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VIRGIN MONEY LONDON MARATHON 2016

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Elite Men

Entries

Bib no. Name Nation PB Bib name 1 Eliud Kipchoge KEN 2:04:00 KIPCHOGE 2 Dennis Kimetto KEN 2:02:57 KIMETTO 3 Wilson Kipsang KEN 2:03:23 KIPSANG 4 Stanley Biwott KEN 2:04:55 BIWOTT 5 Kenenisa Bekele ETH 2:05:04 BEKELE 6 Sisay Lemma ETH 2:05:16 LEMMA 7 Tilahun Regassa ETH 2:05:27 REGASSA 8 Abera Kuma ETH 2:05:56 KUMA 9 Samuel Tsegay ERI 2:07:28 TSEGAY 10 Ghirmay Ghebreslassie ERI 2:07:47 GHEBRESLASSIE 11 Amanuel Mesel ERI 2:08:17 MESEL 12 Serhiy Lebid UKR 2:08:32 LEBID 13 Arne Gabius GER 2:08:33 GABIUS 14 José Uribe MEX 2:08:55 URIBE 15 Tewelde Estifanos ERI 2:09:16 ESTIFANOS 16 Ghebre Kibrom ERI 2:09:36 KIBROM 17 Vitaliy Shafar UKR 2:09:38 SHAFAR 18 Marcin Chabowski POL 2:10:07 CHABOWSKI 19 Scott Overall GBR 2:10:55 OVERALL 20 Chris Thompson GBR 2:11:19 THOMPSON 21 Callum Hawkins GBR 2:12:17 C HAWKINS 22 Yuki Sato JPN 2:12:32 SATO 23 Rob Watson CAN 2:13:29 WATSON 24 Lee Merrien GBR 2:13:41 MERRIEN 25 Anuradha Cooray SRI 2:13:47 COORAY 26 Derek Hawkins GBR 2:14:04 D HAWKINS 27 Shawn Forrest AUS 2:14:37 FORREST 28 Phil Wicks GBR 2:15:38 WICKS 29 Paul Pollock IRL 2:15:38 POLLOCK 30 Ben Moreau GBR 2:15:52 MOREAU 31 John Beattie GBR 2:16:38 BEATTIE 32 Andrew Davies GBR 2:16:55 DAVIES 33 Stephen Scullion IRL 2:34:33 SCULLION 34 Gervais Hakizimana RWA Debut HAKIZIMANA 35 Tsegai Tewelde GBR Debut TEWELDE 36 Jonathan Hay GBR Debut HAY 37 Ryan McLeod GBR Debut MCLEOD 38 Matthew Bond GBR Debut BOND 39 Craig Mottram AUS Debut MOTTRAM

04 THE ELITE RACES


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Eliud Kipchoge will resume his rivalry with fellow Kenyans Dennis Kimetto and Wilson Kipsang when he defends the Virgin Money London Marathon title. Kipchoge beat two-time champion Kipsang by just five seconds in a thrilling sprint finish at the end of last year’s 35th race as world record holder Kimetto was left to fight for third place.

Kipchoge’s winning time of 2:04:42 was a fraction outside Kipsang’s course record, and the former world 5000m champion went on to win the Berlin Marathon last September in a personal best of 2:04:00. He now sits sixth on the all-time list behind Kimetto’s historic best of 2:02:57 and Kipsang’s former world record of 2:03:23. With Rio 2016 Olympic places to be won, there will be even more at stake for the Kenyan greats in 2016 when the trio toe the London start line again in pursuit of one of world running’s most prestigious prizes.

“It was fantastic to win the Virgin Money London Marathon last year against one of the greatest fields ever assembled in marathon running,” said Kipchoge. “This year I will come back to London to compete again with the world’s best athletes. I will work hard to defend my title in London and, together with Wilson, Dennis and others, make it a fast and wonderful race.”

Kipchoge’s superb record of five wins and one second place from six marathon starts since 2013 will make him the marginal favourite in a field that contains the top five finishers from 2015, four men who have run the 26.2-mile distance in under 2 hours 5 minutes, and 17 who have finished quicker than 2:10.

Kimetto and Kipsang are likely to be the champion’s main challengers, with the latter two looking to make

amends after dropping out of the World Championship race in Beijing last August. Kipsang has always shown great form in London with victories in 2012 and 2014, but he was unable to retain his New York title in November.

Kimetto will also feel he has something to prove after losing touch with his two compatriots on the run for home along London’s Victoria Embankment last year. He also dropped out in the early stages of December’s Fukuoka Marathon with a thigh injury and hasn’t won a race since his world record victory in Berlin in 2014.

The top three will all have a wary eye on another Kenyan, however, for Stanley Biwott added much to his credentials by taking his first World Marathon Majors victory in New York last November where he outran Kipsang and world half marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor in Central Park. Biwott finished fourth in the London Marathon last April a year after placing second when he was the surprise package, clocking a personal best to break the 2:05 barrier.

As ever, the favoured Kenyans will be challenged by runners from neighbouring east African countries, not least Ethiopia’s triple Olympic gold medallist and multiple world record-breaking track champion, Kenenisa Bekele, and Eritrea’s teenage hero from the Beijing World Championships, Ghirmay Ghebreslassie.

The 33-year-old Bekele moved up to take on the ultimate distance challenge in 2014 when he won the Paris Marathon in 2:05:04 before finishing fourth in Chicago that October. Injury kept him out of action in 2015 and he will be keen to make his mark on a long-awaited return to the roads.

Ethiopia’s talented quartet also includes Tilahun Regassa, who was fifth here last year, Sisay Lemma, the 2015 Frankfurt Marathon champion, plus last year’s Rotterdam champion Abera Kuma – all men who have run quicker than 2:06.

Ghebreslassie, the surprise world champion in Beijing, makes his first appearance in London alongside four compatriots – former Eritrean record holder Samuel Tsegay; Ghebre Kibrom, who finished eighth last year; Amanuel Mesel, who was ninth in Beijing; and Tewelde Estifanos, last year’s Oita Marathon champion.

Ukraine’s nine-times European cross country champion, Serhiy Lebid, is the top European in the line-up. He finished 10th last year. German record holder Arne Gabius also earns a place following his barrier-breaking fourth place in Frankfurt last October, while Poland’s former steeplechaser Marcin Chabowski and Lebid’s compatriot Vitaliy Shafar could also be top 10 contenders.

As for the rest of the world, there’s an intriguing marathon debut to watch from Australia’s former world 5000m bronze medallist, Craig Mottram, while Mexico’s José Uribe, a former Central American 5000m champion, will be looking to attack his PB.

There are also 14 Britons seeking Team GB Olympic places. The fight for Rio selection is previewed on page 81.

Preview: Return of the champions


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ELIUD KIPCHOGE (KENYA)Born: 5 November 1984 Kapsisiywa, Nandi DistrictMarathon best: 2:04:00 Berlin 2015London Marathon record: 2015- 1st 2:04:42Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: 2013- 2nd 2:04:05, 2015- 1st 2:04:00Chicago: 2014- 1st 2:04:11Other major city marathonsRotterdam: 2014- 1st 2:05:00Hamburg: 2013- 1st 2:05:30Marathons in major championships: None

Career notesFormer world 5000m champion Eliud Kipchoge ran what was then the quickest non-winning time ever at the 2013 Berlin Marathon when he clocked 2:04:05 to finish second behind Wilson Kipsang’s world record-breaking run.

In three years of marathon running, it is the only time the 31-year-old has lost at the distance for he’s since produced a remarkable unblemished record of four wins from four races throughout 2014 and 2015, and was clearly the world’s number one marathon runner last year.

After winning the Barcelona half marathon in February 2014, he triumphed at the Rotterdam Marathon that April in 2:05:00, then produced a magnificent late surge to win that October’s Chicago Marathon in 2:04:11, beating a high-quality field that included Emmanuel Mutai and Kenenisa Bekele.

He came to London last April full of confidence and duly justified his self-belief when he outsprinted reigning champion Kipsang in the final stages of the race, missing his compatriot’s course record by 13 seconds and leaving world record holder Dennis Kimetto in his wake.

He returned to Berlin at the end of September and triumphed in a personal best of 2:04:00 despite running almost the entire race with the insole from his shoe flapping around his ankle. That mishap may have cost him the world record but his second victory of the year proved enough to secure the World Marathon Majors Series IX prize.

Kipchoge moved up to the marathon as recently as April 2013 when he won the Hamburg Marathon in 2:05:30, beating the field by more than two minutes and setting a new course record. Three years later, his record reads: six marathons, five wins, one second; all run at 2:05:30 or better, and four under 2:05.

Previously, Kipchoge was best known for his exploits on the track, not least his upset victory at the 2003 World Championships in Paris when, at the age of 19, he won the 5000m gold medal defeating two giants of the distance, Kenenisa Bekele and Hicham El Guerrouj. Earlier that summer he’d broken the world junior record at the Bislett Games in Oslo, running 12:52.61.

Kipchoge had won the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships earlier that year, but his Paris victory proved to be his last at a major championships. He often came close in the following years but never again reached the top of the podium.

At World Championships he won a 5000m silver in 2007, but otherwise finished fourth in 2005, fifth in 2009 and seventh in 2011, while he won an Olympic bronze in 2004 and silver in 2008, beaten by Bekele both times, and a Commonwealth Games silver in 2010 behind Uganda’s Moses Kipsiro.

Aside from occasional 5km and 10km races, Kipchoge made his first appearance on to the roads in 2012 when he was sixth at the Kavarna World Half Marathon Championships.

He won the Barcelona half marathon in 2013 before making his marathon debut in Hamburg, but his half marathon PB stems from 2012 when he ran 59:25 in Lille.

Personal notesEliud Kipchoge was born in Kapsisiywa in the Nandi District in Kenya where his parents were farmers. He still lives mainly in Kapsisiywa.

He trains at the Global Sports camp in Kaptagat but is based in Nijmegen, Netherlands, during the summer season.

Kipchoge has a daughter Lynne Jebet, born in 2006.

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By then, however, Kimetto already believed he had the potential to break the 2:03 barrier and he lived up to those predictions on 28 September 2014 when his historic run prompted a flood of speculation about the prospects of a sub-2 hour marathon, an achievement he declared was just a matter of time.

However, that win in Berlin was his last, for after finishing third behind Kipchoge and Kipsang on his London debut last year, he failed to finish at both last summer’s World Championships in Beijing and December’s Fukuoka Marathon in Japan where he suffered a thigh injury after 2km.

