Tune and Dibaba target women’s course record at Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon

Submitted by editor on 27 October 2010 - 12:45pm
Agnes Kiprop wins the Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon in 2009. Photo credit: Photorun.net

Ethiopians Dire Tune and Mare Dibaba are set to attack the women’s course record as the amazing development of recent years seems set to continue in Sunday’s Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon, an IAAF Gold Label Road Race.

With 18 men featuring personal bests of sub 2:10 and eight of them having run faster than 2:07:15 last year’s world-class course record from Gilbert Kirwa (Kenya/2:06:14) will be targeted.

If weather conditions are fine the Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon could well see its first sub 2:06 time. Somehow it is an irony that so many runners feature such personal bests, since it is not that long ago that the race eagerly waited for the first sub 2:10 performance.

It was not before 2003 and the introduction of Christoph Kopp as the elite athletes’ coordinator that such a time was finally achieved. But since then the men’s winner has always run sub 2:10.

 

Such is the extraordinary development that if a winner should run a 2:08 in good conditions on Sunday it would go down as quite a disappointment.

 

If you take the 15 fastest men’s times ever run in Frankfurt none of these is older than five years. And the average of the ten fastest times ever run has already come down to 2:07:39.6 hours.

 

While organisers had released names of the men’s elite field earlier the women runners have now been announced. In contrast to the men the women did not quite live up to expectations in the past few years. This is why a much stronger field has been signed for Sunday.

 

The aim is to finally break the five year-old course record set by Russia’s Alevtina Biktimirova (2:25:12). Five runners have been entered with personal bests of sub 2:26. Among them are Ethiopians Dire Tune and Mare Dibaba.

 

Tune has a personal best of 2:24:40 and was the winner of the Boston Marathon in 2008. Just recently she won the silver medal in the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships.

 

Dibaba ran a great marathon debut in Rome, where she finished third with 2:25:38 in March this year. Earlier she had improved Tune’s national half marathon record to 67:13 minutes.

 

Two Kenyans – defending champion Agnes Kiprop (PB: 2:26:22) and Caroline Kilel (2:25:24) – plus Hilda Kibet (Netherlands/2:30:33) could do very well as well.

 

Meanwhile European champion Zivile Balciunaite (Lithuania) had to withdraw due to illness and former world record holder and world champion Catherine Ndereba (Kenya) can not run because of a foot injury.

 

Main contenders of the Commerzbank Frankfurt Marathon are listed below:

MEN

BIB

NAME

GIVEN NAME

NAT

PB

RESULTS

2

Arusei

Moses

KEN

2:06:50

2009: 1. Seoul Marathon (2:07:54)
2008: 2. Paris Marathon (2:06:50)
2006: 2. Frankfurt Marathon (2:10:30)

3

Teimet

Sylvester

KEN

2:06:49

2010: 1. Seoul Marathon (2:06:49)
2009: 5. Chunchon Marathon (2:11:24)
2009: 3. Seoul Marathon (2:10:11)
2008: 1. Gyeongju Marathon (2:09:53)
2008: 1. Göteborg Halfmarathon (1:01:21)

4

Keitany

Elijah

KEN

2:06:41

2009: 2. Amsterdam Marathon (2:06:41)
2008: 3. Berlin Halfmarathon (1:00:10)

5

Mandago

David

KEN

2:06:53

2009:2. Seoul  Marathon (2:09:01)
2009: 6. Paris Marathon (2:06:53)

6

Kiprop

Francis

KEN

2:07:04

2009: 2. Berlin Marathon (2:07:04)
2008: 4. seoul Marathon (2:08:30)
2007: 11. Amsterdam Marathon (2:09:49)

7

Tola

Tadesse

ETH

2:06:41

2010: 1. Paris Marathon (2:06:41)
2010: 2. RAK Halfmarathon (59:49)

8

Kipsang

Wilson

KEN

2:07:10

2010: 3. Paris Marathon (2:07:10)
2010: 4. Abu Dhabi Halfmarathon (1:00:04)
2009: 4. WC-Halfmarathon (1:00:08)
2009: 2. Ras Al Khaimah Halfmarathon (58:59)
2009: 2. Valencia Halfmarathon (59:33)

9

Kigen

Wilson

KEN

2:08:16

2010: 3. Hamburg Halfmarathon (1:07:30)
2008: 2. Frankfurt Marathon (2:08:16)
2006: 4. Seoul Marathon (2:09:47)

