Paul Malakwen Kosgei will be one of five runners with personal bests of under an hour to line-up for the third Fortis Half Marathon Rotterdam on Sunday 10 September.
Kosgei won the Berlin Half Marathon on 2 April in 59:07, the second fastest time of the year. He will meet Zersenay Tadesse (Eritrea, 59:05) and his Kenyans Martin Lel (59:30), Patrick Ivuti (59:31) and Luke Kibet (1:00:00), whose bests have been run on a variety or courses some legal and some downhill.
Samuel Wanjiru, last year's winner at Rotterdam (59:16) has withdrawn from the race due to an injury.
The famous fast Rotterdam course has attracted a large group of foreign athletes. The Kenyans Robert Kipchumba, Benson Cherono, Solomon Busendich and the Ethiopian Deriba Mergia have also confirmed their start at Rotterdam.
The women field also has a high standard. Ethiopian Mindaye Gishu, winner of 9 April Fortis Marathon Rotterdam (2.28.30), will make her debut at the Half Marathon. Mindaye Gishu can count on strong opposition of Mara Yamauchi from England (1.09.24) and the Japanese Aya Manome (1.11.46) and Ayumi Nakayama (1.12.10). Nadja Wijenberg, local Wilma van Onna and Barbara Zutt will represent The Netherlands.
Wim van Hemert for the IAAF