Personal notesHis full name is Dennis Kipruto Kimetto. He started training in 2008 and did not develop into a world class runner until his late 20s, spending the preceding years as a farmer earning money for his family by selling crops in Kenya’s Rift Valley.

“I would listen to the radio at home, and hear commentary on athletics,” he explained. “That’s what inspired me. It was the poverty that made me run; I thought athletics was the way to escape the poverty.”

Kimetto started training alone on the trails around Iten, and was soon spotted by Kipsang and Mutai, who invited him to join their group. “It was really painful at first because I couldn’t stay with them,” Kimetto remembered. “But in time I became as good as them.”

He is married to Caroline Chepkemei and they have a son Alphas Kibet, born in 2012. He bought a new house for his family in Eldoret with his prize money from running.

DENNIS KIMETTO (KENYA)Born: 22 January 1984 Marathon best: 2:02:57 Berlin 2014London Marathon record: 2015- 3rd 2:05:50Other World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2012- 2nd 2:04:16, 2014- 1st 2:02:57Boston: 2014- dnfChicago: 2013- 1st 2:03:45Tokyo: 2013- 1st 2:06:50Other major city marathonsFukuoka: 2015- dnfMarathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2015- dnf

Career notesDennis Kimetto became the first man in history to run under two hours three minutes when he clocked 2:02:57 to break the world record at the 2014 Berlin Marathon. He did it in only his fifth marathon by running the fastest second half in history (excluding the downhill Boston course) at 61 minutes 12 seconds.

Kimetto took 26 seconds from his training partner Wilson Kipsang’s mark, set in the same race the previous year, and also beat the unofficial world best of 2:03:02 by Geoffrey Mutai, another training partner, set in Boston in 2011.

Kimetto covered the first half in 61:45 and increased his pace in the second, finally shaking off his last challenger, Emmanuel Mutai, with less than 5km to go. Mutai was also inside the previous record with 2:03:13.

A latecomer to world class distance running, Kimetto ran his first international race in Nairobi in 2011, aged 27, when he won the half marathon in 61:30.

A recent recruit to Kipsang and Mutai’s training group, he progressed rapidly, winning the 2012 Berlin half marathon that April in 59:14 before, a month later, breaking the world record for 25km at the BIG 25 race in the German capital. He clocked 1:11:18. He ran his first full marathon in Berlin too, in September 2012, and finished second to Mutai in 2:04:16, the fastest debut ever.

He stepped up again in 2013 when he won two World Marathon Majors events, starting with the Tokyo Marathon in January, where he broke the course record in 2:06:50, followed by the Chicago Marathon that October, where he ran 2:03:45, just 22 seconds outside Kipsang’s then world record.

It was both a course record and a North America all-comers’ record. In the process, Kimetto became the first man ever to cover each 5km segment of a marathon in under 14:50.

The first blip in Kimetto’s meteoric rise came two years ago at the Boston Marathon when he dropped out after going through 30km in 1:32:31.

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He returned to Frankfurt in 2011 and made a bold attack on the world record. He put in a magnificent effort over the last 5km but missed the target by four seconds, settling instead for another course record with 2:03:42, more than a minute quicker than 2010.

Kipsang’s London Marathon victory in 2012 was similarly impressive. Competing for a place on Kenya’s Olympic team, he stamped his authority on a high-quality field and crossed the line in 2:04:44, missing Mutai’s course record by four seconds.

He returned to London that August to spearhead Kenya’s 2012 Olympic bid. Despite establishing an early lead he could not maintain the pace and eventually finished third.

He warmed up for the 2013 London Marathon with victory at the New York half in 61:02, but he could place no higher than fifth that year, his lowest finish in 14 marathon starts. He skipped the Moscow 2013 World Championships, saving himself for his world record assault in Berlin which he executed to perfection before his second London victory in 2014.

He was 11th in the Ra’s Al-Khaymah half marathon on 12 February this year in 62:16.

Personal notesKipsang was working as a travelling salesman of farm produce when inspired to take up running by Paul Tergat’s 2003 marathon world record. He began running for the Kenyan police force and was discovered when he finished second in the Tegla Loroupe Peace Race over 10km.

He is married to Doreen Jepkechei Chebii and they have four children. He owns a 37-room hotel on the road between Eldoret and Iten. His full name is Wilson Kiprotich Kipsang.

WILSON KIPSANG (KENYA)Born: 15 March 1982 Keiyo DistrictMarathon best: 2:03:23 Berlin 2013London Marathon record: 2012- 1st 2:04:44, 2013- 5th 2:07:47, 2014- 1st 2:04:29, 2015- 2nd 2:04:47Other World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2013- 1st 2:03:23New York: 2014- 1st 2:10:59, 2015- 4th 2:12:45Other major city marathonsFrankfurt: 2010- 1st 2:04:57, 2011- 1st 2:03:42Honolulu: 2012- 1st 2:12:31Otsu: 2011- 1st 2:06:13Paris: 2010- 3rd 2:07:13Marathons in major championships Olympics: 2012- 3rd 2:09:37Worlds: 2015- dnf

Career notesWilson Kipsang broke the course record to win his second London Marathon title in 2014, outbattling Stanley Biwott in the final mile and a half of the race to beat Emmanuel Mutai’s mark by 26 seconds.

He’d arrived in the British capital as the world record holder having broken Patrick Makau’s two-year-old mark at the Berlin Marathon in September 2013. He may have lost that accolade to Dennis Kimetto a year later, but he bounced back by adding a first New York Marathon victory to his list of honours that November and won half a million dollars as the 2013/14 Series VIII World Marathon Majors men’s champion.

His bid to become the fourth man to win the London Marathon three times was thwarted last year when Eliud Kipchoge beat him by five seconds. He nevertheless started the World Championships race in Beijing as one of the favourites, but dropped out in the clammy heat of the Chinese capital.

His attempt to retain his New York title also faltered last November when he finished fourth in foul weather, two minutes adrift of winner Biwott.

The 34-year-old has won eight out of his 14 marathons so far and remains third on the world all-time list thanks to his former world record of 2:03:23, but he will feel he has something to prove after 18 months without a victory.

Principally a road runner, Kipsang’s main performance of note before his marathon debut in 2010 was fourth at the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships. He was also second at the 2009 Ra’s Al-Khaymah half marathon in 58:59, still his PB.

His first marathon came in Paris in 2010 when he was third in 2:07:13, half a minute behind winner Tadesse Tola. He won the Frankfurt Marathon that October in a course record of 2:04:57, beating Tola by more than a minute. He set another course record when he won the 2011 Lake Biwa Marathon in Otsu in 2:06:13.

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STANLEY BIWOTT (KENYA)Born: 21 April 1986 Marathon best: 2:04:55 London 2014London Marathon record: (2011- pace), 2013- 8th 2:08:39, 2014- 2nd 2:04:55, 2015- 4th 2:06:41Other World Marathon Majors New York: 2013- 5th 2:10:41, 2015- 1st 2:10:34Other major city marathonsCarpi: 2006- 7th 2:14:25Chunchon: 2011- 1st 2:07:03Paris: 2012- 1st 2:05:12Reims: 2010- 2nd 2:09:41São Paulo: 2010- 1st 2:11:19Shanghai: 2012- 3rd 2:09:05Marathons in major championships: None

Career notesAfter a series of top five finishes, Stanley Biwott finally won his first World Marathon Majors race in New York last November where he outran world half marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor in Central Park.

It was his first marathon win since Paris in 2012 and one based, he said, on increased endurance training to cope better over the last five kilometres.

Biwott finished fourth in last April’s London Marathon a year after placing second when he was the surprise package, clocking a personal best to break the 2:05 barrier behind Wilson Kipsang.

Despite starting as only the eighth quickest man in the field, he ran stride-for-stride with the then world record holder until the final stages of the race and followed his countryman across the line in 2:04:55 to ensure 2014 was the first year that two men have broken 2:05 in London.

Biwott had taken nearly two minutes from his PB to win the 2012 Paris Marathon, crossing the line in 2:05:12, a course record. It was a significant move into world class for the Kenyan whose marathon career began six years earlier in Carpi, where he was seventh. He didn’t run a marathon again until 2010 when he won the São Paulo Marathon in 2:11:19, the fastest ever in South America.

He dipped under 2:10 for the first time at the 2010 Reims to Toutes Jambes, where he was three seconds behind winner Stephen Chebogut in 2:09:41. And at the Chunchon Marathon in 2011 he outran his training partner Jonathan Kosgei Kipkorir and took another two and a half minutes from his PB with a course record of 2:07:03.

After his course record win in Paris 2012, he headed to USA and won both the Beach to Beacon 10km, in a PB of 28:00, and the Falmouth 7 miles road race. He was also a comfortable winner at the Philadelphia half marathon, finishing 40 seconds ahead of the field, and at the Rock ‘n’ Roll half in San Antonio in November.

His good form continued in 2013 when he was second at the Ra’s Al-Khaymah half in a PB of 58:56, and he ran well on his London debut that April when he was leading the race with less than five miles to go until Emmanuel Mutai swept past him. He struggled on the run-in and eventually finished eighth in 2:08:39.

He was among the leaders in the New York Marathon that November too, sticking with eventual winner Geoffrey Mutai until mile 23 and eventually finishing fifth in 2:10:41.

He withdrew from the 2014 Ra’s Al-Khaymah half marathon because of ‘leg pain’, but was a close runner-up this year in 60:40, just beaten by Birhanu Legese.

Personal notesHis full name is Stanley Kipleting Biwott. He is married to Nancy Cherop Biwott and they have a son, Alan Kipchumba.

His brother Norris Biwott ran 2:11:29 in 2013.

He worked on his family’s dairy farm before becoming a runner in 2006, and still owns 10 cows.

He began working with Italian coach Claudio Berardelli in 2006.

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KENENISA BEKELE (ETHIOPIA)Born: 13 June 1982 BekojiMarathon best: 2:05:04 Paris 2014London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon MajorsChicago: 2014- 4th 2:05:51Other major city marathonsDubai: 2015- dnfParis: 2014- 1st- 2:05:04Marathons in major championships: None

Career notesKenenisa Bekele is one of the greatest male distance runners of all time, winner of three Olympic titles, five World Championship gold medals on the track, and 11 world cross country titles, plus a world indoor gold.

He currently holds world and Olympic records for both 5000m and 10,000m. He has held the world records for 5000m (12:37.35) and 10,000m (26:17.53) longer than anyone in history apart from Paavo Nurmi’s 13 years for 10,000m (1924-37). He set the 5000m in 2004 and the 10,000m in 2005.

