We have picked three men and five women to watch in Sunday’s Mainova Frankfurt Marathon. They are the favourites for the race.
Men’s favourites:
Wilson Chebet (Kenya/33 years/PB: 2:05:27)
Marathon Highlights: 2010 – 2 Rotterdam 2:06:12. 2011 – 1 Rotterdam 2:05:27, 1 Amsterdam 2:05:53. 2012 – 1 Amsterdam 2:05:41. 2013 – 1 Amsterdam 2:05:36. 2014 – 2 Boston 2:08:48. 2015 – 3 Boston 2:10:22. 2016 – 2 Honolulu 2:10:50. 2017 – 5 Boston 2:12:35. 2018 – Boston DNF.
Consistency is the hallmark of Chebet’s marathon career, notably his three successive wins in Amsterdam, beginning in 2011. Earlier in the same year he added another Dutch title to his victories in winning Rotterdam with what is still his fastest time of 2:05:27. A member of the renowned training group of Wilson Kipsang, the course record holder for Frankfurt, he has continued to produce high quality performances without improving his personal best. There is no doubt that he is consistent and can be relied upon to be competitive. On the rolling hills of Boston he finished second with 2:08:48 in 2014, a time worth a good deal faster on a flat, fast course such as Frankfurt. This year’s Boston was a different story, not just for Chebet but many of the East African elite, who struggled in freak weather conditions. Chebet was among those who decided that discretion was the better part of valor on that day, but says dropping out has sharpened his determination to excel on his Frankfurt debut. His preparation has been meticulous, choosing training runs in Kenya which replicate the flat and fast course beside the River Main. While he was awaiting his plane for Frankfurt at Nairobi airport, he had a final discussion of plans with Wilson Kipsang, who is better qualified than anyone to advise on how to run fast here
Kelkile Gezahegn (Ethiopia/22 years/2:05:56)
Marathon Highlights: 2016 – 1 Chongqing/CHN 2:10:54, 1 Yingkou/CHN 2:12:58, 1 Hengshui/CHN 2:11:09, 1 Hefei/CHN 2:08:56. 2017 – 6 Rotterdam 2:07:29, 1 Lanzhou/CHN 2:11:54, 2 Frankfurt 2:06:56. 2018 – 3 Rotterdam 2:05:56, 1 Lanzhou/CHN 2:11:00.
An Ethiopian youngster who has already fully focussed on the marathon distance. Gezahegn had an extraordinary first international year, when he ran four marathons and won each of them. All these races took place in China and he improved from a fine 2:10:54 debut to a strong 2:08:56 in his first year. He came to the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon a year ago and finished runner-up, improving to 2:06:56. Then he ran another PB in Rotterdam this April with 2:05:56. In the meantime he has six wins from as many marathon aces in China. On Sunday Gezahegn aims to improve to a 2:04 time. „The field is strong and I want to show what I can do. The marathon is my distance. I would like to run the first half in 62 minutes on Sunday.“
Martin Kosgey (Kenya/29 years/2:07:22)
Marathon Highlights: 2012 – 1 Salzburg 2:16:36. 2015 – 3 Hannover 2:09:50, 5 Kosice 2:11:33. 2016 – 2 Hannover
2:11:54, 2 Frankfurt 2:07:22. 2017 – 9 Seoul 2:10:43, 4 Frankfurt 2:09:39 – 2018 – 6 Paris 2:08:31.
Kosgey takes on the Frankfurt Marathon for the third year in a row. He had good success here with a second place in 2016, when he clocked his still standing PB of 2:07:22, and a fourth place in 2017. He showed another strong performance in Paris 2018 in 2:08:31. This clearly marks his ability to reach the podium in Frankfurt again. Kosgey credits his racing experiences in the German-speaking world as the major factor in his rise to elite status. He wasn’t among the pre-race favourites in Frankfurt 2016 although his solid performances in the past two years marked him out as a man to watch, especially when he broke 2:10 for the first time in Hannover in It was a big step from his marathon debut of 2:16:36 to win the Salzburg title in Austria six years ago. As the eventual Frankfurt winner Mark Korir maintained his lead in the closing stages of Frankfurt 2016, Kosgey had to concentrate on beating his fellow Kenyan
Cybrian Kotut for second place. Confident in his race preparations, Kosgey sliced more than two-and-a-half minutes off his personal best to make sure of second place. In spring 2017 he finished ninth in Seoul with 2:10:43. He showed true fighting spirit when battling against tough weather conditions in Frankfurt 2017 to clock 2:09:39. His official half marathon best of 63:06 stems from Porto in September 2017, although he ran quicker at the Frankfurt Marathon a few weeks later when he was timed at halfway with 62:30.
Women’s favourites:
Mare Dibaba (Ethiopia/29 years/2:19:52)
All marathon races: 2010 – 3 Rome 2:25:38, 5 Frankfurt 2:25:27. 2011 – 3 Santa Momnica/US 2:30:25, 2 Toronto 2:23:25. 2012 – 3 Dubai 2:19:52, 22 Olympic Games London 2.28:48. 2014 – 1 Xiamen/CHN 2:21:36, 2 Boston 2:20:35, 1 Chicago 2:25:37. 2015 – 1 Xiamen/CHN 2:19:52, 2 Boston 2:24:59, 1 World Championships Beijing 2:27:35. 2016 – 6 London 2:24:09, 3 Olympic Games Rio 2:24:30. 2017 – 8 World Championships London 2:28:49. 2018 – 7 London 2:27:45.
