Berlin Marathon: Kenya’s Maina and debutant Esikon set for tough duel against top Ethiopians

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Berlin Marathon: Kenya’s Maina and debutant Esikon set for tough duel against top Ethiopians

Sunday 29th September, 2024 07:46 AM| By Kiplagat Sang

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Ethiopia’s Tigist Ketema will be one athlete to watch when the women’s Berlin Marathon category takes place on Sunday, September 29, 2024.

The Ethiopian will line up as the fastest in the field against Kenya’s Veronica Maina and Pauline Esikon, who will be making her debut.

The women’s field is dominated by Ethiopians, with Ketema, previously better known as an 800m and 1500m specialist, being the greatest rival to the Kenyan unit.

Ketema made her mark in the marathon in Dubai in January as she ran 2:16:07, a time that places her ninth on the women’s world marathon all-time list, according to World Athletics. She then ran 2:23:21 to place seventh in London in April, and Berlin will be her first race since then.

“I have prepared for a personal best and plan to run the first half on Sunday in around 68 minutes. I hope it won’t be too cold because I prefer to run in slightly warmer weather,” Ketema said, as quoted by World Athletics.

Ketema, who is one of three women with sub-2:20 personal bests on the entry list, is set to face competition from her compatriots Genzebe Dibaba and Yebrugal Melese, who have respective personal bests of 2:18:05 and 2:19:36.

Dibaba ran that personal best on her debut in Amsterdam in 2022, and she clocked 2:21:47 in Chicago a year later.

“I saw Haile Gebrselassie run two world records in Berlin on TV, and since then I’ve always wanted to run in Berlin. Now the time has come. It would be a success for me if I ran a personal best,” Dibaba said.

Another eight women on the entry list have dipped under 2:22 for the marathon in their careers so far, including Mestawot Fikir (2:20:45), Azmera Gebru (2:20:48), Sisay Gola (2:20:50), Fikrte Wereta (2:21:32), and Aberu Ayana (2:21:54), as well as Japan’s Mizuki Matsuda (2:20:52) and Ai Hosoda (2:21:42).

Germany’s Melat Kejeta is also part of that group, having clocked 2:21:47 in Dubai in January. She placed sixth at the Tokyo Olympics but was unable to finish the Olympic marathon in Paris due to stomach problems.

A total of 13 world records have so far been set in the Berlin Marathon, the most recent being the 2:11:53 by Tigist Assefa – a training partner of Ketema – in last year’s women’s race.