Salina Kosgei and Deriba Merga after their victories at the 2009 Boston Marathon. © www.photorun.net
Last year’s Boston Marathon winners, Deriba Merga (Ethiopia) and Salina Kosgei (Kenya), will attempt to retain their titles at this year’s race on April 19. Boston is the first of the World Marathon Majors (WMM) series races. According to a press release from the race’s title sponsor, John Hancock, four additional former Boston champions have been recruited to run the 114th edition of the marathon.
Merga’s winning time last year, 2:08:42, was impressive given the undulating nature of the historic course. His victory ended Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot’s three-year winning streak. However, the Kenyan will return to try and regain the title. Cheruiyot, who also won Boston in 2003 and is the course record holder with a time of 2:07:14 hours. Deriba Merga is currently tied for second place with other runners in the WMM Series 2009-2010. A victory would enable him to move closer to the series leader, Sammy Wanjiru (Kenya), who will be running London as the returning champion six days later.
The women’s race will be a rematch between Salina Kosgei and Dire Tune of Ethiopia. Last year, the two ran neck-and-neck in the final mile, resulting in the closest finish in the history of the women’s race. Kosgei, who ran 2:32:16, edged out Tune by only a second. Two additional former champions will also be returning to Boston: Lidiya Grigoryeva (Russia), who won in 2007, and Catherine Ndereba, the record holder for the number of Boston victories (2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005). Ndereba has also won two world marathon titles and two Olympic silver medals in the marathon.
Of the four women runners scheduled to be on the starting line in Boston, Salina Kosgei leads in the WMM 2009-2010 series. She is currently overall in third place and a fresh victory or even finishing second at Boston would give her the lead. But it should be noted that the current leader, Irina Mikitenko of Germany, and the Russian, Liliya Shobukhova, who is in second place, will be running the London Marathon on April 25 where they will have the chance to add more points to their scores.
Along with the elites and other qualified runners, a limited number of charity runners will be taking part in the Boston Marathon to raise money for over 24 official foundations and charities. Last year, these runners collected over $11 million in donations. More about the success of this initiative can be found here.
Irina Mikitenko Braves the Weather to Prepare for the London Marathon
Irina Mikitenko’s first London victory in 2008. © www.photorun.net
Irina Mikitenko has begun her peak training phase in the depths of winter. The 37-year-old German marathoner has been preparing for the London Marathon, which she will run on April 25 as the defending champion. Should she win, she will achieve a three-peat there. “My aim is to win London for the third time but, of course, I know it’s going to be very tough because of the quality of my rivals. The field for the Virgin London Marathon is as good as for a world championship. But I love running in London and relish the challenge. I hope my preparations go well,” said Mikitenko, who finished second in Chicago last October—a race that secured her the women’s title in the World Marathon Majors (WMM) series.
Working out a training schedule hasn’t been easy for Mikitenko given the extreme conditions in Europe this winter. The German record holder for the marathon (2:19:19) recently had to extend her training camp in Albufeira, Spain twice in order to avoid the snow at home. “I had originally planned to be in Spain for two weeks, then it became three and finally four,” explained Mikitenko, who was able to train well in pleasant temperatures of around 64 degrees Fahrenheit in Albufeira and has so far come through the winter without suffering any colds.
“Here at home training is difficult. You can hardly run in the forest because of the snow. At present I’m running on a cycle path where my husband Alexander has shoveled a way through,” she said. Mikitenko has been running back and forth along a 1.5-kilometer stretch, which doesn’t facilitate long runs. Her training schedule has her running 200K per week in this phase. If it’s too icy or slippery, the risk of injury increases. Faster runs, which she should be introducing to her schedule now in preparation for London, aren’t possible. “If conditions don’t improve, we may well go to Spain for a short spell,” said Mikitenko, who in preparation for London, is likely to run a shorter distance race. However, she has no plans for any lengthy high altitude training camp in her build-up for London.