He is the most successful runner ever at the World Cross Country Championships with six long and five short course titles (plus one junior title). With team and junior medals, plus individual silvers and bronzes, his World Cross medal total stands at 29 (17 of them gold).

His four successive World Championship 10,000m titles – from 2003 to 2009 – matched the winning streak of his one-time hero and mentor Haile Gebrselassie, and in 2009 he became the first man to win both 5000m and 10,000m at the World Championships. In 2008 he became the sixth man in history to win the 5000m/10,000m double at the same Olympic Games.

When he won the 3000m at the 2006 World Indoor Championships he became the first man in history to be Olympic, world outdoor, world indoor and world cross country champion at the same time.

He moved up to the roads with great success in 2013, winning the Great North Run in comprehensive style from Mo Farah and Gebrselassie in 60:09.

He made his marathon debut in Paris the following spring and despite running alone for much of the race, smashed the course record with 2:05:04, the sixth fastest marathon debut at the time and quicker than the first-time efforts of former world record holders Gebrselassie and Paul Tergat, and 2008 Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru.

His second marathon in Chicago that October provided stiffer opposition and although he ran with the leaders through 30km, and again finished under 2:06, he faded to fourth as Eliud Kipchoge led a Kenyan sweep of the podium.

His ambitious plan to contest three marathons in nine months foundered in January last year when he was forced to drop out of the lucrative Dubai Marathon after 30km suffering with hamstring problems which have kept him out of competition ever since.

Renowned for his sprint finish, he was recorded running a 52.63-second last lap of a 10,000m in 2003, including a 200m segment of 24s and a 100m of 12s.

Personal notesBekele was born the second of six children in Bekoji, the same town which produced the record-breaking Dibaba sisters, Ejegayehu, Tirunesh and Genzebe, and their aunt Derartu Tulu, plus Olympic marathon champions Gezahegne Abera and Tiki Gelana. He started running in primary school, inspired by Tulu and Gebrselassie.

His younger brother Tariku Bekele is also a world class distance runner who beat him to claim the bronze medal in the 10,000m final at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Bekele suffered tragedy on 4 January 2005 when his fiancée, 18-year-old Alem Techale, a world youth 1500m champion, died of an apparent heart attack while out on a training run with him. He married Ethiopian film actress Danawit Gebregziabher on 18 November 2007.

In 2012, Bekele built a six-lane all-weather track in Sululta, a town 25 minutes from Addis Ababa. He also built two hotels nearby for visiting athletes to stay in. The track has a softer surface than the notoriously hard circuit at the national stadium in Addis.

Bekele’s manager Jos Hermens once said: “He is not Jesus Christ because he can’t walk on water. But on land, no one can beat Kenenisa Bekele.”

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SISAY LEMMA (ETHIOPIA)Born: 12 December 1990 Marathon best: 2:05:16 Dubai 2016London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsCarpi: 2012- 1st 2:11:58Dubai: 2015- 5th 2:07:06, 2016- 4th 2:05:16Eindhoven: 2013- 4th 2:09:44Frankfurt: 2015- 1st 2:06:26Tiberias: 2013- 5th 2:09:08Vienna: 2015- 1st 2:07:31Warsaw: 2013- 1st 2:09:02Marathons in major championships: None

Career notesSisay Lemma won the Frankfurt Marathon last October to bring his list of victories to four from eight career marathons so far, while he has never once been outside the top five.

Lemma made a winning start to his marathon career when he emerged at the age of 21 to win the 2012 Enzo Memorial Marathon in Carpi, Italy. Three months later he was fifth in Tiberias, in Israel, almost three minutes quicker, and he went on to win the Orlen Warsaw Marathon in April 2013, reducing his PB to 2:09:02.

After finishing fourth at the De Lage Landen Marathon in Eindhoven later that year he missed a year of racing before re-emerging at the prestigious Dubai Marathon in January 2015 where he came fifth, improving his best on the super-fast course to 2:07:06.

He followed it up last April by winning a windy race in Vienna by four minutes, the biggest winning margin in the race’s 32-year history.

He then took a notable victory in Frankfurt, where he shaved another 40 seconds from his best as he and Gulume Tollesa achieved the first Ethiopian double at the event. Lemma was one of three men who entered the final kilometre together and he pulled away from Kenyans Lani Rutto and Alfers Lagat to become the first Ethiopian man to win in the German city.

He wasn’t satisfied, however, claiming he should have run 2:05, so he returned to Dubai this January and did just that, moving up to fourth as he clocked yet another PB of 2:05:16.

Exclusively a road runner, Lemma is yet to represent his country.

He has a half marathon best of 62:06 from Gothenburg last May.

Personal notesHis full name is Sisay Lemma Kasaye.

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TILAHUN REGASSA (ETHIOPIA)Born: 18 January 1990 NazretMarathon best: 2:05:27 Chicago 2012London Marathon record: 2015- 5th 2:07:16Other World Marathon MajorsBoston: 2014- dnfChicago: 2012- 3rd 2:05:27Other major city marathonsDubai: 2016- 8th 2:08:11Eindhoven: 2014- 1st 2:06:21Rotterdam: 2013- 1st 2:05:38Xiamen: 2015- 2nd 2:06:54Marathons in major championships: None

Career notesTilahun Regassa made a spectacular marathon debut when he finished third at the 2012 Chicago Marathon in 2:05:27, then the third fastest debut on a standard course. He kept Sammy Kitwara out of the medals completing an Ethiopian clean sweep led by two-time London Marathon winner Tsegaye Kebede.

Regassa was familiar with most of the Chicago course as he had been a pacemaker the previous year, when he passed 30km in 1:29:25 (at 2:06 marathon pace).

He followed his debut with two prestigious European wins, first at the 2013 Rotterdam Marathon, when he triumphed by more than a minute and finished just 11 seconds outside his PB, and then in October in Eindhoven, having failed to finish the 2014 Boston Marathon that April.

In January last year he was second in the Xiamen Marathon behind Moses Mosop before finishing fifth on his London debut behind four Kenyans, the first time he’d completed a marathon outside 2:07 and the first time he’d failed to make the podium.

He wasn’t among the medals in Dubai this January either as he placed eighth on the famously fast course in 2:08:11.

Regassa is also a sub-one hour half-marathon runner with a best of 59:19 from his victory in the 2010 Zayed International in Abu Dhabi, worth US$300,000.

He ran for Ethiopia at the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham, finishing 11th in 62:08 and winning a team bronze.

He set four PBs in 2012 including 27:18.90 for 10,000m when he was sixth in Hengelo and 43:01 for 15km, his winning time in the Boilermaker road race in New York State.

Personal notesHis full name is Tilahun Regassa Dabe.

Regassa’s parents divorced when he was three and he was raised by his father until the age of 15, when his father died. He worked for a stone company and lived on the streets for three years, relying on food handouts.

At 16, he entered the Great Ethiopian Run and came fourth. A year later he was ninth. Local coaches told an elite manager, Hussein Makke, of his potential, and Makke took him into his stable of runners to train full-time. He began competing in Europe in 2008.

Regassa was once described by his manager as “one of the most talented athletes in the world”, but also as “a wild man, in every meaning of the word”.

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ABERA KUMA (ETHIOPIA)Born: 31 August 1990 AmboMarathon best: 2:05:56 Berlin 2014London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2014- 3rd 2:05:56Chicago: 2015- 9th 2:13:44Other major city marathonsDubai: 2014- 10th 2:09:53Gunsan: 2014- 3rd 2:14:52Rotterdam: 2015- 1st 2:06:47Marathons in major championships: None

Career notesThe 2015 Rotterdam Marathon champion runs his first London Marathon after four outings over 26.2 miles in the last two years.

A former African junior champion over 5000m, Kuma made his marathon debut in 2014 when he was 10th in Dubai in 2:09:53, a time he reduced by some four minutes nine months later when he was third at the Berlin Marathon in 2:05:56, swept along in the wake of Dennis Kimetto’s world record-breaking run.

Victory in Rotterdam followed last April when he pulled away from more experienced rivals such as Kenyans Mark Kiptoo and Bernard Koech in the last seven kilometres, slowed only by the strong winds.

Kuma was less successful at last October’s Chicago Marathon, however, when he finished ninth in his slowest time so far.

Kuma had proven track pedigree before he moved up to the roads. Following his African junior win in 2009, he twice qualified for IAAF World Championships finals, finishing fifth in the 5000m in Daegu 2011 and fifth again over 10,000m in Moscow two years later. He has personal bests of 13:00.15 for 5000m (2011) and 26:52.85 for 10,000m (2013).

In 2012, Kuma gave a strong indication of his ability on the road when he made his half marathon debut in Birmingham and finished second in 60:19, which remains his PB for the distance.

He finished eighth at the prestigious Ra’s Al-Khaymah half last year and he was third at this year’s Egmond Aan Zee half in the Netherlands in 68:40.

Kuma was 16th at the 2010 World Cross Country Championships but was disqualified in 2011 after he and Samuel Tsegay of Eritrea began fighting in the final stretch. Tsegay grabbed Kuma’s leg and threw a punch, later accusing the Ethiopian of deliberately elbowing him and standing on his heels. The IAAF disqualified both athletes.

Personal notesHis full name is Abera Kuma Lema. He was born in Ambo.

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SAMUEL TSEGAY (ERITREA)Born: 24 October 1988 KudofelasiMarathon best: 2:07:28 Amsterdam 2011London Marathon record: 2012- 9th 2:08:06,2014- 18th 2:19:10, 2015- dnfOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsAmsterdam: 2011- 8th 2:07:28Fukuoka: 2015- dnfMarathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- dnfWorlds: 2013- 16th 2:14:41

Career notesTsegay was ninth on his London Marathon debut four years ago, clocking 2:08:06, but he dropped out of the London Olympic race a few months later and was 16th at the World Championships in Moscow in 2013.

He returned to the London Marathon in 2014 full of confidence after picking up a silver medal at the 2014 World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen that March. Tsegay ran a personal best of 59:21 and helped Eritrea to take the team gold for the first time.

But he again struggled to find his best form in the British capital, and slipped back over the second half of the race to finish 18th in 2:19:10.

His fortunes didn’t improve last April when he dropped out in London after 25km while on pace for a 2:05 finish. He also dropped out in Fukuoka last December, a sequence of DNFs he’ll be hoping to break this year.

Tsegay took the Eritrean record from Yonas Kifle when he made his marathon debut in Amsterdam in October 2011, only to see it vanish a week later when Yared Asmerom took one second from his time of 2:07:28.

Tsegay finished eighth in the Dutch city, an encouraging step up for the then 23-year-old who had twice finished fifth at previous World Half Marathon Championships and was an experienced cross country international at junior and senior levels.