Mare Dibaba is the first woman in the history of the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon to enter the race with a personal best of sub 2:20. Actually she ran her personal record of 2:19:52 twice! First Dibaba clocked this time in Dubai 2012, then she won the Xiamen race with this time in 2015. Later that year Dibaba became the first woman’s World Marathon Champion from Ethiopia, when she took the gold in Beijing after a thrilling finish with an advantage of just one second. The first four women crossed the line inside seven seconds. It was the closest marathon finish in the history of the World Championships. Measuring just 1.51 m the Ethiopian took the bronze medal in the Olympics a year later. Since then she did not quite reach her best again. On Sunday Mare Dibaba plans a more careful approach. She will probably run with the second group which is supposed to run the first half in 71:00. Mare Dibaba is not related to Tirunesh Dibaba.
Haftamnesh Tesfay (Ethiopia/24 years/2:20:13)
(Front bib)
Marathon race: 2018 – 5 Dubai 2:20:13
Running her marathon debut in Dubai this January Tesfay achieved a world-class time of 2:20:13 on the very fast course. It was the fourth fastest time ever by a debutant. Unlike many other Ethiopian world-class runners she did not run another marathon in spring and instead opted for a long preparation for her second marathon in Frankfurt. Tesfay, who has a long distance track background and was Africa’s Junior Champion at 3,000 m in 2013, did perform very well in two half marathon races in spring, winning both of them. First she took the high-class Rome-Ostia race with a PB of 69:02, then she was the winner in Shanghai in very warm conditions with 72:32. Tesfay may well be the strongest runner of the Ethiopians in Frankfurt.
Dera Dida (Ethiopia/22 years/2:21:45)
Marathon race: 2018 – 7 Dubai 2:21:45
Dida is another very promising marathon newcomer from Ethiopia running her second race at the distance on Sunday. Her development is very similar to the one from Haftamnesh Tesfay and they were running together in two major races this year. Dida also has a good track background. She was third in the African Championships at 5,000 m in 2016 and fourth at the World Championships in London 2017 in the 10,000 m final. Dida ran an impressive half marathon debut in 2017, taking second place in Houston last year. As did Tesfay she then ran her marathon debut in Dubai this January. She finished seventh in a very strong 2:21:45 and then also decided in favour of a long-term preparation for the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon. Dida was second behind Tesfay in the Rome Ostia Half Marathon this spring with a time of 69:21.
Meskerem Assefa (Ethiopia/33 years/2:21:45)
Marathon highlights: 2013 – 3 Houston 2:25:17, 2 Vienna City Marathon 2:31:18. 2014 – 2 Houston 2:25:59. 2015 – 4 Paris
2:25:58, 6 Chicago 2:25:11. 2017 – 1 Houston 2:30:18, 1 Rotterdam 2:24:18, 3 Frankfurt 2:24:38. 2018 – 2 Hongkong 2:29:42, 1 Nagoya 2:21:45.
Meskerem Assefa already finished on the podium of the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon a year ago, when she was third. Returning to Frankfurt she will be at the start line with a much improved personal best. She had a number of results in the region of 2:24 and 2:25, but then surprised in March this year, when she took Japan’s women’s elite race in Nagoya with 2:21:45.It was already her second marathon this year after a 2:29:42 in Hongkong just seven weeks earlier. Originally a middle distance runner, who competed for Ethiopia in the Olympic Games in 2008 (did not qualify from her heat), she then switched to the marathon half a year later. Assefa ran a very good debut finishing third in Houston with 2:25:17. While she was consistent in the following years she did not manage to improve much until this year in Nagoya. She comes back to the Mainova Frankfurt Marathon with a confidence boosting half marathon result. Last month she ran 68:34 – her second fastest ever at the distance – in Copenhagen where she finished 9th.
Betsy Saina (Kenya/30 years/2:22:56)
All marathon races: 2017 – Tokyo DNF; New York DNF. 2018 – 1 Paris 2:22:56.
After two failed landings, Betsy Saina is beginning to feel at home on what she describes as “Planet Marathon”. After a strong career on the track, where she finished fifth in the Olympic 10,000m in Rio in 2016, running a personal best of 30:07.78, she decided her future lay with the marathon. But her debut attempt in Tokyo in February 2017 and a second try in New York in November the same year ended in disappointment. That scenario was transformed in April this year when Saina triumphed in the first marathon she completed, winning Paris in 2:22:56. Frankfurt has been her focus since then. While she finished fifth in the Great North Run last year, a calf injury forced her to drop out of the race in Newcastle in the north of England this September. However, Saina confirms it was a minor setback and believes she is ready to go with the leaders: “I feel like a marathoner now and, who knows, I might be able to run 2:19 or 2:18 in my career?” She has followed the classic progression of the distance runner, showing strong talent on the track before concentrating on the road. Apart from her 10,000 m personal best in the Rio Olympics, she also finished seventh in the 3,000m at the 2016 World Indoor Championships in Portland, Oregon. Saina credits her time as a student and athlete at the Iowa State University as playing a key role in her overall development, including winning a US collegiate title in the 10,000m in 2013.
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