10

Kigen

Wilfred

KEN

2:07:33

2010: 1. Hamburg Marathon (2:09:22)
2008: 2. Hamburg Marathon (2:07:48)
2007: 1. Frankfurt Marathon (2:07:58)
2007: 2. Hamburg Marathon (2:07:33)
2006: 1. Frankfurt Marathon (2:09:06)
2005: 1. Frankfurt Marathon (2:08:29)

11

Rotich

James

KEN

2:07:12

2009: 7. Eindhoven Marathon (2:09:33) 
2007: 3. Amsterdam Marathon (2:07:12)

12

Chelimo

Elias

KEN

2:08:15

2010: 8. Rotterdam Marathon (2:10:29)
2009: 4. Frankfurt Marathon (2:08:15)
2008: 2. Milano Marathon (2:08:39)

14

Sanga

Philip

KEN

2:08:07

2010: 5. Daegu Marathon (2:12:52)
2009: 2. Eindhoven Marathon (2:08:07)
2009: 5. Rome Marathon (2:10:09)

15

Asmerom

Yared

ERI

2:08:34

2010: 5. Seoul Marathon (2:11:46)
2009: 3. Lake Biwa Marathon (2:10:49)
2008: 2. Lake Biwa Marathon (2:08:34)
2008: 8. OG-Marathon (2:11:11)
2007: 4. WC-Marathon (2:17:41)

16

Bungei

Samson

KEN

2:08:36

2010: 4. Hannover Marathon (2:09:58)
2009: 2. Cologne Marathon (2:08:36)
2009: 1. Dortmund Marathon (2:09:23)

17

Sugut

Henry

KEN

2:08:40

2010: 1. Vienna Marathon (2:08:40)

19

Kutto

Edwin

KEN

2:09:50

2010: 3. Hannover Marathon (2:09:50)
2009: 4. Cologne Marathon (2:11:55)

20

Kiprono

Isaac

KEN

2:09:59

2004: 2. Padova Marathon (2:10:46)
2001: 5. Rotterdam Marathon

32

Kipkemboi

Laban

KEN

2:08:38

2009: 3. Los Angeles Marathon (2:10:29)
2008: 6. Hamburg Marathon (2:09:46) 
2007: 3. Seoul Marathon (2:08:38)

 

 

 

WOMEN

F01

Kiprop

Agnes

KEN

2:26:22

2010: 11. Boston marathon (2:33:21)
2009: 1. Frankfurt Marathon (2:26:57)
2009: 1. Turin Marathon (2:26:22)

F02

Tune

Dire

ETH

2:24:40

2010: 3. Worlds Best 10 km San Juan
2009: 2. Boston Marathon (2:32:17)
2008: 1. Boston Marathon (2:25:25)
2008. 15. Olympic Games Marathon
2008: 1. Houston Marathon (2:24:40)

F03

Kilel

Caroline

KEN

2:25:24

2010: 3. Seoul Marathon (2:26:58)
2009: 1. Ljubljana Marathon (2:25:24)

F05

Egigayehu

Asnakech

ETH

2:25:50

2010: 1. Milano Marathon (2:25:50)
2009: 3. Rock "n" Roll Marathon Arizona(2:33:32)
2008: 5. Amsterdam Marathon (2:34:31)

F06

Kimutai

Hellen

KEN

2:25:52

2010: 1. Vienna Marathon (2:31:08)
2009: 2. Frankfurt Marathon (2:27:50)
2007: 2. Roma Marathon (2:26:46)
2003: 1. hamburg Marathon (2:25:52)

F07

Dibaba

Mare

ETH

2:25:38

2010: 3. Rom Marathon (2:25:38) debut  
2010: 2. Ras Al Khaimah Halfmarathon (1:07:13)

F08

Andersson

Isabellah

SWE

2:26:52

2010: 5. EC-Marathon (2:34:43)
2010: 5. Dubai Marathon (2:26:52)

F09

Volgina

Natalia

RUS

2:27:32

2010: 1. Düsseldorf Marathon (2:30:47)
2009: 6. Toronto Marathon (2:35:50)
2007: 5. Rom Marathon (2:30:31)
2006: 2. Paris Marathon (2:27:32)

F10

Kibet

Hilda

NED

2:30:33

2009: 3. Amsterdam Mararthon
2009: 6. WC-Cross Amman
2008: 5. WC-Cross
2008: 1. EC-Cross
2007: 6. Amsterdam Marathon

F11

Kalovics

Aniko

HUN

2:29:04

2008: 1. Venedig Marathon (2:31:24)
2008: 3. Roma Marathon (2:29:04)
2007: 1 Torino Marathon (2:29:24)