News20 Oct 2011


World record holder Komon joins Portsmouth 10-Miler field

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Leonard Patrick Komon sizzles 44:34 in the Dam tot Dam 10-Miler (© Orange Pictures)

Double World record holder Leonard Komon is the latest addition to the outstanding field being assembled for the Bupa Great South Run 10-Miler on 30 October.


Komon, the reigning World record holder over 10k and 15k on the roads, joins previously-announced fellow Kenyan Abel Kirui, the two-time reigning World Marathon champion, as a main headliner at this IAAF Gold Label Road Race.


Komon, 23, will target the UK All-Comers record of 45:16 set last by Kenyan Joseph Ebuya, the 2010 World Cross Country champion. The field will also include Morocco's Abderrahime Bouramdane, who finished fourth behind Kirui in Daegu.


"In spite of his youth, Komon has been a leading distance runner for a few years now. Last year he became the first man to run under 27 minutes for 10 kilometres, which is phenomenal," said Peter Riley, the event's elite athletes manager.


"His time of 26 minutes 44 seconds in Utrecht (The Netherlands) last September took a massive 17 seconds from the previous record, and he'll be coming to Portsmouth after another superb victory at the ASICS Grand 10k in Berlin." Komon clocked 27:15 in the German capital, equalling the fastest mark in the world this year.


"More importantly, five weeks previous to that stunning victory, he missed Haile Gebrselassie's World best 10 mile performance by just four seconds with a fantastic time of 44:27 in Zaandam. Remarkably he managed it in spite of rain and adverse weather conditions. I'm sure with the quality of the opposition he faces in Portsmouth, there is every chance we will see a new UK All-Comers' record produced."


Komon also set the current World record over 15 km in 2010, clocking 41:13 in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, less than two months after his stunning run in Utrecht.


The presence of Komon and the other overseas visitors should bring the best out of British runners Chris Thompson, the 2010 European 10,000m silver medallist; Scott Overall, who was fifth in last month's BMW Berlin Marathon; and Andrew Lemoncello, Scotland's top distance runner.


Organisers for the IAAF


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