Kipkemboi leads Kenyan marathon charge in Spain

Nicholas Kipkemboi and Nickson Kurgat will lead the Kenyan charge on Sunday at the Zurich Maraton of Seville in Spain with organizers witnessing historic participation at the competition in its 32nd edition.

Over 13,700 have registered for this year’s event that boasts the flattest course in Europe as approved by AIMS with a number of elite athletes out to topple the 2:08:14 course record set by Kenya’s Cosmas Kiplimo Lagat during last year’s edition.

The 31-year-old Kipkemboi, who ran 2:06:33 when he made his marathon debut at the 2013 Standard Chartered Dubai Marathon headlines the elite list with Ethiopian Tebalu Zawude Heyi (2:07:10) and Kurgat (2:07:11) also part of the star attraction.

Kipkosgei Bowen is among the Kenyans set to make their debuts over the ultimate distance race.

In the women’s race, Spanish champion Cantabria Paula González Berodia will make her highly anticipated return to Seville seeking a repeat of last year’s performance that saw her eclipse favoured Moroccan, Kaoutar Boulaid.

Of the 13,700 registered participants, 3,800 draw from Seville, while the foreign legion contributes for almost 3,000 of them – 20.41 percent of the entire contingent.

More than 1,600 participants are women (11.82%).

The race received the ‘IAAF Silver Label’ in November last year from the world athletics governing body, IAAF, as a mark that recognizes its organizational quality.

The Zurich Marathon of Seville 2017, cataloged as Silber Label by the IAAF in recent editions and which has also been recognized by the RFEA as the second best marathon in Spain after Valencia, and surpassing Madrid and Barcelona in ranking.