Nephat Kinyanjui winning in Beijing (© Octagon)
Defending champions Nephat Kinyanjui and Chen Rong will return to defend their titles at Sunday's 28th Beijing International Marathon.
The race kicks off Tiananmen Square at 8 a.m. with a new title sponsor, HYX (Heng Yuan Xiang), a Chinese textiles company. The Beijing International Marathon is an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.
This race is traditionally a showcase for domestic athletes and the 2007 version of the event was true to form, as the home country snagged two of the top three places in the men's Marathon and all three top places in the women's race. The only non-Chinese on the podium was men's champion Kinyanjui of Kenya, who returns to Beijing this year to defend his title. Last year he took the Marathon crown in a personal best 2:08:09 and was followed by two outstanding Chinese performances, Ren Longyun (2:08:15) and Han Gang (2:08:56).
Kinyanjui has made a career of outstanding Marathon finishes in Asia. He is also the three-time winner of the Nagano Marathon, his most recent win coming in April 2008.
The international men's field includes no less than fifteen Kenyan runners. Top performers include Benjamin Kiptoo, with a personal best of 2:09:24, Lawrence Saina (2:09:52), Simon Wangai (2:10:07) and Chelimo Luka (2:10:47). Mulugeta Wami of Ethiopia joins the mix, as well as a delegation of four athletes each from Nigeria and Mongolia.
Top three from 2007 return - women's race
On the women's side, the 2007 event saw a showcase of Chinese athletes as they took sixteen of the top twenty places. Chen Rong took the women's marathon title in 2:27:05, Zhang Yingying placed second in 2:27:20, and Bai Xue was third in 2:27:46. All three return this weekend.
18-year-old Zhang Yingying produced the World junior best of 2:22:38 in January and Bai Xue was second at the Xiamen National Championships Marathon in January with a 2:23:27 PB.
This year's top international entrants include Hellen Kimutai of Kenya, a former Marathon winner in Milan, Hamburg and San Diego. She will be joined by compatriots Alice Chelangat, a member of the Kenyan Olympic team in 2004 (11th place, Marathon), and Margaret Toroitich, a 2:31 marathoner who snagged a third-place finish at the 2008 Mumbai Marathon in January. Kim Chol-Sun of North Korea, a 2:29 marathoner (Pyongyang 2008), returns to Beijing after clocking a then-personal best 2:36:13 at the 2005 event.
Weather and pollution issues are always a factor in Beijing; the threat of event-halting pollution loomed over the Beijing Olympics two months ago but the marathons went off without any pollution-related problems.
The weather report for this weekend indicates the potential for excellent weather for race day. Reports indicate a projected temperature range on Sunday of 9 to 23 C. (48-73 F.) on marathon day, with a 0% chance of rain and clear skies. (The average high during the month of October for Beijing is 19 C.) Recent days in Beijing have been both clear and smoggy at times, however, so runners will need to be prepared for the potential for smoggy air as they make their way through the streets of the city.
Mary Nicole Nazzaro with assistance from Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
