By Wim van Hemert
AMSTERDAM – Former winners Robert Cheboror Solomon Bushendich will be among the favorites at Sunday’s 33rd ING Amsterdam Marathon.
Cheboror won the event in 2004 with a personal best of 2:06:23 while Bushendich took the title two years ago in 2:08:52, also a personal best.
In all, the strong field assembled include eight men who have run under 2:10. In addition to Cheboror and Busendich, the field includes Kenyans Paul Kiprop Kirui (2:06:44), James Rotich (2:07:12), Jackson Koech (2:08:02), Paul Malakwen Kosgei (2:09:15) and Albert Matebor (2:09:33) and Dejene Berhanu (2:08:46) of Ethiopia.
With four of the year’s fastest performances, Amsterdam ranked high on last year’s world list. Competing in near ideal conditions, Emmanuel Mutai clocked 2:06:29, the second fastest run of 2007, behind only Haile Gebrselassie’s then world record of 2:04:26 set in Berlin three weeks earlier. Richard Limo (2:06:45) had the fourth time of the year while James Rotich and Paul Kiprop Kirui (2:07:12), who reached the finish line at the Olympic Stadium nearly in unison, were the seventh fastest.
Others in the elite field include Frenchman El Hassan Lahsinni (2:10:10), Kenyan Jonathan Kipkorir Kosgei (2:10:18), Abiyote Guta (2:10:38) of Ethiopia and newcomer Silas Toek (2:10:40), also from Kenya. An outsider will be Fabiano Joseph of Tanzania (2:13:24).
Running their debuts over the distance are Kenyans Francis Kibiwott, Jonathan Maiyo, Dennis Ndiso, Benjamin Limo and Ethiopian Solomon Tsige.
The women’s field is headed by a trio of sub-2:30 runners: Kenyan Beatrice Omwanza (2:27:19), and Adenech Zekiros (2:27:32) and Mindaye Gishu (2:28:30) of Ethiopia. Kenyan Lydia Cheromei, who won the Fortis Half Marathon in Rotterdam last month with a career best 1:08:32, will be making her marathon debut.
Before the race, Cheboror and Bushendich will lend kick off a a tree-planting project in Vondel Park which is adjacent to the course.
The weather outlook for Sunday calls for sunny skies and moderate winds, with temperatures ranging from 12-15 C (54-60 F.).
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