FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Website: www.pim.cz
Email:
Marathon Focus Moves On To Prague
Prague, April 28, 2010: As all marathon watchers leave London and
head to the Czech Republic, Prague International Marathon spol. s r.o.
("PIM") the organiser of the Volkswagen Prague Marathon, prepares itself
for what looks like being its best race ever on Sunday, May 9th.
PIM is making no secret of the fact that it is hoping to achieve the
coveted IAAF Road Race Gold label for this race (an award that it received
for its Hervis Prague Half Marathon earlier this year).
"If we can achieve the Gold Label for what is our flagship race, then
the last sixteen years of hard work will all have been worth it!"
said Carlo Capalbo, President of the Organizing Committee of PIM. As part
of its efforts to reach this goal, PIM has accumulated its best ever field
of elite athletes for the race, including the Kenyan, Patrick Mutuku Ivuti,
who started running in 1996 as a healthy hobby and is now the race
favourite.
Ivuti is no stranger to the Volkswagen Prague Marathon. He is the course
record holder (2:07:48) and has already participated in several races in
Prague, including taking part in the Hervis Prague Half Marathon. Another
runner to note is the Ethiopian, Yemene Tsegay, who finished 4th in the
marathon in last year’s World Championships in Berlin. His personal best
is 2:06:30. Tsegay was in Prague just a few weeks ago to take part in the
Hervis Half Marathon, where he finished in a time of 1:01:37.
The line-up for the men’s elite includes several other runners who have run
under 2:10, and these include Dereje Debele, who says that his target is to
win the Prague Marathon as he so loves the city, and Getu Feleke, who is
expected to be one of the marathon stars of the future. After just eighteen
months of training, Getu was already running sub-one hour half marathons
and he ran 8th in the Amsterdam marathon (2:09:32) in 2009, just a few
months after making his debut.
The women’s field is equally impressive, with four athletes holding
personal bests below the present Volkswagen Prague Marathon record of
2:26:33, set by Maura Viceconte (ITA) in 2001. Favourite to win is Helena
Loshanyang Kirop from Kenya (2:24:54), who is expected to be challenged by
Lyubov Morgunova (2:25:12), the highly experienced Russian runner who made
her mark on the international scene when she ran the 1998 Beijing Marathon
in 2:28:51, and who has also been the favourite in the London, Boston,
Honolulu, Los Angeles, and Nagano Marathons.
Another frequent contender on the world stage is Rose Cheruiyot (2:25:48),
who, after a difficult time in 2009 is looking forward to getting back to
her very best this year. The Ethiopian runner Ashu Kasim (2:25:49) is
another with an exceptional personal best and she may well push the others
for top spot. This year, PIM is also welcoming two elite athletes from
China, Xin Zhang (2:31:29) and Junli Zhang (2:36:44).
Jana Moberly, the Elite Athletes Coordinator at PIM, commented:
"This year’s race should be really exciting; we are expecting excellent
conditions and we have a starting line up that is sure to make for a fast
race."
The Volkswagen Prague Marathon has already attracted more than 6,600
runners to take part in the race this year, an increase of more than 400
participants at the same stage last year, and with travel problems
hopefully resolved, PIM is expecting to see numbers rising to upwards of
7,500 over the forthcoming week.
Keep an eye on the website for ongoing information: www.praguemarathon.com.
And note the following dates for your diary:
Olomouc Half Marathon – Saturday, June 26th, 2010
TESCO Grand Prix Prague – Saturday, September 11th, 2010
###
|
