RUNNING GERMANY: BERLIN – BERLIN RUNS: BIG 25 Berlin with up to 11,000 runners on Sunday Abel Kirui challenges defending champion Richard Sigei in the BIG 25 Berlin

Double World Marathon Champion Abel Kirui will challenge fellow-Kenyan and defending champion Richard Sigei in Sunday's BIG 25 Berlin. A very competitive men's field will participate in this prestigious 25 k road race, which was the first major city road race in Germany back in 1981.

Organisers from BERLIN RUNS expect up to 11,000 athletes to compete in various running events.

Both of the world leading times of 1:13:54 and 1:24:45 could be improved on Sunday. However it is very unlikely that the course records will be broken. These marks are also the current world records: Kenya's Dennis Kimetto ran 1:11:18 two years ago while fellow-Kenyan Mary Keitany clocked 1:19:53, when finishing on the blue track of the Olympic Stadium in 2010.

"It is very good to be back in Berlin. I have great memories of the World Championships and I am looking forward to Sunday's 25 k race," said Abel Kirui, who took his first World Championship marathon gold medal in the German capital in 2009. Two years later he defended the title in Daegu (South Korea). Then Abel Kirui placed second in the Olympic marathon in London 2012. His personal best in the marathon stands at 2:05:04. However he could not defend his world title in Moscow last year and was not able to run a marathon in 2013 due to a leg injury. Kirui then returned to marathon racing in Tokyo this February, where he placed tenth.

The 31 year-old was not at his best yet at that time. "When you come back from a long injury you are much more careful during your training," explained Abel Kirui, who trains in Kapsabet. On Sunday he intends to show that he is on the way back to his best.

It will be interesting to see what Kirui can do in this race since he never competed at the 25 k distance. "I am in much better shape now and I want to run well, but I can not predict a time. I will go with the leading group," said Kirui, who talked about the BIG 25 Berlin with his training partner Samuel Kosgei. He ran a world record in this race in 2010 with 1:11:50.

Among Kirui's opponents there is Richard Sigei, who won the BIG 25 a year ago with a time of 1:13:34. Three more Kenyans are regarded as favourites besides Kirui and Sigei: Abraham Cheroben ran a fine race in Berlin recently, when he placed second in the half marathon with 59:14. He missed victory by just one step. Kenneth Kipkemoi was tenth in the World Half Marathon Championships in the end of March. He features a PB of 59:11 at this distance. In contrast Peter Some had his biggest success so far in the marathon. He won in Paris in 2013 with 2:05:38.

Four more Africans have fast personal bests in the half marathon, which indicates that they could do well on Sunday: South Africa's Dieudonne Disi has run 59:32, Ethiopia's Tebalu Zawude clocked 60:33 and Kenyans Edwin Rotich and Marc Korir have PBs of 59:59 and 60:49.

While the men's race is very open there are two favourites in the women's event: Kenyans Janet Rono and Valentine Kibet. Rono was fifth in the Tokyo Marathon this year with 2:26:03 while Kibet clocked 71:41 for fifth place in the Paderborn Half Marathon recently.

More information is available at: www.berlin-runs.com

BERLIN RUNS  25 k