Irina Mikitenko and Martin Lel - winners of 2008 Flora London Marathon (© Getty Images)
London Marathon champions Martin Lel and Irina Mikitenko return to the British capital at the end of May in a bid to win the inaugural ‘BUPA London 10,000’, a brand new road race using the proposed route of the London 2012 Olympic marathons.
Lel won a spectacular men’s race at the recent Flora London Marathon, while Mikitenko was a surprise winner of the women’s race in only her second marathon. Both return full of confidence that they can win over 10km on the road on 26 May.
“After winning my third London Marathon title last month, I’m delighted to be coming back so soon for the BUPA London 10,000,” said Lel, the 29-year-old Kenyan who set a new Flora London Marathon course record on 13th April. “London is a special place for me and I will be doing my best to become a London champion yet again on 26th May.”
“I’m excited about returning to London as the reigning Flora London Marathon champion,” said Mikitenko, the 35-year-old Kazakhstani-born German who set a personal best when she won last month. “I hope I can perform just as well here as I did in April, and with the same result.”
The marathon champions will face some stiff opposition, however, as they attempt to triumph on this new 10km course that starts in Birdcage Walk and takes in Parliament Square, Victoria Embankment, St Paul’s Cathedral, the City and Trafalgar Square before finishing in The Mall.
The chief challenge to Lel will come from Zersenay Tadese, the Eritrean who won his country’s first ever Olympic medal in the Athens 10,000m four years ago. Tadese also beat the great Ethiopian, Kenenisa Bekele, to win the 2007 World Cross Country Championships and has twice won the World Road Running title. In 2005, he won the BUPA Great North Run in a course record time, 59:05.
The 21-year-old Kenyan, Micah Kogo, will also fancy his chances. Kogo was the world’s fastest 10km road racer last year after running 27:07 in Brunssum, and he beat Tadese to win the BUPA Great Manchester Run in 27:21.
Europe will be well represented through Sergiy Lebid from Ukraine, one of Europe’s greatest ever cross country runners, Viktor Röthlin from Switzerland, marathon bronze medallist in the 2007 World Championships, and José Manuel Martinéz, the 2002 European 10,000m champion.
The British challenge is spearheaded by Mo Farah, the 2006 European 5000m silver medallist, and marathoner Dan Robinson, the 2006 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist.
In the women’s race Mikitenko will face Jelena Prokopcuka, the Latvian who finished second in the World Marathon Majors series last year and is the fastest in the field. Then there’s the Hungarian, Aniko Kalovics, who was second in the 2007 BUPA Great Manchester Run, and Portugal’s Jessica Augusto, the World Student Games 5000m champion.
Mara Yamauchi, the Japan-based athlete who set a personal best to win the Osaka women’s marathon at the end of January will head the British opposition as she sharpens up for the Olympic marathon in Beijing this August.
Natasha Grainger for the IAAF
