Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil in New York (© Victah Sailer)
Hot roadie Ridouane Harroufi will undoubtedly face his toughest challenge of the year when he lines up Sunday (27) in the Bogota International Half Marathon.
Harroufi, of Morocco, trains with Khalid Khannouchi in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He has won a slew of top U.S. road races this year, such as the Austin Half Marathon, the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile, the Bolder Boulder 10K and the Steamboat Classic 4 mile. And when he has not won, he has crossed the line in second, like he did at Lilac Bloomsday and Bay to Breakers.
Harroufi, whose half marathon PB is 1:01:37, comes to Bogota off a month of solid track work and fartlek, and with a confident frame of mind. “I am ready for a win,” he said Thursday. “I have been training hard, focusing on this race.”
Sunday’s race is at altitude (2600m), but that should not bother Harroufi, since he lives at altitude.
But the field could become a bother. It is both deep and interesting and includes, Marilson Dos Santos. The Brazilian won the 2006 New York City Marathon and holds the fastest PB (59:33) of the field. Dos Santos has been training for the Olympics in the mountains of Columbia, and should be the runner Harroufi - and everyone else - keys on.
Isaac Macharia, the defending champ has run 1:00:48 for the half and this winter clocked 2:07:16 behind Haile Gebrselassie at the Dubai Marathon, an effort that got little notice, and could bode special things to come.
Kiplimo Kimutai Chemwolo, the Kenyan has won two half marathons already this year in San Blas and Hastings. He is coming off a 27:16 10,000m PB at the Prefontaine meet, and could be the fastest finisher in the field, while Tanzania's Christopher Isegwe, the 2005 World Championship Marathon silver medallist is back from two injury plagued years. His half marathon best is 1:02:17.
An injury this winter has kept Pablo Olmedo, Mexico’s top marathoner off their Olympic team this year. His fastest half marathon (1:03) was run during the first half of a marathon. Thursday (24) he said he was fit and ready to go after training for a month at 4,000 meters on Toluca, the Mexican volcano.
WOMEN
In the women’s race, defending champ Neriah Asiba also spent some time on Toluca to prepare for Bogota’s altitude. She has a PB of 1:10:24 and come Sunday she may prove that attitude is just as important as altitude when it comes to winning the race. “I want to fight Sunday to defend my title,” she said.
And undoubtedly she’ll do that—fight—against fellow Kenyan Pamela Chepchumba, the World Road Running bronze medallist, has a PB of 1:08:06. This year Chepchumba has placed second in both the Ras Al Khaimah and Lisbon half marathons. Also, look for Tatiana Aryasova (1:10:20 PB) and Ayelech Worku (1:11:02 PB) to also be in the hunt.
More than 45,000 runners will make their way from Simon Bolivar Plaza to Simon Bolivar Park Sunday 927). The elites will be competing for a first place prize of a Renault car, valued at $15,000.
Dave Kuehls for the IAAF
