Mumbai: Kenya\u2019s John Kelai believes that he has the experience to once again triumph in the US$ 360,000 prize-money Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on Sunday, January 19.<\/p>\n
\u201cI appreciate the opportunity I have got to once again participate in this marathon. I have prepared well for this event. The competition is very strong and I have to go the extra mile to get the result,\u201d he stressed during an interaction with media persons at the SCMM Media Centre on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Kelai, a former two-time champion (2008 and 2009) and having run four years in Mumbai, is the most experienced runner in the \u2018Elite\u2019 field and he is confident of doing well. \u201cI\u2019ve participated four times in Mumbai and am looking forward to this race. Of all the competitors, I have the best experience and I know how to deal with the heat and I am well prepared. The runners list is long and it will definitely be a good race,\u201d pointed out Kelai, who has a personal best of 2:09.30 set at the 2007 Toronto Marathon.<\/p>\n
The Kenyan, who won gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, feels that it would give him the confidence to win this event.<\/p>\n
However, he will have to contend with Ethiopian Hailu Mekonnen and South Africa\u2019s Gladwin Mzazi. The Ethiopian\u2019s fastest time is 2:07.35 and he could upset the Kenyan, while Mzazi, who is making his debut in the Mumbai Marathon, has a 7th place finish in 2013 Delhi Half Marathon and is also capable of springing a surprise.<\/p>\n
Mekonnen said \u201cI have trained properly and expect a good result. The conditions here in Mumbai are hot as compared to Addis Ababa. The wind in Addis is cool, but I have worked hard and hope to adjust to the conditions to do well,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
The young South African admitted that he lacked experience but is prepared to have a shot at winning. \u201cI don\u2019t have much experience running the full marathon, but I will try my best to win the race,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s field will be equally challenging with Ethiopia\u2019s Dinknesh Mekash, whose personal best is 2:25.09 when she finished fourth at last year\u2019s Paris Marathon. \u201cI am glad to be here in Mumbai and will try to lower the course record (2:24.33). I will be trying my best, but God knows who will win,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ukraine\u2019s Yulia Ruban and Eunice Kales from Kenya are the ones who would pose a strong challenge to Mekash. The 30-year-old Ruban, who has a personal best of 2:27.00, stated that she has done some hard training back home and is fresh for this race as she has not participated in any event for the last eight months.<\/p>\n
Kales is new to Marathon and this event will her third and is hoping to doing well despite not preparing well due to illness. \u201cI am happy to be here and among strong athletes. I was unwell, down with pneumonia two weeks ago and was under medication and could not train well. But I am focused to give my best,\u201d she mentioned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mumbai: Kenya\u2019s John Kelai believes that he has the experience to once again triumph in the US$ 360,000 prize-money Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on Sunday, January 19.<\/p>\n
\u201cI appreciate the opportunity I have got to once again participate in this marathon. I have prepared well for this event. The competition is very strong and I have to go the extra mile to get the result,\u201d he stressed during an interaction with media persons at the SCMM Media Centre on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Kelai, a former two-time champion (2008 and 2009) and having run four years in Mumbai, is the most experienced runner in the \u2018Elite\u2019 field and he is confident of doing well. \u201cI\u2019ve participated four times in Mumbai and am looking forward to this race. Of all the competitors, I have the best experience and I know how to deal with the heat and I am well prepared. The runners list is long and it will definitely be a good race,\u201d pointed out Kelai, who has a personal best of 2:09.30 set at the 2007 Toronto Marathon.<\/p>\n
The Kenyan, who won gold in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, feels that it would give him the confidence to win this event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-isn-front-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n