He broke the national junior 10,000m record when he was fourth at the 2006 World Junior Championships and lowered it again when eighth at the 2007 All-African Games. He also finished eighth in the junior races at the 2006 and 2007 World Cross Country Championships.

At senior level he was 16th at the World Cross in 2009 when the Eritrean team took bronze. He also represented Eritrea over 5000m at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin where he was eliminated in the heats.

A fifth place at the 2010 World Cross gained him a team silver but he was disqualified in 2011 after he and Abera Kuma began fighting in the final stretch. Tsegay accused the Ethiopian of deliberately elbowing him and standing on his heels. He reacted by grabbing Kuma’s leg and threw a punch before dashing to the finish. The IAAF disqualified both athletes.

On the roads, Tsegay made an encouraging step up to the half marathon when he was fifth at the 2009 World Championships in Birmingham and he was fifth again in Nanning the following year.

He ran a personal best for 10 miles (44:38) in Zaandam in September 2011 before making his marathon debut in the same country a month later.

In 2013 he ran PBs for 10km and 15km and was sixth in the Lisbon half marathon while in 2014 he won the Eritrean half marathon championships in 59:42 before his medal-winning performance in Copenhagen.

Personal notesHis full name is Samuel Tsegay Tesfamriam.

He is coached by Jeronimo Bravo who also coaches world half marathon record holder Zersenay Tadese.

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GHIRMAY GHEBRESLASSIE (ERITREA)Born: 14 November 1995 KisadekaMarathon best: 2:07:47 Hamburg 2015London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon MajorsChicago: 2014- 6th 2:09:08Other major city marathonsDubai: 2015- dnfHamburg: 2015- 2nd 2:07:47Marathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2015- 1st 2:12:28

Career notesGhirmay Ghebreslassie was just 19 when he became world marathon champion in Beijing last summer, surprising everyone as he claimed a place in the history books as the youngest marathon gold medallist ever.

He was also the first Eritrean to win a World Championships title, joining his illustrious compatriot Zersenay Tadese, the 2009 10,000m silver medallist, as only the second athlete from his country to win a medal of any colour.

He won his place on the Eritrean team just four months earlier when he was second in Hamburg in 2:07:47 having made his debut in Chicago the previous October. In fact, he started the Chicago race as a pacemaker, originally intending to run to 25km as a learning experience. He decided to finish the race and placed sixth in 2:09:08.

Ghebreslassie started running at school encouraged (against his parents’ wishes) by a PE teacher, and won 3000m gold and 5000m silver at a schools event. He first competed overseas in 2012, placing ninth in the junior race at the African Cross Country Championships and clocking 28:33.37 for 10,000m at the FBK Games in Hengelo.

The following year he was seventh at the 2013 World Cross Country Championships in Poland but injuries persuaded him to give up on track training and prepare for the roads, a switch encouraged by victory on his half marathon debut in Paderborn in 60:09.

Despite a bout of sickness during training, Ghebreslassie was just one second slower than that personal best at the 2014 World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen where he was seventh, helping Eritrea to take team gold.

The one blip in his progress to the world title came at the 2015 Dubai Marathon when he dropped out after 25km having missed 11 days’ training with pain in his right leg.

After placing second in Hamburg last April he increased his training runs to prepare for Beijing where he coped with the heat and humidity of the Chinese capital better than any of his rivals, including Kenya’s world record holder Dennis Kimetto and former world record holder Wilson Kipsang who both withered in the blistering morning sun.

Ghebreslassie made his winning bid with 3km left to push clear of Ethiopia’s Yemane Tsegay. “It was difficult,” he said afterwards. “But we Eritreans never give up until the finish line.”

Personal notesBorn into a rural farming community in the village of Kisadeka – around 115km south of the Eritrean capital, Asmara – Ghebreslassie started running 7km to and from school when he heard that distance greats such as Tadese and Haile Gebrselassie had built their endurance that way.

Encouraged by a PE teacher, he first ran competitively in 2009, defying his parents who wanted him to stick to academic pursuits. “My parents wanted me to be a great university student, but I wanted to become a good athlete,” he said. “When they saw that I had the potential to become a good runner, they started supporting me.”

He is coached now by Dutchman Veron Lust and managed by legendary agent Jos Hermens, who once guided his near namesake Haile Gebrselassie to world and Olympic honours.

A huge football fan, Ghebreslassie has been supporting Manchester United since Cristiano Ronaldo was playing for the Red Devils.

He achieved victory in Beijing on the back of longer strength runs and a sleepless night worrying about his country’s high expectations.

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AMANUEL MESEL (ERITREA)Born: 29 December 1990 AsmaraMarathon best: 2:08:17 Valencia 2013London Marathon record: 2014- dnfOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsFukuoka: 2015- dnfPrague: 2013- 6th 2:11:51Valencia: 2013- 2nd 2:08:17, 2014- 5th 2:10:54Warsaw: 2015- 4th 2:08:18Marathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2015- 9th 2:15:07

Career notesAmanuel Mesel returns to the London Marathon hoping to improve on his performance two years ago when he dropped out.

A former Eritrean junior record holder at 5000m, Mesel has been running internationally for almost 10 years. He was 16th in the junior race at the 2007 World Cross Country Championships and moved up to ninth the following year.

He made his senior debut for Eritrea in 2007 when he was 11th in the African Games 5000m. Then in 2010 he placed 13th at the World Half Marathon Championships and eighth in the 5000m at the African Championships.

He ran 5000m at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, placing 11th but was knocked out in the heats of the 2012 Olympics.

He ran his first marathons in 2013, finishing sixth in Prague and second in Valencia where he clocked his personal best. He returned to the Spanish city in 2014 when he placed fifth.

On London Marathon Race Day last April he was running in Warsaw where he finished fourth just one second outside his PB, gaining selection for the Beijing World Championships team as a result. He was ninth in Beijing last August as his compatriot Ghirmay Ghebreslassie took an unexpected gold.

He started the Fukuoka Marathon last December but did not finish the race.

Mesel’s half marathon best of 60:10 stems from Prague in 2013 when he was second, outsprinted at the end by teammate Zersenay Tadese, the world record holder. Both were given the same time.

He ran the Prague race again last year and was only slightly slower at 60:26.

Personal notesHe has the same coach as world record holder Zersenay Tadese, the Spaniard, Jeronimo Bravo.

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Personal notesHe was coached by Renato Canova earlier in his career and was often based in Italy.

SERHIY LEBID (UKRAINE)Born: 15 July 1975 DnipropetrovskMarathon best: 2:08:32 Seoul 2014London Marathon record: 2015- 10th 2:10:21Other World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsFukuoka: 2015- dnfLisbon: 2013- 2nd 2:11:24Nagano: 2014- 1st 2:13:56Seoul: 2014- 4th 2:08:32Warsaw: 2013- dnfMarathons in major championships: None

Career notesThe nine-times European cross country champion and former world cross country silver medallist has moved up to the marathon in the last few years.

He dropped out on his debut in Warsaw in April 2013, but he was second in Lisbon later that year in 2:11:24 before winning the Nagano Marathon in April 2014.

He made a major improvement to his time that November when he was fourth in Seoul in 2:08:32, taking almost three minutes from his PB to rank second in Europe behind Mo Farah.

He ran his first World Marathon Majors race in London a year ago and finished with a creditable 10th place in 2:10:21, a place behind Russia’s Aleksey Reunkov and the third European man home.

Now 40, Lebid’s international career stretches back to 1997 when he was European under 23 silver medallist at 10,000m. He went on to win three World University Games 5000m titles – in 1999, 2001 and 2003 – and represented Ukraine at that distance at World Championships and Olympic Games from 1999 to 2012. His best finish at global level came in 2000 when he was seventh in the Sydney Games 5000m final.

At European level, he won a 5000m bronze medal at the 2002 championships in Munich. He was also fourth at 5000m in 2010 and fifth at 10,000m in 2006.

His major successes have come at cross country where he was the dominant European figure for a dozen years and is arguably the continent’s greatest ever cross country runner.

He won nine European golds between 1998 and 2010 plus one silver and three bronze medals in that 12-year period. Uniquely, he appeared in all the first 19 editions of the championships from 1994 to 2012. He also won a silver medal at the 2001 World Cross Country Championships having finished eighth in 2000.

In all, he has won 14 national titles and broken national records at 3000m (indoors and out), two miles indoors, and 5000m outdoors (13:10.78 in 2002), while he also set national records at 5km and 10km on the roads.

His half marathon best of 61:49 was set in 2003 when he was third at the Great North Run.

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ARNE GABIUS (GERMANY)Born: 22 March 1981Marathon best: 2:08:33 Frankfurt 2015London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsFrankfurt: 2014- 9th 2:09:32, 2015- 4th 2:08:33Marathons in major championships: None

Career notesArne Gabius broke the German record when he finished fourth at the Frankfurt Marathon last October in 2:08:33, eclipsing a mark that had stood to Jörg Peter for 27 years.

“The second half felt like chewing gum,” Gabius said after the race. “It seemed to never end.”

He knocked almost a minute from his previous best, set in Frankfurt on his marathon debut 12 months earlier. His time was also well-inside the qualifying standard for this summer’s Rio Olympics and Gabius has now set his sights on a Rio medal. In fact, he opted to run with the lead group in Frankfurt last year to learn what it was like to be at the front of a race.

Now 35, Gabius has been competing internationally since 1999 when he was 13th over 5000m at the European Junior Championships. As a senior, he ran for Germany at the 2005 European Cross Country Championships when he also represented his country at the European Cup.

His first major championships as a senior was the Berlin Worlds in 2009 when he went out in the heats. Three years later he claimed his one senior championship medal so far – a 5000m silver at the 2012 Europeans in Helsinki.

He ran at the 2012 Olympics later that year and at the 2013 Worlds and was 17th over 10,000m at last year’s World Championships in Beijing.

His half marathon PB of 62:09 was set in New York in 2014 while he won the Hamburg half last September during his build-up to Frankfurt.

Gabius also ran a national record for 5000m indoors last January, clocking 13:27.53 and added outdoor PBs at 10,000m and 10km as well as the marathon.

Personal notesGabius is coached by Renato Canova, who also guides two-times world champion Abel Kirui, among many others.

Canova believes Gabius will be at his peak in time for the 2017 World Championships in London.

“By 2017 he should have run five or six marathons and will have a better understanding of tactics,” he says. “He has the brain and the mind to manage the competition which is completely different to a race with a pacemaker.”

