Press Release - Marathon Hamburg - 3/6/24

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

                 HASPA MARATHON HAMBURG ON 28th APRIL 2024:        

   Former World Cross Country Champion Irine Cheptai runs marathon debut 
         in Hamburg, Katharina Steinruck chases special record time     

Irine Cheptai, Kenya's World Cross Country Champion from 2017, will run her 
debut marathon in Hamburg on 28th April. This was announced by the 
organisers of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg, who released some of the top 
women's contenders and presented Germany's Katharina Steinruck during a 
press conference. While Steinruck will chase a special family record on the 
fast Hamburg course it is Winfridah Moseti who heads the current women's 
start list. The Kenyan has a personal best of 2:20:55. 14,000 runners are 
expected to compete in Germany's biggest spring marathon on 28th April. 
Online registration for the race is still possible at: 
www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de 

Irine Cheptai has been very successful on the track as well before she 
focussed more on road running. In 2021 she was sixth in the Olympic 10,000 
m final in Tokyo and a year later the Kenyan won the 10,000 m silver medal 
in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Then she showed very promising 
half marathon races, culminating in a 64:53 PB in Valencia where she was 
second. With this time Cheptai was the fourth fastest half marathoner in 
the world in 2023. 

Hamburg has seen great debut marathons in the past. In 2013 it was Eliud 
Kipchoge who won with a course record of 2:05:30. Two years ago Ethiopia's 
Yalemzerf Yehualaw ran an unofficial world debut record of 2:17:23 which 
still stands as Hamburg's course record. There are two more debutants on 
the women's start list who could do very well on 28th April: Kenya's Nelly 
Jepchumba has a half marathon PB of 67:00 while Roselida Jepketer of 
Bahrain has run 68:40 for the half. 

Winfridah Moseti ran a huge personal best of 2:20:55 when she was runner-up 
in last year's Frankfurt Marathon. While the Kenyan will want to build on 
this performance Frankfurt's third place finisher will be among her rivals 
in Hamburg: Sharon Chelimo improved to 2:22:07 last October. Ethiopia's 
Kidusan Alema and Canada's record holder Natasha Wodak, who have personal 
records of 2:22:28 and 2:23:12 respectively, will also run their spring 
marathon in Hamburg.

Katharina Steinruck will be very much in the national focus when she hopes 
to break her mother's family record. It was exactly 25 years ago when 
Katrin Dörre-Heinig, the bronze medallist of the 1988 Olympic marathon in 
Seoul, won the Hamburg Marathon with 2:24:35. For many years this was the 
German marathon record. "It is my aim to break my Mum's record and it would 
be great if I could do it in Hamburg," said 34 year-old Katharina 
Steinruck, who is coached by her mother and improved to 2:24:56 in Osaka at 
the end of January. "Katha" Steinruck returns to the race for the first 
time since 10 years and has good memories. In 2013 and in 2014 she clocked 
personal bests of 2:34:20 and 2:33:56 in Hamburg as a young athlete. Ten 
years later running around ten minutes faster will be the goal. And there 
could not be a more fitting race than the Haspa Marathon Hamburg to break 
the family record. 

More information about the Haspa Marathon Hamburg and online entry is 
available at: www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de 
 
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