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Patrick Ivuti, the Kenyan who won last year's Bank of America Chicago Marathon by an eyelash over two-time world champion Jaouad Gharib of Morocco, will line-up as the favorite at next month's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon in San Diego, Calif., organizers announced yesterday. The race is scheduled for Sunday, June 1.
Ivuti, who will turn 30 at the end of June, had planned to run the Boston Marathon last April but missed the race due to an illness. He has bounced back well, however, finishing second at the 25 km von Berlin on May 4, clocking 1:14:04, similar to a 2:09:40 marathon.
"We're delighted to have an athlete of Patrick's caliber come to San Diego," said Matt Turnbull, the elite athlete coordinator for the event which is organized by San Diego's Elite Racing. "Obviously we were sympathetic that he wasn't able to compete in Boston, but he was in fantastic shape leading up to that race and we know that he will create an exciting competition on June 1st."
Ivuti's chief rival looks to be defending champion and compatriot Daniel Yego. Although he does not possess Ivuti's speed --Ivuti's run 2:07:46 for the marathon and 27:05.88 for 10,000m-- Yego has a solid 2:08:16 to his credit and won last year's Rock 'n' Roll Marathon by nearly two minutes.
"I am delighted to come back to San Diego to defend my Rock 'n' Roll marathon title," said Yego. "I ran 2:09:04 last year and hope to go much faster this year. As the organizers have put together a very strong line-up, my training has gone well and I think the course record will be in danger."
The event record is 2:08:33 set by Philip Tarus in 1999.
Romanian veteran Nuta Olaru is the top woman entered, organizers said, with a 2:24:33 personal best. Most recently, she was seventh at the Boston Marathon in 2:33:56.
This will be the 11th edition of the original musical marathon which spawned a series which now includes marathons in Nashville, Tenn.; Phoenix, Ariz.; and San Antonio, Tex; and half-marathons in Virginia Beach, Va. and San Jose, Calif. The 2007 Rock 'n' Roll Marathon recorded 15,958 finishers making it the seventh-largest marathon in the United States, according to the trade group Running USA.
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