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JOSÉ URIBE (MEXICO)Born: 3 January 1986Marathon best: 2:08:55 Houston 2014London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2012- 13th 2:12:43Other major city marathonsHouston: 2014- 3rd 2:08:55Otsu: 2015- dnfTorreón: 2012- 6th 2:13:46Marathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2013- dnf

Career notesJosé Uribe, a former Central American 5000m champion, makes his London Marathon debut after running just one World Marathon Majors race in the past.

That was in Berlin in 2012 when he was 13th in 2:12:43, improving by a minute the time he ran on his debut on home soil in Torréon six months earlier.

He ran for Mexico at the Moscow 2013 World Championships but was unable to finish in difficult conditions.

The following January he made his first marathon podium, finishing third in Houston, shattering his personal best by almost four minutes in 2:08:55.

He represented his country again at the 2014 World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen where he placed 37th in 62:26, which remains his half marathon best.

He made his first international appearance for Mexcio 10 years earlier when he was 109th in the junior race at the 2004 World Cross Country Championships.

He started one marathon last year but failed to finish the Lake Biwa race in Otsu, Japan.

Personal notesHis full name is José Antonio Uribe.

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TEWELDE ESTIFANOS (ERITREA)Born: 2 October 1987Marathon best: 2:09:16 Frankfurt 2015London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsFrankfurt: 2015- 7th 2:09:16Gold Coast: 2013- 3rd 2:13:10, 2015- 4th 2:09:33Melbourne: 2014- 2nd 2:11:47Oita: 2013- 11th 2:16:13, 2015- 1st 2:10:18Marathons in major championships: None

Career notesTewelde Estifanos comes to London for his World Marathon Majors debut looking for his seventh straight personal best in seven career marathons.

The 28-year-old road runner ran his first marathon just three years ago when he was 11th at the Beppu-Oita Marathon in 2:16:13. He hacked three minutes from that time five months later finishing third in the Gold Coast Marathon and he returned to Australia in 2014 when he was second at the Melbourne Marathon in 2:11:47.

He ran a minute and a half quicker last February to win the 2015 Beppu-Oita Marathon – his first victory over 26.2 miles, achieved with two second half surges that left Japanese rivals Hiroki Kadota and Hiroyuki Yamamoto in his wake.

He ran quicker still to place fourth at the Gold Coast last July, then in Frankfurt last October he lowered his PB again, to 2:09:16, good enough for seventh place.

Estifanos has represented Eritrea on the roads at a handful of major championships, including the World Half Marathon Championships in 2010 and 2011 finishing 11th and ninth respectively.

He also ran at the 2010 World Cross Country Championships and was seventh in the half marathon at the 2011 All-Africa Games.

His half marathon PB of 61:39 was set in 2011 and he has a 20km PB of 59:34 from 2010.

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GHEBRE KIBROM (ERITREA)Born: 1 February 1987Marathon best: 2:09:36 London 2015London Marathon record: 2015- 8th 2:09:36Other World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsCologne: 2013- 8th 2:11:56Hengshui: 2014- 5th 2:10:00Milan: 2014- 3rd 2:11:12Sydney: 2015- 5th 2:13:49Marathons in major championships: None

Career notesGhebre Kibrom has produced five top 10 finishes in his five marathons so far, most successfully when third in Milan in 2014 behind Kenyans Francis Kiprop and Stephen Tum.

His time of 2:11:12 improved his personal best from his debut in Cologne the previous October and he lowered it still further in his third outing in Hengshui, China, in September 2014. He clocked 2:10:00 to finish fifth in a race won by Ethiopian Markos Geneti.

He shaved another 24 seconds from that PB in London last April when he was eighth in 2:09:36, the first Eritrean across the line.

Another top 10 finish followed in Sydney last September in his slowest time so far.

Personal notesHis full name is Ghebrezgiabhier Weldemicael Kibrom, sometimes listed as Kibrom Ghebrezgiabhier.

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VITALIY SHAFAR (UKRAINE)Born: 27 January 1982Marathon best: 2:09:38 Boston 2014London Marathon record: None Other World Marathon MajorsBoston: 2014- 4th 2:09:38, 2015- 10th 2:13:52Other major city marathonsBarcelona: 2012- 12th 2:14:22Bila Tserkva: 2011- 3rd 2:15:20Debno: 2009- 3rd 2:15:21Eindhoven: 2007- 8th 2:12:07Frankfurt: 2013- 11th 2:11:52Fukuoka: 2009- 10th 2:15:07Hamburg: 2006- 15th 2:16:00Los Angeles: 2013- 5th 2:13:31Macau: 2015- 1st 2:14:44Otsu: 2009- 11th 2:16:52Rome: 2008- 14th 2:13:35Toronto: 2014- 5th 2:09:53Vienna: 2007- 15th 2:18:37, 2011- 2:15:58Warsaw: 2006- 1st 2:12:29Marathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- 29th 2:16:36

Career notesIt took Vitaliy Shafar eight years of marathon running and 14 races before he broke 2:10 – then he did it twice in six months. That was in 2014 when he was fourth in Boston in 2:09:38 and fifth in Toronto just 15 seconds slower.

His London Marathon debut will be his 19th career marathon over 10 years and it comes on the back of his second win, at the Macau Marathon last December.

His first marathon victory was in Warsaw back in 2006 when his marathon career began. Since then he has raced in 15 cities finishing in the top 10 eight times and the top 20 on all but one occasion. That was at the 2012 Olympics in London when he was 29th.

The 34-year-old Shafar has also run for Ukraine at four European Cross Country Championships.

His half marathon PB of 63:24 was set in 2010. He has a 10km PB of 28:45 and has run 10 miles in 49:39.

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He has been Polish cross country champion four times, 10,000m champion twice, 10km champion twice, and half marathon champion.

His half marathon best of 62:26 stems from 2011 but he set a 10 miles best of 47:41 last October at the Great South Run in Portsmouth and he won the Warsaw half marathon last August.

Personal notesHe is coached by former Russian record holder Leonid Shvetsov.

MARCIN CHABOWSKI (POLAND)

Born: 28 May 1986Marathon best: 2:10:07 Düsseldorf 2012London Marathon record: 2015- dnsOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsDüsseldorf: 2012- 4th 2:10:07Eindhoven: 2014- 8th 2:15:04Lódz: 2014- 5th 2:11:23Mungyeong: 2015- 2nd 2:15:37Warsaw: 2011- 6th 2:14:32Marathons in major championshipsEuropeans: 2014- dnf

Career notesMarcin Chabowski made a bold bid for glory on the final day of the 2014 European Championships in Zürich when he struck out alone at the start of the men’s marathon, throwing caution to the wind despite the rising heat and brutal hilly course.

A former European junior steeplechase champion who turned to the marathon in 2011, Chabowski led the field by more than a minute at 25km before eventually paying the price for his suicidal pace. He was caught shortly after passing 30km and later dropped out clutching his side less than 10km from the finish, leaving Italy’s Daniele Meucci to take the gold.

It was a disappointing result for Chabowski who finished sixth on his debut in Warsaw in 2:14:32, a time he improved by nearly four and a half minutes when he was fourth in Düsseldorf the following year.

He didn’t attempt another marathon until 2014 when he was fifth in Lódz, winning his place on Poland’s team for Zürich.

After his crash landing in Switzerland, Chabowski returned to action swiftly, running the Eindhoven Marathon in October 2014 where he was eighth in his slowest time to that point.

After withdrawing from London last year due to injury, he returned to marathon action in October when he was second in Mungyeong in 2:15:37.

Chabowski had his first taste of international competition in 2003 when he was fifth in the 2000m steeplechase at the World Youth Championships.

The following year he was ninth in the steeplechase at the World Juniors. In 2005 he won the European junior title in Kaunas and broke Poland’s national junior record for the event.

In 2007, he was fifth at the European Under 23 Championships, but in more recent years he has moved up in distance, becoming Poland’s senior 10,000m champion in 2009, and running 10,000m for his country at European Cups in 2010 and 2011.

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He broke his 10,000m track PB in September 2014 when he ran 29:18.39.

He was fifth at last year’s Bupa London 10,000 and won the Peachtree 10km race in Atlanta last July.

Personal notesBorn in Hammersmith, London, Overall began running during physical education lessons at school.

A member of Blackheath & Bromley Athletic Club, he attended Leicester University then Butler University in Indianapolis, USA, where he studied economics, before joining Team Indiana Elite in Bloomington where he hooked up with coach Robert Chapman.

He is now based in Sutton, Surrey, and is coached by Alan Storey.

He used to train with Mo Farah and was an usher at Farah’s wedding.

Overall worked in a Sweatshop running retail outlet, and occasionally at the London Marathon head office, before deciding to train full-time for the marathon.

His girlfriend is retired British international 800m runner Vicky Griffiths.

SCOTT OVERALL (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)Born: 9 February 1983 Hammersmith, LondonMarathon best: 2:10:55 Berlin 2011London Marathon record: 2012- pace, 2013- dnf, 2014- 19th 2:19:55, 2015- 13th 2:13:13Other World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2011- 5th 2:10:55, 2013- dnf, 2014- 14th 2:13:00, 2015- 10th 2:11:24Other major city marathonsFukuoka: 2012- 13th 2:14:15Marathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- 61st 2:22:37

Career notesScott Overall became the first British man to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic athletics team when he ran 2:10:55 to finish fifth on his marathon debut in Berlin in 2011, and he was first to achieve the qualifyfing time for the Rio Olympics too after finishing 10th in Berlin last September in 2:11:24.

Overall warmed up for the 2012 Olympics by winning the Silverstone Half Marathon in March 2012, finishing eighth at the New York City half marathon in a PB of 61:25, and pacemaking British runners at the 2012 London Marathon. He then finished third at the Bupa London 10,000 at the end of May, two places behind Mo Farah and was 61st in the Olympic race in 2:22:37. He ended the year placing 13th at the Fukuoka Marathon in 2:14:15 to rank third in the UK.

He was seventh in the 2013 New Orleans half marathon in 64:51, and won the Silverstone half again in March that year in 65:43, looking in good shape for his London Marathon debut that April. But it turned out to be a race to forget as he dropped out around 25km troubled by a knee injury.

He returned to the Berlin Marathon that September but again struck bad luck when he tore his calf half way into the race.

The 2014 London Marathon was also a frustrating experience. Overall set off with high hopes of a quick time after what he described as “near enough perfect” training with Chris Thompson in Colorado Springs. But he finished 19th, suffering “a slow death” over the last seven to eight miles, and ended with a time only just inside 2:20.

