Keitany set to lead Kenya charge in marathon

Kenyan marathoner Mary Keitany. [Photo: Omulo Okoth/Standard]

London marathon winner Mary Keitany, who will lead World Champion Edna Kiplagat and Priscah Jeptoo in tomorrow’s Olympic Marathon competition, says they will pace one another.

Addressing journalists at a press conference arranged by her kit sponsor, adidas at the Westfield Mall yesterday, Keitany, the winner of London Marathon in April and last year, said the course is not what she is familiar with.

“They changed the course from the usual London Marathon course, but that should not be a hindrance,” said Keitany.

“Because there are no pace makers at the Olympics, we have planned to pace ourselves and run as a team. We’ll fine tune our plan to know what happens as the race progresses.

“I know London has been very good for me, but these are Olympics and everybody has trained well for the past four years,” she said.

Kenya is seeking to end the jinx in the 42km event, which it has dominated in the recent past, but has no gold medal at the Olympics to show for it. Catherine Ndereba was the closest to the top spot on the podium winning silver twice in Athens and Beijing.

“Every country will be trying its level best to win the race, but we are ready for the challenge. It should not be any different from other marathon races.

“Being my first Olympics, I will be very cautious and not run for time because here, medals are more important than times,” she said.

The race will start at 1pm Kenyan time. According to marathon coach David Leting, the 26 corners on the course should be a problem to the Kenyans.

“Tuko sawa. Hakuna wasiwasi (We are fine. There is no problem),” said Leting.