Irene Jerotich Kosgei takes the 2010 Singapore Marathon title (© Singapore Marathon organisers)
SingaporeThis year’s Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS) will feature an impressive contingent of elite athletes, which includes some of the highest ranked marathon runners in the world alongside last year’s race winners.
The Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore is an IAAF Silver Label Road Race.
“Elite athletes are a unique asset to any race and we are delighted to have in our midst a strong and diverse field of world-class runners who will undoubtedly add to the spectacle of this year’s Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore. Their keen participation is testament to the efforts we have put into creating an attractive elite race, not just in terms of the prize money offered, but also a great race experience,” said Mr Lim Teck Yin, Chief Executive Officer, SSC and Chairman, SCMS 2011 Organising Committee.
Largest and Strongest Field of Elite Athletes to Date
The SCMS 2011 will see a total of 26 international elite athletes from five different countries taking part in the Full Marathon race category. Participants from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Russia and Ukraine will start their race alongside 20,000 Full Marathon and Ekiden runners under the Christmas lights at Orchard Road. With US$50,000 as the top prize for the men’s and women’s open categories for the full Marathon, fierce competition will ensue among these top international athletes.
One of the frontrunners to clinch the men’s title this year is Jackson Kipkoech Kotut, who achieved top spots in the Tiberias Marathon (2009) and Barcelona Marathon (2010). Last year’s Barcelona Marathon saw the Kenyan run a personal best of 2:07:30 to secure victory in record breaking fashion.
Providing stiff competition for Kotut will be his counterparts Kenneth Mburu Mungara and Thomson Kibet Cherogony, both of whom stormed into first and second places at the SCMS 2010 respectively.
Other contenders for the title include Ben Kipruto Chebet of Kenya and Yared Dagnaw Sharew of Eritrea, both of whom will be competing in the SCMS for the first time.
This year’s SCMS will also welcome back Kenyan favourite and 2010 winner, Irene Jerotich Koskei, who will be expected to defend her title in the women’s open category once again. Twice the winner of the Nairobi Marathon in 2006 and 2009, Koskei has since enjoyed a formidable few seasons with a respectable 2:31:29 in the Daegu Marathon earlier this year.
Looking to usurp Koskei’s throne will be Russian veteran Silviia Skvortsova, who will be looking to replicate her recent impressive time of 2:27:51 in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October this year. Other notable runners in the women’s open category include Yuliya Ruban and Kateryna Stetsenko of Ukraine.
Organisers for the IAAF
