RUNNING GERMANY: HAMBURG – Kawauchi Hoping for History in Hamburg – by Brett Larner – Japan Running News

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Yuki Kawauchi (Saitama Pref. Gov't) returns to German soil for the first time in two years at Sunday's Haspa Hamburg Marathon. Running with support from JRN, Kawauchi faces an ideally-poised field including 2:05 man William Kipsang (Kenya), 2:06 runners Laban Korir (Kenya) and Eric Ndiema (Kenya), 2:07-level runners Shumi Dechasa (Bahrain) and Felix Keny (Kenya), sub-hour half marathon first-time marathoners Silas Kipruto (Kenya) and Lucas Rotich (Kenya) and more in a race set to go off with a 1:03-flat first half.

Appearing at the pre-race press conference on May 2, Kawauchi was clear and honest about his goals:

"Up to now I've broken 2:10 six times in Asia and have run 2:10 and 2:11 in Australia, but the best I've done in Europe and North America when I've been racing with jet lag is only 2:12. I view the marathon as a sport of learning, one where you can keep applying the new knowledge you gain each time to your future races. Hamburg will be my 35th marathon, and I hope to apply everything I've learned up to now to finally running a time in Europe worthy of a gold label athlete. It may sound like a modest goal to you, but I will be targeting a sub-2:10 on Sunday. If I can achieve that then it will help me reach more ambitious times in the U.S. and Europe in the future. To help get there I'm going to go out with a more conservative first half around 1:04:15. If I can handle the jet lag that should keep things comfortable enough for me to be in a position to run down most of the guys going out with the lead pack."

If Kawauchi succeeds in breaking 2:10 in Hamburg he will achieve a small piece of history, becoming the Japanese man to have broken the 2:10 barrier the most times in his career.

He will also tie the Japanese record for sub-2:20 marathons at 34 times.

In the women's race, Kenya's Georgina Rono is the clear favorite, her 2:21:39 best well over three minutes ahead of her closest competitors, Ethiopians Dinknesh Mekash and Melkam Gizaw. China's He Yinli is the only other woman in the field to have broken 2:30, with a 2:28:31 best from the 2012 Beijing Marathon, and could be a threat for a podium finish along with her countrywoman Yue Chao and debuting Kenyan Winny Jepkorir.

Haspa Hamburg Marathon Elite Field Highlights
Hamburg, Germany, 5/4/14

Men
William Kipsang (Kenya) – 2:05:49 (Rotterdam 2008)
Laban Korir (Kenya) – 2:06:05 (Amsterdam 2011)
Eric Ndiema (Kenya) – 2:06:07 (Amsterdam 2011)
Shumi Dechasa (Bahrain) – 2:07:12 (Seoul Int'l 2013)
Felix Keny (Kenya) – 2:07:14 (Valencia 2013)
Yuki Kawauchi (Japan/Saitama Pref. Gov't) – 2:08:14 (Seoul Int'l 2013)
Belay Asefa (Ethiopia) – 2:09:31 (Eindhoven 2013)
Mulue Andom (Eritrea) – 2:11:03 (Amsterdam 2013)
Alfredo Arevalo (Guatemala) – 2:12:53 (Ottawa 2004)
Ricardo Ribas (Portugal) – 2:14:14 (Hamburg 2012)
Hicham El Barouki (Morocco) – 2:14:38 (Casablanca 2011)
Silas Kipruto (Kenya) – debut – 59:39 (Milan 2010)
Lucas Rotich (Kenya) – debut – 59:44 (Den Haag 2011)
Philemon Rono (Kenya) – debut – 1:00:39 (Lille 2013)
Bonsa Dida (Ethiopia) – debut – 1:01:11 (World Half 2014)
Manuel Stockert (Germany) – debut – 1:05:04 (Freiburg 2014)
Julian Flugel (Germany) – debut – 1:05:49 (Freiburg 2014)

Women
Georgina Rono (Kenya) – 2:21:39 (Frankfurt 2012)
Dinknesh Mekash (Ethiopia) – 2:25:09 (Paris 2013)
Melkam Gizaw (Ethiopia) – 2:26:24 (Dusseldorf 2013)
He Yinli (China) – 2:28:31 (Beijing 2012)
Yue Chao (China) – 2:30:18 (Beijing 2012)
Mercy Kibarus (Kenya) – 2:31:14 (Venice 2013)
Filomena Costa (Portugal) – 2:33:34 (Prague 2011)
Katharina Heinig (Germany) – 2:34:20 (Hamburg 2013)
Veronica Pohl (Germany) – 2:35:02 (Frankfurt 2012)
Olga Kimaiyo (Kenya) – 2:36:57 (Beijing 2013)
Jane Fardell (Australia) – 2:37:35 (Paris 2013)
Winny Jepkorir (Kenya) – debut – 1:12:40 (Puck 2012)
Dorothy Peixoto (Portugal) – debut – 1:14:51 (Viana de Castelo 2012)

by Brett Larner – Japan Running News

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