|
Wilfried Kigen (KEN) – course record holder in 2:08:29 and two-time winner at the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon
"I have prepared very well for Frankfurt. I have had some knee problems, but it was already back in June. Now everything is fine. My eight year-old daughter Patience came with me to Frankfurt – she is my lucky charm. If the field is strong, I can run a fast time. I try to pass the half marathon mark in 64:20 minutes. I want to run the second half faster than the first one.”
Svetlana Zakharova (RUS) – PB 2:21:31 (2002)
"I trained very well for Frankfurt. My training was very specific and I am happy to run here. I chose this race since I wanted to avoid a long flight to the Chicago Marathon. Furthermore I don’t want to be too long away from my daughter. At the beginning of the race I plan to wait and see and from 10 k on I might increase the pace together with my pacemaker. I think that I will try to run the first half in about 1:12 minutes. My goal is a time of about 2:25 hours – I am looking at the course record of 2:25:12.”
Luminita Zaituc (GER) – Two-time winner at the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon (2001 and 2003)
"I am feeling good and my preparations were good, too. In terms of Frankfurt my test at the half marathon in Cologne was good. The marathon is a long race, a lot can happen. Of course it is not nice to have to stop due to leg cramps [in her last two races Zaituc had this problem, the editor]. I definitely want to run the Olympic qualifying time of 2:31:00 here. The faster the better, but I have to see how I am going to divide my strength.”
Ulrike Maisch (GER) – European Champion – PB 2:30:01 (2006)
"After my 10 k race in Düsseldorf in the summer in 35 minutes, I was disappointed, because I had trained well. Then I went for training to St. Moritz three times – always between two and three weeks and I was able to train very well. I hope that the foot is okay now after the injury – but the marathon is a strong impact. I was a week in Oberhof last week, it was freezing cold there. I think that I just have to go out and run on Sunday and listen to my gut feeling. I hope that I am able to accelerate in the end.”
Jo Schindler – Race Director of the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon
"We are hoping to finally reach 18,000 registrations for all competitions on Sunday. We changed a couple of things within the organisation this year. We changed the finish area and made it more attractive and bigger. The emotions should be shown in a more impressive way. But also for the mass sport we did change something. We keep the finish open longer – 6:15 hours this year. We want to improve the race step by step – the race itself, the organisation as well as the surroundings of it. We already improved a lot. We clearly increased the budget this year. If we can achieve a time of sub 2:08 hours that would be great and I think well deserved. One can prepare a lot but you can’t buy a record. We are relaxed – we can also shine without having a record.”
Katalin Wimhoff – Head of Corporate & Sponsoring of Dresdner Kleinwort:
"We are proud and are happy to give our name to the event. We are enthusiastic that the number of registrations increased and that we are partner of a race which will also hit the headlines concerning the elite sport. Here in Frankfurt the interest in the marathon is great. Fun runners and elite athletes come together in this marathon.“
Further information is available online at: www.frankfurt-marathon.com.
Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest
| 
Know someone else who's interested in running and triathlon?