DRESDNER KLEINWORT FRANKFURT MARATHON ON 26th OCTOBER – Rodgers Rop adds more Kenyan strength

Rodgers Rop has been added to the field of the 27th Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon, making it the most promising men’s elite field in the history of the race. Germany’s oldest city marathon will be started on 26th October. Present entry figures suggest that a record number of 12,500 marathon runners will compete in Germany’s financial capital. Adding other running events the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon is expected to break the barrier of 20,000 runners for the first time.

Entries for the race are still accepted. For more information and online registration visit: www.frankfurt-marathon.com

The Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon is an IAAF Silver Label Road Race and Germany’s third biggest marathon behind Berlin and Hamburg.

32 year-old Rodgers Rop will join a strong group of Kenyan runners on 26th October. Though he does not feature the fastest personal best in the field his credentials make him the favourite of the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon. Rop has won the major marathons in New York and Boston and has also taken the Hamburg Marathon in 2007. It was in northern Germany last year, where he established his personal best of 2:07:32. In that race he just edged out fellow Kenyan Wilfred Kigen by one second. Kigen is Frankfurt’s three time winner (2005 – 2007) and the course record holder. Rop and a number of other Kenyan runners will now chase this record of 2:07:58, which Kigen had established only a year ago.

 It was in 2002 when Rodgers Rop has achieved a remarkable double. In April he won the Boston Marathon and little more than half a year later he also took New York. The Kenyan became only the fourth runner ever to win these two races in the same year. Marathon legends Bill Rodgers (USA/1978 and ’79) and Alberto Salazar (USA/1982) as well as Joseph Chebet (Kenya/1999) are the other three who took those two prestigious marathons in the same year. Rodgers Rop has achieved a number of other top placings in major city marathons and additionally has great personal bests at shorter distances, which suggest that he is capable of further improving his marathon best.

He has run the half marathon in 59:49 minutes in Lisbon and produced a world record in Berlin’s 25 k race in 2001, clocking 1:13:14. In 2007 Rodgers Rop was Haile Gebrselassie’s pacemaker up to the 30 k point (1:28:56), when the Ethiopian broke the world record in the Berlin Marathon. If he or another runner achieves a winning time of sub 2:07 in Frankfurt, he will earn a total of 95,000 Euros.

Rodgers Rop will face stiff opposition at the Dresdner Kleinwort Frankfurt Marathon on 26th October. Kenyans William Kiplagat (2:06:50) and Benjamin Maiyo (2:07:09) have already run faster than Rop while Benson Barus (2:08:34) and Stephen Kiogora (2:09:21) will also look to improve on the fast Frankfurt course. Another new addition to the field besides Rodgers Rop is fellow Kenyan Philemon Kirwa Tarbei, who won the Torino Marathon 2007 with 2:10:24.

There will be live reporting on the internet on 26th October at:

www.frankfurt-marathon.com