Toshinari Takaoka wins in Tokyo in 2:07:41 (© Kazuaki Matsunaga/Agence SHOT)
Starting at 8.45am (CET) on the ChampsElysée, the 32th edition of the Marathon de Paris – an IAAF Gold Label Road Race - will be held on Sunday 6 April. The contest for the wins is open, although Tsegaye Kebede (ETH) and Linah Cheruyot (KEN) showed during the past months that their shape was picking up.
Takaoka looking to hold off Kenyan and Ethiopian attack
The men’s race record, 2:06:33 by Kenyan Mike Rotich, could fall as the field includes fast elite marathoners, although none seem to be clear favourite. The fastest is Asian Record Holder (2:06:16) Toshinari Takaoka, but the Japanese set this mark six years ago. A track specialist (still the national record holder at 3000m and 10,000m), Takaoka has been consistently under 2:10 since his Marathon debut in 2001 until he chose to focus on road races following 2006. Fourth in the 2005 World Championships, Paris could see a new start in his career after a deceiving 2007 season.
Looking back to the prize winners of the past decade, Africa lost only twice and will be represented by a large Kenyan team. James Rotich set his personal best (2:07:12) last year in Amsterdam. Although a fast performer, Rotich has not won a race since his successful debut in 2004. On the other hand, Philip Manyim, 30, displays more experience as he won in Berlin 2005 with 2:07:41 and in Valencia with 2:11:29 only seven weeks ago. Joseph Ngolepus, a pure road specialist with a five-year-old mark of 2:07:57, and Barus Benson, former World Junior Champion at 10,000m, who can take advantage of a very open race.
Ethiopia will line-up one of its best specialists, Tesfaye Tola, a 2:06:57 performer, the bronze medallist in the 2000 Olympics, who will take part to his 14th Marathon. He already proved his shape this year in January with a 2:09:18 run in Dubai. Fellow countryman Tsegaye Kebede is 13 years younger and has run only one Marathon (2:08:11 in last October), but still has a 59:35 reference at the Half-Marathon, which is the fourth fastest in the world this year.
The best chance for Europe is Oleksandr Kuzin from Ukraine, who performed a stunning 2:07:33 solo run last year in Linz to smash his personal best by almost three minutes. His ninth place showing in New York in November and poor performances in his last two Half-Marathon make him an unpredictable outsider.
Strong Ethiopian presence – women’s race
Ethiopian Margasa Tafa won’t defend her 2007 win in the women’s race, leaving the role of favourite to Russian Gulnara Vygovskaya (2:28:22), last year’s runner-up. However, three other Ethiopian will hold the nation standard. Worknesh Tola (2:25:42 in 2003) and Shitaye Gemechu (2:26:15 in 2002) have the fastest personal bests of the field, while Mindaye Gishu’s 2:28:30 career best was set last year.
Kenya will have its say thanks to Linah Cheruiyot, who won the Paris Half-Marathon one month ago. Although 35-years-old, she has only run four Marathons in her career, but has always improved her personal best, down to 2:27:02 last year. The aggressive pace changes she generally displays might better suit shorter distances. The surprise might come from her Kenyan teammate Alice Timbilil, a track specialist (14:47.06 at 5000m) contesting her first Marathon.
There is little chance that the eight-year-old course record (2:23:43 by Marleen Renders) will be broken.
The event manages to join popularity, judging from the 35,000 entrants coming from 94 different countries, and quality, being one of the eight Marathons awarded the IAAF Gold Label. As a result, the registrations were closed four months ago, the number of participants limited due to safety reasons. The statistics reveal the task to organise such an event: 500 people will working for the security service; 200 physiotherapists will be available; while 42 tons of fruits, 436,800 water bottles and 30,000 sponges will be distributed along the streets of the French capital.
The 42,195m course, followed by some 200,000 spectators, will go through Bastille, Nation, Vincennes and will close the loop via Tuilleries, ending on Foch Avenue near the Arc de Triomphe. The main difficulty occurs in the 36th kilometre as runners have to face a tight uphill stretch.
The weather forecast calls for a partly cloudy sky on Sunday morning in Paris, with cold temperatures.
Pierre-Jean Vazel for the IAAF
