Kamais targeting second win in as many weeks - Torres Vedras Cross Country preview

Kenyan Peter Kamais, the winner of last weekend’s Oeiras International Cross Country - IAAF Permit - will be looking to build on his momentum at the Torres Vedras EAA race on Sunday in Torres Vedras.

The race will be contested in on a difficult but fast course in a municipal park in the hometown of Portugal’s most famous cyclists, Joaquin Agostinho, near a statue immortalizing his memory.

The Kenyan veteran, 30, was the runaway winner at last Sunday’s IAAF Cross Country season opener, and returns to Torres Vedras after two successive runner-up finishes. Kamais competes well in Portugal, also having a win in Albufeira (Algarve) last spring.

Joining him as favourites are a quartet of Kenyans, including Kiprono Menjo, the winner at Torres Vedras in 2004 and the victor of the Funchal S. Silvestre race in 2005. The list includes Festus Langat, winner of another permit meeting in Amora in 2004, and winner in three half marathons in Portugal and Spain with a personal best of 61:01.58). Joseph Keino and Abel Cheruiyot are expected to threaten for the win as well.

Among the Portuguese, it is Alberto Chaiça, the national 10,000m champion, who leads the domestic charge. Fourth in the Marathon at the 2003 World Championship in 2003, Chaiça was eighth at the European Championships Marathon this year and the winner at Torres Vedras in 1999. Cross country veteran Ricardo Ribas, Mário Teixeira, Manuel Pacheco, Manuel Silva, and the Moroccan Youssef el Kalai, who lives in Portugal, are also among the home team hopes.

Women’s race

While the women’s international field includes lesser know competitors, the race will provide a solid opportunity for Portuguese competitors with the upcoming European Championships just over the horizon.

Among the internationals are Kenyan  Magdeline Chemjor, who was fifth at the 2003 World Cross Country Championships; Dana Janeckova, the Slovak Half-Marathon champion in 2002 and runner-up at the Linz Marathon (2:50.38) this year; and Belgium’s Moroccan-born Mounia Aboulachen, the 2005 national cross country champion and current 10,000m national champion.

Anália Rosa, the national double cross country champion in 2005 and 2006, leads the Portuguese contenders. Also in the chase will be Helena Sampaio, winner in Torres Vedras in 1998, and a group of candidates for the Portuguese European Championships squad: Dulce Felix, Cláudia Pereira, Marina Bastos and Sandra Teixeira.