...let's have a quick peek at the other one just for a brief moment before we head straight back to London. Markus might disapprove that I digress. However, it was him who had the chance to run some miles on the Hamburg course last week before going crazy on the Reeperbahn.
Hamburg has been a Spanish affair in the past (we are not talking any further about this as things always seemed dodgy) but this year it will be the Africans who will steal one of the last Mzungo refugees. Joseph Riri and Daniel Cheribo will be the main contenders in Sunday’s (26) Hamburg Marathon. But there are more...
For the 24th edition 20,185 runners have entered Germany’s second biggest marathon behind Berlin. Around 800,000 spectators are expected to line the streets.
In the men’s race two Kenyans, who have done very well some years ago, look to be the favourites. Riri is the fastest in the field with a personal best of 2:06:49 from Berlin in 2004. Now 35 years old, the Kenyan had been second in Berlin. A year later Riri won the Lake Biwa Marathon in 2:09:00, which remains his second fastest ever and the only other race besides Berlin where he ran sub 2:10. Personally, I would love to see him win as I enter the horrific 35 age group myself this year at the NYC Marathon.
Cheribo’s personal best stands at 2:08:38. With this he won the Milan City Marathon in 2004. But after that big win the 28-year-old could not record anything similar. Unknown Ethiopian Adelo Roba could cause an upset to the two Kenyans. It remains to be seen if hopes of the organisers of getting a 2:08 winning time materialises on the fast course on Sunday.
And now back to London...
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