Things improved slightly when he placed 14th in Berlin that September in 2:13:00, then his second quickest time and good enough to rank third in Britain for the year behind Mo Farah and Thompson.

He was just 13 seconds slower in London last April when he was 13th, the first Briton home in 2:13:13. Skipping the World Championships in Beijing, he carried that form on to Berlin at the end of September where he put himself in prime postion for Rio selection.

Overall was the national 5000m champion on the track in 2009 and represented Britain at European indoor and cross country championships. He was sixth in the 2005 European under 23 5000m and has a best at the distance of 13:58.61.

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Thompson’s 10,000m PB of 27:27.36, at Stanford in 2011, is the third fastest ever by a Briton. His goal of running 10,000m at both the 2014 European Championships and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games was thwarted by injury.

Thompson has suffered badly with injuries over the years. A heel injury ruled him out of the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, and his 2012 season was also interrupted by injury problems.

CHRIS THOMPSON (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)Born: 17 April 1981 Barrow-in-FurnessMarathon best: 2:11:19 London 2014London Marathon record: 2014- 11th 2:11:19Other World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championships: None

Career notesThe 2010 European 10,000m silver medallist made his marathon debut in London in 2014 when he was 11th in 2:11:19, the second Briton home behind his long time friend and training partner Mo Farah.

Thompson was seventh in the New York half in March 2012 in 61:23 and lowered that to 61:00 in September that year when he was sixth at the Great North Run.

He ran two half marathons in 2013, finishing fifth in Glasgow and runner-up at the Great Birmingham Run in 63:03. On 2 March 2014 he defied strong winds and lashing rain to break the course record at the adidas Silverstone Half Marathon, running 65:08. He won the Birmingham half again last October in 63:00 and a week later ran a personal best for 10 miles of 47:55 finishing 11th at the Great South Run in Portsmouth.

Thompson has been an international runner since 1998 when he went out in his 3000m steeplechase heat at the World Junior Championships. In 1999 he was 12th over 5000m at the European Junior Championships and he also made the final at the World Juniors in 2000. He was fifth at the European under 23s in 2001 before winning the under 23 5000m title in 2003.

As a senior he ran for Britain in the European Cup in 2004 and 2006, but his finest hour came in 2010 when he won the 10,000m silver medal behind Farah at the European Championships in Barcelona. While Farah won the gold with ease, Thompson outbattled the 2006 champion and crowd favourite Jesús España on the final lap to clinch second place.

He also placed eighth in the 5000m at the Europeans and was a finalist for England in both 5000m and 10,000m at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games. He took on the top Africans in both, finishing fifth in the shorter race, when he was the best placed non-African, and eighth in the 10,000m.

He was selected to run 10,000m for Britain at the London 2012 Olympic Games and finished 25th as Farah won the first of his two golds.

At cross country Thompson was European junior silver medallist in 2000 and 19th in the senior short race at the World Cross in 2003.

On the roads he has a 10km PB from 2010 of 28:02 and he was second to Haile Gebrselassie at the Great Manchester 10km Run in 2011.

THOMPSON


Media Guide 2016 45

CALLUM HAWKINS (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)

Born: 22 June 1992 PaisleyMarathon best: 2:12:17 Frankfurt 2015London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsFrankfurt: 2015- 12th 2:12:17Marathons in major championships: None

Career notesAfter winning a number of international cross country vests for Britain at junior and under 23 level, Callum Hawkins made an encouraging step up to the marathon in Frankfurt last October when he finished 12th in 2:12:17.

It crowned a successful year for the Scot who also clocked a half marathon best of 62:42 to finish second in Glasgow and set PBs for 10km (29:21) on the road and 5000m on the track (14:06.57).

Hawkins twice ran for Britain as a junior at the World and European Cross Country Championships before finishing seventh in 2013 and fifth in 2014 in the under 23 race at the Europeans.

In 2014 he ran for Scotland over 10,000m at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, finishing 20th.

He won the British universities cross country title in February this year and continued his steady improvement with a PB of 62:36 in the Paris half marathon in March.

Personal notesHawkins runs for the Kilbarchan club in west Scotland.

He is coached by Robert Hawkins.

YUKI SATO (JAPAN)

Born: 26 November 1986Marathon best: 2:12:32 Berlin 2015London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2015- 14th 2:12:32Tokyo: 2013- 31st 2:16:31Other major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championships: None

Career notesAn experienced track runner, Yuki Sato was the Asian Championships 5000m silver medallist in 2011 and first moved up to the marathon in 2013 when he was 31st in Tokyo in 2:16:31.

He took four minutes from that time last September when he ran his second marathon in Berlin, clocking 2:12:32 in 14th place.

Sato has represented Japan numerous times as a junior and senior on the track and at cross country.

Other top results came at the 2005 World University Games when he was seventh at 5000m and fourth at 10,000m. He also set a national junior 5000m record that year.

He ran both distances at the 2012 Olympic Games, finishing 22nd at 10,000m.

His limited road race experience includes a 10 miles best of 47:09 from 2009.

C HAWKINS SATO

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46 Media Guide 2016

ROB WATSON (CANADA)

Born: 23 June 1983 London, OntarioMarathon best: 2:13:29 Toronto 2013London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon MajorsBoston: 2013- 11th 2:15:33Chicago: 2015- 14th 2:17:21Other major city marathonsHouston: 2011- 4th 2:16:17Ottawa: 2013- 10th 2:18:34, 2014- 9th 2:16:38, 2015- 8th 2:19:22Rotterdam: 2012- 11th 2:13:37Toronto: 2011- dnf, 2012- dnf, 2013- 6th 2:13:29Marathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2013- 20th 2:16:28PanAm: 2015- 8th 2:23:43

Career notesRob Watson is a former Canadian 3000m steeplechase champion who was 20th in the marathon at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow and eighth at last year’s Pan-American Games in Toronto.

It was in Toronto where Watson ran his marathon PB in 2013, clocking 2:13:29 in his fourth marathon of the year. He had finished 11th at the Boston Marathon earlier that year and won the Canadian marathon title in Ottawa. He was 14th in last October’s Chicago Marathon.

He has run two half marathons early in 2016 – 21st in Houston in 63:58 and 2nd in Vancouver in 67:39.He ran steeplechase for Canada at the 2009 World Championships after retaining his national title.

Personal notesHe was born in London, Ontario, and now lives in Vancouver. He runs for the Point Grey Track & Field Club and is coached by his brother, Peter Watson.

WATSON

LEE MERRIEN (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)

Born: 26 April 1979 GuernseyMarathon best: 2:13:41 London 2012London Marathon record: 2010- 12th 2:16:48, 2011- 13th 2:14:27, 2012- 15th 2:13:41Other World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2015- 26th 2:15:30Other major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- 30th 2:17:00Worlds: 2011- 21st 2:16:59Europeans: 2010- 8th 2:20:42

Career notesLee Merrien ran for Team GB at the London Olympics after winning selection at that year’s London Marathon where he finished 15th in 2:13:41, which remains his personal best. He was 30th at the Olympics.

That was his third marathon outing for Britain having finished eighth and first Briton at the 2010 European Championships, and 21st at the 2011 World Championships where he missed the all-important top 20 by one place despite acclimatising for Daegu by running on a treadmill in a greenhouse.

A former middle distance runner with three Commonwealth Games behind him, the 36-year-old made his marathon debut in London in 2010, clocking 2:16:48. He returned to the marathon in Berlin last year after three years out and was 26th in 2:15:30, ranking him third in the UK for the year.

He picked up a team bronze at the 2008 European Cross Country Championships when he was 22nd. His half marathon PB of 64:12 was set in Paris in 2012.He won seven Island Games titles for Guernsey between 2003 and 2011, and came 2nd in the half marathon in 2015.

MERRIEN


Media Guide 2016 47

ANURADHA COORAY (SRI LANKA)

Born: 24 March 1978 Marathon best: 2:13:47 London 2015London Marathon record: 2005- 27th 2:20:16, 2009- 21st 2:21:02, 2011- 26th 2:21:11, 2012- 22nd 2:17:50, 2013- 13th 2:17:53, 2015- 14th 2:13:47Other World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsGuwahati: 2016- 2nd 2:15:19Islamabad: 2004- 1st 2:16:38Mahiyanganaya: 2003- 1st 2:16:39Pune: 2011- 10th 2:18:42Singapore: 2004- 7th 2:18:28Marathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2004- 30th 2:19:26, 2012- 55th 2:20:41Worlds: 2005- dnf, 2015- 29th 2:25:04Asian Games: 2014- 6th 2:15:51

Career notesAnuradha Cooray broke the Sri Lankan record to finish 14th at the London Marathon last year, his sixth appearance here in 10 years. He ran in London for the first time in 2005 and has steadily improved ever since. His highest finish here was in 2013 and last year he took more than two minutes from his PB.

He has run 16 marathons, representing Sri Lanka at two Olympic Games and two World Championships, including last year’s edition in Beijing where he was 29th. He was sixth at the 2014 Asian Games.

He also holds the Sri Lanka half marathon record of 64:47 and ran at the 2005 and 2014 World Half Marathon Championships.

Personal notesHis full name is Anuradha Indrajith Cooray.

COORAY

DEREK HAWKINS (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)

Born: 29 April 1989 PaisleyMarathon best: 2:14:04 Frankfurt 2012London Marathon record: 2013- 12th 2:16:50Other World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsFrankfurt: 2012- 18th 2:14:04Marathons in major championshipsCommonwealths: 2014- 9th 2:14:15

Career notesDerek Hawkins set his personal best on his marathon debut in Frankfurt in 2012 and was 12th in London the following April.

He finished ninth for Scotland at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014, running just 11 seconds outside his best.

He also ran for Britain at under 23 level at the 2010 and 2011 European Cross Country Championships, and at the 2011 World Cross. He won the Scottish Cross Country Championships in 2011 and 2012, and the Scottish 10,000m track title in 2013, after winning several age group titles from under-15.

He set his half marathon best of 64:07 finishing 14th at the 2012 Great North Run. He set 5km (14:07) and 10km (29:24) PBs last year.

Pesonal notesHawkins runs for the Leeds City club, and in Scotland for Kilbarchan. He went to Glasgow University.

D HAWKINS


48 Media Guide 2016

SHAWN FORREST (AUSTRALIA)

Born: 10 July 1983 MelbourneMarathon best: 2:14:37 Houston 2012London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsHouston: 2012- 4th 2:14:37Marathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2013- 49th 2:39:09

Career notesShawn Forrest returns to the marathon for the first time since 2013 when he was 49th at the World Championships in Moscow.

