Chen Rong en route to victory at the Good Luck Beijing marathon (© Getty Images)
The 23rd Mangyongdae Prize International Marathon in Pyongyang, DPR Korea next Sunday (11), introduces its strongest ever fields with a growing number of foreign runners taking part in this competition.
This IAAF Bronze Label Road Race welcomes back last year’s winner Chinese Wang Zemin, who clocked 2:14:21 for the win in 2009 after four straight home wins on the men’s side in this marathon.
The men’s course record is 14-years-old now from 1996 when Kim Jung Won won in 2:10:50. Now the field includes a few runners capable of this result. There are no sub-2:10 runners, but 33-year-old Kenyan Philemon Rotich has run 2:10:26 in Rome 2009 will start his marathon season here. 29-year-old Morris Mureithi Mwangi will race here for the fourth time. He was a winner in 2004 and set a personal best 2:13:06 in 2007 placing second in this race.
Other runners are returning to this marathon as well. 35-year-old Reinhold Iita debuted in the marathon here last year clocking 2:14:23, still his personal best.
Lucian Disdery Hombo of Namibia has a personal best of 2:12:53 and will be competing in this marathon for the first time. Kenyan Meshack Kirwa has to be watched too, he already has a season’s best 2:13:06 from Tempe (USA) Marathon in January and ran a fast 2:11:45 at altitude to finish fifth in the 2009 Nairobi Marathon.
There is no official information available for home runners taking part, but it would be a big surprise if 28-year-old Pyo Un Suk was not defending her title. The North Korean has won the last two editions of this race clocking a personal best each time with a 2:28:34 winning time in 2009 and 2:28:39 in 2008. She has finished in top six for five times in a row 2005-2009. The best competition will come from foreign runners this time headed with 21-year-old Chinese Chen Rong. Chen has a personal best 2:27:05 from 2007 when she won the Beijing International Marathon and is also the Chinese national champion from 2009.
Other top women in the race include 28-year-old Karolina Jarzynska of Poland, who set a 2:29:10 personal best in Frankfurt last October.
A few athletes will also be running their first marathon in Pyongyang. 31-year-old Kenyan Miriam Wangari has a 70:27 best in the half marathon, but hasn’t tried the full marathon distance yet. 26-year-old Ethiopian Mude Zeytuna Abera is moving from track races to the marathon, and 35-year-old Moroccan Soumiya Labani will be running her first marathon since 2007 when she clocked 2:31:43 in Treviso, Italy, and has a 2:30:48 personal best from the same marathon a year earlier in 2006.
The 23rd edition of this race could well see both a course record in either the men’s (2:10:50) or women’s (2:26:02) races, and the first foreign winner in the women's race, while Pyo Un Suk has a chance to grab her third win to tie Ham Bong Sil, who won the race in 2002, 2003 and 2005.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
This IAAF Bronze Label Road Race welcomes back last year’s winner Chinese Wang Zemin, who clocked 2:14:21 for the win in 2009 after four straight home wins on the men’s side in this marathon.
The men’s course record is 14-years-old now from 1996 when Kim Jung Won won in 2:10:50. Now the field includes a few runners capable of this result. There are no sub-2:10 runners, but 33-year-old Kenyan Philemon Rotich has run 2:10:26 in Rome 2009 will start his marathon season here. 29-year-old Morris Mureithi Mwangi will race here for the fourth time. He was a winner in 2004 and set a personal best 2:13:06 in 2007 placing second in this race.
Other runners are returning to this marathon as well. 35-year-old Reinhold Iita debuted in the marathon here last year clocking 2:14:23, still his personal best.
Lucian Disdery Hombo of Namibia has a personal best of 2:12:53 and will be competing in this marathon for the first time. Kenyan Meshack Kirwa has to be watched too, he already has a season’s best 2:13:06 from Tempe (USA) Marathon in January and ran a fast 2:11:45 at altitude to finish fifth in the 2009 Nairobi Marathon.
There is no official information available for home runners taking part, but it would be a big surprise if 28-year-old Pyo Un Suk was not defending her title. The North Korean has won the last two editions of this race clocking a personal best each time with a 2:28:34 winning time in 2009 and 2:28:39 in 2008. She has finished in top six for five times in a row 2005-2009. The best competition will come from foreign runners this time headed with 21-year-old Chinese Chen Rong. Chen has a personal best 2:27:05 from 2007 when she won the Beijing International Marathon and is also the Chinese national champion from 2009.
Other top women in the race include 28-year-old Karolina Jarzynska of Poland, who set a 2:29:10 personal best in Frankfurt last October.
A few athletes will also be running their first marathon in Pyongyang. 31-year-old Kenyan Miriam Wangari has a 70:27 best in the half marathon, but hasn’t tried the full marathon distance yet. 26-year-old Ethiopian Mude Zeytuna Abera is moving from track races to the marathon, and 35-year-old Moroccan Soumiya Labani will be running her first marathon since 2007 when she clocked 2:31:43 in Treviso, Italy, and has a 2:30:48 personal best from the same marathon a year earlier in 2006.
The 23rd edition of this race could well see both a course record in either the men’s (2:10:50) or women’s (2:26:02) races, and the first foreign winner in the women's race, while Pyo Un Suk has a chance to grab her third win to tie Ham Bong Sil, who won the race in 2002, 2003 and 2005.
Mirko Jalava for the IAAF
