in the men’s elite field, the majority are from Africa. Three runners from Kenya, Henry Cherono, Paul Kangogo and Samuel Chenweno are among the favourities.

Cherono is the fastest of the participants. He was second in Cologne, Germany, last year with 2:10:26, which is his personal best (PB) but Athens will be 27-year-old’s first Marathon race of this year.

His compatritiot Paul Kangogo, 30, has a PB of 2:11:50 which he set when finishing fourth in the 2003 Venice Marathon. He came ninth in the Rome race of 2004 (2:17:20), and placed 6th in Stockholm this year with 2:20:50.

Completing the trio, 27-year-old Samuel Chemweno has a PB of 2:11:45 from when he was third in the 2004 Rome Marathon. He has the fastest time for this year of the entrants, having run 2:12:52 on 13 March in the Italian capital to take ninth place.

Ethiopia’s Gebremadhn Gebremariam should provide the main opposition for the Kenyans. The 25-year-old runner was seventh in the Dubai Marathon in 2:12:01 at the beginning of the year, which is his PB. While last April he ran a disappointing 2:23:20 in Milan.

The reigning Greek champion Konstantinos Gougousis is again the favourite for the national title. Gougousis clocked 2:27:03 last year, to claim his first ever national win in the classic race.

Baldini to be the race starter

In the 2004 Olympics, Italy’s Stefano Baldini managed to break the 25-year-old Athens record. Baldini won the gold medal with 2:10:55, improving the record of 2:11:07, set by Briton Bill Adcocks back in 1969. This year, Baldini will be in the village of Marathon not to participate in the race, but to be honoured by the Greek Government and SEGAS the Greek Athletics Federation. The Olympic champion has accepted an invitation to be the official starter of the race, and he will be presented with a special silver trophy, an exact copy of the one awarded to Spyridon Louis after his win in the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens.

Women’s race

Ethiopia looks set to claim the women’s race honours. Sisay Measo, 25, was 5th in Zurich last April with 2:40:51, but she has a PB of 2:36:51 when taking third in the 2004 Venice marathon last year. She was also 22nd (73:35) in the World Half Marathon Championships last month in Edmonton, Canada.

Her compatriot Areba Hiruet was second last year in the Athens Marathon with 2:41:18 and so holds a distinct advantage as she already knows the perils of the hard Athens course. Her personal best is 2:40:58 from when she ran in Trevizo, Italy, in March this year.

Greece’s Georgia Ambatzidou won the national title last year with 2:45:46 when finishing fifth, and is targeting her fifth title in a row.

Michalis Nikitaridis for the IAAF