He made his debut the year before in Houston where he was fourth in 2:14:37, his best time to date, although he missed Olympic selection by one spot.

Forrest represented Australia at 1500m and 5000m as a junior, running both events at the 2002 World Junior Championships.

He set his half marathon best of 61:25 in New York in 2011, the seventh fastest ever by an Australian, and was ninth at the 2009 Great North Run.

Pesonal notesForrest won a scholarship for the University of Arkansas where he was coached by John McDonnell.

He didn’t race at all in 2015 after being diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in November 2014.

Aged 16, he was chosen to be a kit carrier at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and carried Haile Gebrselassie’s basket before the Ethiopian legend’s epic 10,000m duel with Kenyan rival Paul Tergat.

FORREST

PHIL WICKS (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)

Born: 14 March 1984 Carshalton, SurreyMarathon best: 2:15:38 Amsterdam 2011London Marathon record: 2011-dnf, 2012- dns, 2013- 14th 2:19:07Other World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsAmsterdam: 2011- 21st 2:15:38Frankfurt: 2013- 28th 2:21:00Marathons in major championships: None

Career notesAn international over 10,000m, cross country and half marathon, Wicks took a solid step up to the marathon in October 2011 when he clocked 2:15:38 in Amsterdam.

It was an encouraging end to the year for the Surrey man after Wicks had dropped out of that year’s London Marathon with four miles left feeling “drained, tired and embarrassed”. He entered in 2012, too, hoping to clinch a place in Britain’s Olympic team, but injury forced him to withdraw. He eventually ran in 2013, finishing 14th in 2:19:07.

That wasn’t the first time he’d completed the course, however, as he entered the 2002 London race as an 18-year-old ‘fun runner’. Training just two or three times a week with a long run at weekends, he clocked 3:24. In 2003, he improved to 3:03, which remained his marathon PB until 2011.

He missed most of 2008 with a knee injury but ran a lifetime best of 62:51 for the half marathon in 2009, and won the Standard Chartered London City Challenge in 2010. He was South of England cross country champion in 2007 and 2009 and second in the national cross country championships in 2008.

WICKS


Media Guide 2016 49

PAUL POLLOCK (IRELAND)

Born: 25 June 1986Marathon best: 2:15:38 Berlin 2015London Marathon record: 2013- 14th 2:17:10Other World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2015- 30th 2:15:38Other major city marathonsDublin: 2012- 9th 2:16:30Marathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2013- 21st 2:16:42Europeans: 2014- dns

Career notesPaul Pollock was 21st in the marathon at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow having also represented his country a number of times at cross country and half marathon between 2005 and 2015, and over 10,000m at the 2014 Glasgow Comonwealth Games.

He lowered his marathon best to 2:15:38 in Berlin last September and will make his second appearance in London after winning the championship race here in 2013 with the 14th quickest time overall.

He set PBs at one mile and 3000m indoors last year, and at 5000m outdoors.

His half marathon best of 62:10 was set at the World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen in 2014 when he finished 30th having placed 34th two years earlier.

Personal notesHe runs for the Abbey Athletic Club in Ireland.

POLLOCK

BEN MOREAU (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)

Born: 15 December 1981Marathon best: 2:15:52 Fukuoka 2013London Marathon record: 2010- 11th 2:16:46Other World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsAmsterdam: 2008- 19th 2:22:38Florence: 2009- 11th 2:21:14Fukuoka: 2013- 11th 2:15:52Oita: 2013- 13th 2:16:54Marathons in major championshipsEuropeans: 2010- 24th 2:27:08Commonwealths: 2010- 11th 2:24:34, 2014- 14th 2:16:50

Career notesBen Moreau finished 11th in the 2010 London Marathon in what was then a personal best. He went on to place 24th for Britain at that year’s European Championships in Barcelona and 11th for England at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

He ran for England again at the Glasgow Games in 2014, finishing 14th, and ran for Britain at the 2014 Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen, finishing 64th in 64:09.

He ran two of his best marathon times in 2013 in Japan, going close to his PB in Oita where he was 13th before finishing 11th in Fukuoka that December in 2:15:52, his quickest yet.

Moreau is currently based in Australia and his half marathon best of 63:59 was at the Gold Coast in 2013 when he was third. This year he was second over 10,000m in the New South Wales Championships.

MOREAU


50 Media Guide 2016

JOHN BEATTIE (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)

Born: 20 January 1986Marathon best: 2:16:38 London 2012London Marathon record: 2012- 18th 2:16:38Other World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2015- 42nd 2:18:12New York: 2011- 21st 2:23:43Other major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championships: None

Career notesJohn Beattie finished 19th at the 2012 London Marathon in his best time of 2:16:38. He was 21st on his debut in New York in 2011 in 2:23:43.

He ran his first marathon for three years in Berlin last September, clocking 2:18:12 to rank 10th in the UK for the year.

He ran PBs for the half marathon (64:48 for fourth in Reading), 10km (29:12 winning in Cardiff), 5km and five miles, all last year.

Beattie was 15th over 10,000m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and that year ran his pb of 28:32.21. He ran for Britain at the 2008 World and European Cross Country Championships.

Personal notesHe studied at Southampton University and then at Tulsa University, USA. He was 10th over 10,000m at the 2009 and 2010 NCAA championships.

He returned to the UK full time in 2011 and is now based at the UKA-funded endurance house in Loughborough. He is coached by Gavin Smith.

BEATTIE

ANDREW DAVIES (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)

Born: 30 October 1979Marathon best: 2:16:55 Berlin 2015London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2015- 38th 2:16:55Other major city marathonsFrankfurt: 2013- 27th 2:20:41Manchester: 2014- 2nd 2:17:51Marathons in major championshipsCommonwealths: 2014- 17th 2:18:59

Career notesAndrew Davies took a minute from his marathon best in Berlin last September to rank eighth in the UK for the year.

He ran for Wales at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, finishing 17th in 2:18:59 having finished second in the Manchester Marathon earlier that year behind Andi Jones.

He ran a 10km PB of 29:49 in Telford last December and was a member of Britain’s team at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country this January – he was 18th.

Personal notesHe runs for Stockport and is coached by Steve Vernon.

DAVIES


Media Guide 2016 51

STEPHEN SCULLION (IRELAND)

Born: 9 November 1988Marathon best: 2:34:33 Belfast 2012London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsBelfast: 2012- 12th 2:34:33Marathons in major championships: None

Career notesStephen Scullion’s sole outing over the marathon distance came four years ago in Belfast where he was 12th in 2:34:33. He has run just a handful of half marathons, with a best of 64:46 set when winning in Omagh in 2013. He also won the Belfast half that year.

He has run for Ireland at World and European Cross Country Championships at junior, under 23 and senior levels. He also ran 1500m and 5000m on the track for Ireland at the European Team Championships in 2010 and 2011.

His most recent international vest came in 2013 when he ran 3000m at the European Indoor Championships after running a PB of 7:58.11 in Birmingham.

He ran sparingly last year, but did win the Brighton 10k in November.

SCULLION

GERVAIS HAKIZIMANA (RWANDA)

Born: 5 September 1987Marathon best: DebutLondon Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championships: None

Career notesGervais Hakizimana has been a Rwandan international since 2007 when he ran at the World Cross Country and World Half Marathon Championships. He went on to run 10,000m on the track for his country at that summer’s All African Games, where he finished 16th.

He competed at the World Half in 2008 and 2009 but his personal best of 62:43 remains from the 2007 championships.

He also made two more appearances at the World Cross – in 2009 and 2011, when he finished 33rd. He ran a 10km PB last year of 29:15 to finish second in Lille.

On the track, Hakizimana broke the Rwandan record for 3000m steeplechase in 2010 and lowered it again in 2011 to 8:39.05.

Personal notesBased in France, the 28-year-old is the second Rwandan to compete at the London Marathon following Mathias Ntawurikura in 2000.

HAKIZIMANA


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TSEGAI TEWELDE (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)

Born: 8 December 1989 EritreaMarathon best: DebutLondon Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championships: None

Career notesTsegai Tewelde was one of six Eritrean runners who requested asylum in Britain after competing in the 2008 World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh.

Two years earlier, he had set an Eritrean junior 1500m record of 3:42.10 when finishing fifth at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing. He also ran for Eritrea in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships in 2007 and 2008.

He joined Shettleston Harriers in Glasgow and won silver medals on the track at the 2008 and 2009 Scottish championships. He has a 10km best of 29:24 from 2009 but competed rarely for four years between 2011 and 2015.

Last year, he finished fourth in the Great Scottish Run half marathon in Glasgow, in a personal best of 63:34, and helped his club to victory in the Scottish national cross country and road relay championships. He ran for Scotland in the Abbey Dash 10k in Leeds.

Personal notesTewelde ran for Eritrea before claiming asylum in Britain in 2008 along with five fellow athletes, including current Scottish international Tewolde Mengisteab. Tewelde finally received his British passport last year. He ran for Scotland in the Abbey Dash 10k in Leeds and is now hoping to run for Britain at the Rio Olympics.

TEWELDE

JONATHAN HAY (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)

Born: 12 February 1992Marathon best: DebutLondon Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championships: None

Career notesJonathan ‘Jonny’ Hay moves up to the marathon for the first time after an impressive junior career on the track and cross country, which included a European junior bronze medal for 5000m in 2011.

He ran for Britain as a junior at three World and three European Cross Country Championships, plus two under 23 races at the Europeans including 2014 when he just missed out on a medal, finishing fourth. Last year he ran for the senior team at both events.

He ran his half marathon best of 64:09 to finish ninth at the 2014 Great North Run and he clocked a 10km PB of 30:20 at last year’s Bupa London 10,000.

He was the British Universities champion at cross-country in 2012, 5000m in 2013, and 10,000m in 2014 and 2015. He was second in the 2015 Bupa Westminster Mile and won the South of England Cross Country Championships this January, followed at the end of February by a decisive win in the English National Cross-country (after winning the under 17 title in 2009 and under 20s in 2012).

Personal notesHay runs for Aldershot, Farnham and District and is coached by Mick Woods.

HAY


Media Guide 2016 53

RYAN MCLEOD (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)

Born: 7 June 1985 Newcastle upon TyneMarathon best: DebutLondon Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championships: None

Career notesRyan McLeod makes his marathon debut at 30, five years after his last appearance for Britain at the 2011 European Cross Country Championships.

He also ran for Britain at that year’s World Cross after winning two British cross country vests as a junior in 2003 and one as an under 23.

He lowered his half marathon best to 64:19 finishing fifth in Cardiff last October to rank seventh in the UK for the year. He was the first Briton across the line, making him the reigning British half marathon champion.

