Kiplagat, Kipruto to highlight Kolkata 25Km race

Commonwealth Winner of 10, 000M race Florence Kiplagat cross the line to win Women Category of the 1st Edition of County Pension Fund, CPF, Nairobi Diamond 10KM Run after clocking 31:42.0 at Uhuru Park on Sunday, August 17th, 2014. Photo/Jonah Onyango.

Florence will carry vast marathon experience to the line-up

Kiplagat, Kipruto set for Kolkata 25km race

Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele and Azimeraw won last year’s race.

Former world 21km record holder Florence Kiplagat and Berlin Marathon runner-up Amos Kipruto are among star athletes lined up for Tata Steel Kolkata 25km race in India on Sunday.

Kiplagat, the two-time Barcelona Marathon champion, will face Ethiopia’s defending champion Degitu Azimeraw, Hawi Megersa, Dibaba Kuma, Ftaw Zeray and Sutume Asefa in the eastern Indian race.

Kiplagat carries a wealthy of marathon experience to the start line that started in 2011 when she claimed victory in her debut marathon in a time of 2:19:44 at the Berlin Marathon and defended it the following year.

In 2014, she stunned the world by smashing the 21km world record by 38 seconds and finished in 1:05.12. Only one year later she broke the record again by running 1:05.09 in Barcelona.

Ethiopia’s Megersa recorded her personal best in half marathon in 2018 at the Egmond half marathon, a tough race with 7km over the beach. She improved by over two minutes in Azkoitia two months later.

Azimeraw also from Ethiopia made her debut in international running last year in Kolkata and surprisingly won the race by beating seasoned runners.

Kenenisa Bekele and Azimeraw made last year’s race an Ethiopian affair. She has been training with Meseret Defar in Ethiopia for two years now and she launched her personal campaign after her breakthrough win in December 2017.

Uganda’s Linet Toroitich will also be giving Kiplagat a run for her money. Toroitich’s performances include a win in the MTN Kampala half marathon which is run at high altitude and under hot and humid conditions.

Tanzania’s Failuna Matanga, who also ran the Kolkata race last year, finishing third and hopes to shine in this year’s edition after making her marathon debut in Amsterdam last year.

In the men’s category, Kipruto will be seeking to stamp authority after clocking 2:06:23 to settle in the second place at the Berlin Marathon, losing to world record holder Eliud Kipchoge.

In 2014, Kipruto had a first shot at a race in Istanbul over 15km which he won and that formed the start of his career and soon he turned to marathon running.

He will be up aganist Shumi Dechasa and Birhanu Legese of Ethiopia, Shumi Dechasa (Bahrain), Ugandans Robert Chemonges and Nathan Ayeko among other elite runners.

Dechasa made his marathon debut in the 2012 at the Hamburg marathon and was the winner of the 2014 edition where he recorded his personal best. Kenenisa Bekele inspired him.