Former Olympic Games 3,000m steeplechase champion Brimin Kipruto will be making his maiden road race when he will compete at the Boulogne-Billancourt Christian Grangier half marathon on Sunday.
Kirptuo, who has been training alongside world marathon record holder Eliud Kipchoge, three time world half marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor and two time Toronto marathon champion Philemon Rono at Global Sports Communication will line up for the first time in the 21km distance.
The 2008 Olympic Games 3,000m steeplechase champion will be facing compatriots Josphat Tanui and Ethiopia’s Olika Adugna.
At 33, Kipruto won the 2007 world steeplechase title, was eliminated from his heat at the IAAF World Championships London 2017, which was his last competition to date.
Tanui has a personal best of 59:22 set last year in Usti, suggesting that Franklin Chepkwony’s course record of 1:00:11 from 2013 could be in jeopardy. His season’s best, however, is 1:01:14 from the Prague Half Marathon in April, while his most recent performance at the distance was a 1:02:42 clocking in Usti Nad Labem in September.
Ethiopia’s Adugna illustrated his current form by winning the challenging Marseille-Cassis 20km race three weeks ago. The 19-year-old finished fifth in the 10,000m at the IAAF World U20 Championships Tampere 2018.
Ishmael Kalale has set two half marathon PBs this year. The 23-year-old was runner-up in Verona in February in 1:01:03 before lowering his best to 1:00:47 in Lisbon one month ago.
The field also includes Precious Mashele of South Africa, who set a PB of 1:01:48 last year in Boulogne-Billancourt, Yismaw Ayeno of Ethiopia, who was fifth in Marseille-Cassis, and Taye Girma, whose 10km PB of 28:06 indicates he could play a leading role in what will be his half marathon debut.
In the women’s race, Kenya’s Parendis Lakapana will attempt to move up from her second-place showing last year. She set a PB of 1:09:13 on that occasion to finish 44 seconds adrift of Rahma Tusa, who broke the course record with 1:08:29.
Two months ago Lakapana won in Krems in a time of 1:09:23, only 10 seconds outside her PB.
Her main opponent should be compatriot Susan Jeptoo, who clocked a best of 1:09:02 in Lille last year. This year she has set PBs of 31:59 for 10km and 2:30:50 for the marathon, while she also prevailed in Porto in a season’s best of 1:11:06.
Irvette Van Zyl of South Africa, Karine Pasquier of France and Hanane El Bajaoui of Morocco should also be in contention for a podium finish.
Additional information IAAF