Eliud Kiptanui clocks 2:05:39 for course record at 2010 Prague Marathon (© PIM Organisers)
23 June 2011Eliud Kiptanui and Yelena Zadorozhnaya are the favourite for the 21th edition of the Corrida de Langueux – an IAAF Bronze Label Road Race – on Saturday (25). The annual “Sobhi Sport” 10km race is a double-loop course around the centre of this Breton village, starting at 8:30 PM.
This distance is unusually short for Kenyan Kiptanui, who burst into the international scene last year at the Prague Marathon, running a stunning 2:05:39, which ranked him eighth fastest in the World in 2010. However, the 22-year-old prodigy has been unlucky this season so far. In April, while he was gunning for a 2:04 performance at the Rotterdam Marathon, he had to stop three times during the race and placed only fourth in 2:09:08. The favorite last week in Olomouc (Czech Republic), he was hampered by back problems and finished runner-up in over the Half Marathon distance in 1:01:23.
His agent Volker Wagner indicated that he is now quite okay and that Kiptanui, who trains in Kenya and is based in Detmold, Germany, during the competitive season, will travel today (Thursday) to the west of France with the hope of being perfectly fit for the Corrida.
In this case, the course record (27:56) set by Moroccan Abdella Falil in 2007 will be threatened. Last year’s winner Azmeraw Bekele of Ethiopia will not defend his title, hence his two runners-up Mourad Morafit of Morocco and Onesphore Nkunzimana of Burundi will be the main outsiders. His teammate Mohamed El Hachimi, fifth last year in Langueux, can legitimately aim for a podium according to the race President Michel Aubault. The young Atsedu Tsegay, sixth in the 5000m at the World Junior Championships last year, will defend the chances of Ethiopia. France’s hopes will come from Driss El Himer and James Theuri.
The women’s race will feature a long distance specialist, Atsede Bayesa, competing against a short distance specialist, Yelena Zadorozhnaya. The Ethiopian is a pure Marathon specialist, with two consecutive wins in Paris (2009 and 2010) where she set a 2:22:04 personal best. Stepping down to a 10km race, she should lower her two year old best mark of 33:14. Indeed, she was timed in 32:54 during the opening 10km of the London Marathon where she placed 5th in 2:23:50 on 17 April. She will be accompanied by Afera Godfai, registered with a 31:45 in Addis Ababa this season.
On the other hand, the Russian Zadorozhnaya made her name on the track with fast times at 3000m (8:25:40) and 5000m (14:40:47) in 2001, before expanding her range with national titles outdoors, indoors and in cross country. She showed good form last weekend in taking second place at 5000m during the European Team Championships. Langueux will be her last race before the all-important Russian Championships, where she will try to qualify for the Daegu World Championships.
At 33, Zadorozhnaya is relatively new on the road circuit, and despite a 32:58 personal best set a few weeks ago in Zhukovskiy, she is eyeing Nadia Ejjafni’s race record of 32:28 set in 2006.
Ejjafni, who set the record running in Bahraini colours, will line-up for Italy and could be the trouble-maker. Her large competitive record this season is topped by a 32:17 win in Den Haag on 22 May and a fifth place in 32:14.63 at Oslo’s European Cup on 4th June. The following week, she ran 32:43 in Clermont (Florida), but was well beaten by Miriam Wangari, 32:28. The Kenyan, 32, showed good form at the right time and is definitively set to defend her 2009 and 2010 victories in Langueux. In case of a third victory in Brittany, she would match the record of Nancy Omwenga (2001-2003).
About 15,000 spectators are expected along the course to support the runners, a number which is about double Laugueux’s population.
Pierre Jean Vazel for the IAAF