He also ran PBs for 10 miles (48:20) and 5km (14:10) in 2015.

Personal notesMcLeod is the son of the 1984 Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Mike McLeod who is now his coach.

He studied at Northumberland University and is now based at Loughborough University and runs for Tipton Harriers. He runs his own website design company, RyanDesign.

In 2014 McLeod said: “I won’t be doing a marathon. The only way you’ll see me doing the marathon is if I’m dressed up as Spiderman or in some other fancy dress costume for charity.” (eightlane.org)

MCLEOD

MATTHEW BOND (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)

Born: 17 July 1982Marathon best: DebutLondon Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championships: None

Career notesMatthew Bond makes his debut six years after he first ran for England at the Lillebaelt half marathon in Denmark, a race he won.

He lowered his half marathon best to 64:29 when finishing 15th at the 2012 Great North Run. He was close to that time earlier this year, clocking 64:38 in the Spanish half marathon championships in Santa Pola.

He competed for the cross country and track teams at Adams State College, Alamosa, Colorado, for two years from 2010 to 2012, winning five All-American honours while improving his 5000m and 10,000m PBs by over half a minute and a minute respectively.

He has a 10km PB of 29:34 from 2013.

Personal notesBond took up triathlon at 21, inspired by seeing his brother Graham compete in the Lanzarote Ironman. He represented Britain in triathlon and duathlon before starting his running career at 23. He joined Sale Harriers Manchester in 2005 and was part of the training group run by coach Norman Poole.

He taught English as a foreign language in Budapest for two years in 2007 and 2008, then set up Elaces, a triathlon accessory and clothing company, when he returned to the UK.

BOND


54 Media Guide 2016

Personal notesMottram is unusually tall for a distance runner, at 6 feet 2 inches.

He supports Sunderland, the English Premier League football team, and wore a Sunderland shirt when he ran in the 2006 Great North Run.

He took a 12-month break from running from November 2008 to October 2009, and has run only a handful of top-level races since September 2012.

He married psychologist and health scientist Krystine in 2011 and together they founded elitewellbeing, a high performance management company, in 2012. They have two children, Christian and Mikaela.

Mottram will make history if he is selected for Rio as the first Australian athlete to compete at five Olympic Games. He believes he will need to run 2:13 to make the team.

He paced his training partner, Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Jess Trengove, to victory in the Melbourne Marathon in October, which booked her place in Rio.

At the height of his career, Mottram was nicknamed ‘the Big Mazungo’ by his African rivals.

CRAIG MOTTRAM (AUSTRALIA)Born: 18 June 1980 Frankston, VictoriaMarathon best: DebutLondon Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championships: None

Career notesCraig Mottram won a 5000m bronze medal at the 2005 World Championships in Helsinki, the highlight of a long and successful international track career that also includes a 2006 Commonwealth Games silver in Melbourne, when he lost to Augustine Choge, and an eighth place finish at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Mottram has run for Australia at four Olympic Games, from Sydney 2000 (when he was just 20) through to London 2012, and at World Championships in 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2011. He won the IAAF World Cup 3000m in 2002 and 2006.

He was favourite to win the 1500m at the 2006 Commonwealth Games but finished ninth after being accidentally tripped by England’s Andrew Baddeley when in third place.

He also represented Australia at four World Indoor Championships and seven World Cross Country Championships.

He has broken national and area records at one mile, 2000m, 3000m (indoors and out), two miles and 5000m.

On the roads he set a national 5km record of 13:20 in 2005, ran 27:54 for 10km winning the Great Manchester Run in 2004 and has a 15km best of 44:08 from 2008. He won the New York 10k in 2006 and was second in 2007. He also won the Great Yorkshire Run in Sheffield in 2010.

He was third at the Hobart 10km this February in 29:37.

He ranks third in the world all-time over two miles outdoors (8:03.50) and seventh at 2000m (4:50.76) while his Australian 5000m record of 12:55.76 places him 54th in the global rankings.

MOTTRAM


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Elite Women

Entries

Bib no. Name Nation PB Bib name101 Tigist Tufa ETH 2:21:52 TUFA102 Mary Keitany KEN 2:18:37 KEITANY103 Aselefech Mergia ETH 2:19:31 MERGIA104 Florence Kiplagat KEN 2:19:44 F KIPLAGAT105 Mare Dibaba ETH 2:19:52 DIBABA106 Priscah Jeptoo KEN 2:20:14 JEPTOO107 Feyse Tadese ETH 2:20:27 TADESE108 Jemima Sumgong KEN 2:20:41 SUMGONG109 Jéssica Augusto POR 2:24:25 AUGUSTO110 Volha Mazuronak BLR 2:25:36 MAZURONAK111 Sonia Samuels GBR 2:28:04 SAMUELS112 Freya Ross GBR 2:28:10 ROSS113 Rene Kalmer RSA 2:29:27 KALMER114 Alyson Dixon GBR 2:29:30 DIXON115 Katarzyna Kowalska POL 2:29:41 KOWALSKA116 Louise Damen GBR 2:30:00 DAMEN117 Susan Partridge GBR 2:30:46 PARTRIDGE118 Sara Hall USA 2:31:14 HALL119 Irvette van Zyl RSA 2:31:26 VAN ZYL120 Natalia Romero CHI 2:34:55 ROMERO121 Cassie Fien AUS 2:38:53 FIEN122 Charlotte Purdue GBR Debut PURDUE


56 Media Guide 2016

Preview: Tufa returns to take on Keitany

Tigist Tufa will return to the scene of her greatest triumph when she lines up to defend her London Marathon title against the woman she beat to win the coveted crown in 2015 and the woman who won the world title last summer.

Tufa upset the odds when she outran four much-fancied Kenyans to take victory last year, becoming only the second Ethiopian ever to win the women’s race on a day that saw record numbers cross the London Marathon Finish Line. Tufa was at the head of them all, producing a devastating burst in the last three miles to clinch a shock win in front of two-time winner Mary Keitany.

She returns to the British capital determined to show that last year’s triumph was no fluke after finishing sixth at the Beijing World Championships last August, a race won by fellow Ethiopian Mare Dibaba, and third at the New York City Marathon where Keitany enjoyed her second victory last November.

“Winning in London was the greatest moment of my career so far,” said Tufa, who won the Shanghai and Ottawa marathons in 2014. “I am happy to be returning to London in 2016 to defend my title. I know it won’t be easy because the London fields are always the best in the world, but I am determined to do my best again.”

The 28-year-old denied Keitany a third London Marathon victory last year and the Kenyan looks set to be Tufa’s main rival in 2016. Keitany smashed the African record with 2:18:37, the fourth fastest time in history, when she won the London Marathon for a second time in 2012 but she needed a sprint finish to secure last year’s runner-up spot by one second.

Keitany is again the fastest woman on the start list, one of eight in the elite field with personal bests better than 2 hours 21 minutes, while four have run the gruelling 26.2-mile challenge in under 2:20.

Dibaba, a former Chicago Marathon champion who runs in London for the first time, is one of that quintet, with a best of 2:19:52, while London’s sub-2:20 club includes another highly-ranked Kenyans who has been in winning form: Florence Kiplagat, last year’s Chicago Marathon champion and world half-marathon record holder, who was fifth last year. Kiplagat runs in London for the fifth time in 2016 seeking her first victory.

Aselefech Mergia, another of Tufa’s compatriots, also falls into that elite bracket. A three-time winner of the lucrative Dubai Marathon, the 2010 champion will be hoping to make the podium again after finishing fourth last year.

The four-strong Kenyan challenge is completed by Priscah Jeptoo, the Olympic bronze medallist who was a London Marathon winner three years ago, and Jemima Sumgong, a former Rotterdam Marathon champion who was sixth in 2015, one place ahead of Jeptoo. The European challenge is led by Portugal’s Jessica Augusto and Volha Mazuronak from Belarus. Augusto ran a personal best to place sixth here in 2014, her third top 10 finish, while Mazuronak was ninth last year in a PB.

There are also seven British runners who will chase a coveted place on the plane to Rio for the 2016 Olympic Games. A preview of the British trials is on page 81.


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TIGIST TUFA (ETHIOPIA)Born: 26 January 1987Marathon best: 2:21:52 Shanghai 2014London Marathon record: 2015- 1st 2:23:22Other World Marathon MajorsNew York: 2013- 8th 2:29:24, 2015- 3rd 2:25:50Other major city marathonsDubai: 2015- dnfHouston: 2011- 8th 2:41:50Jacksonville: 2013- 2nd 2:40:45Ottawa: 2014- 1st 2:24:31Santa Monica: 2014- 2nd 2:28:04Shanghai: 2014- 1st 2:21:52Marathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2015- 6th 2:29:12

Career notesTigist Tufa made a mockery of all the pre-race predictions at last year’s London Marathon when she burst from the lead pack with three miles to go and opened a winning gap to secure her first World Marathon Majors victory.

Tufa’s 18-second triumph over two-time winner Mary Keitany was only the third for Ethiopia in the women’s race following Derartu Tulu’s win in 2001 and Aselefech Mergia’s elevation to become the 2010 champion.

Tufa went on to finish sixth at the Beijing World Championships last summer – her first championships race – and then placed third behind Keitany and Mergia at the New York Marathon in November, her fourth marathon start of the year.

Tufa’s London victory was the culmination of a four-year sequence of improving performances, from her 2:41:50 marathon debut in Houston five years ago to her victory in Shanghai in November 2014 when she clocked one of the quickest times of that year.

She raced three marathons in 2014, winning two in course record times and finishing second in the other. She also reduced her PB each time, a big improvement of eight minutes in the year, or a huge 19 minutes in 20 months.

She also led the 2015 Dubai Marathon by a minute at 20km only to pay the price in the second half, losing the lead and later dropping out.

After placing eighth on her debut in Houston in 2011, she left it two years before attempting another marathon. She fared a little better, finishing second in Jacksonville in 2:40:45.

She tackled her first World Marathon Majors race that November and finished eighth in New York after sharing a three-and-a-half minute lead with her compatriot Buzunesh Deba at mile 15. Despite fading in the last 10km she reduced her PB again by 11 minutes to break the 2:30 barrier for the first time.

Tufa was back in the States in spring 2014 to contest the Santa Monica Marathon. She was second in the west coast race, taking another 80 seconds from her best.

Her first marathon victory came in Ottawa that May when she clocked 2:24:31, another 3:27 improvement and a course record.

She continued her winning habit in Shanghai on 2 November where a time of 2:21:52 removed more than a minute from that event’s course record, set by Feyse Tadese in 2012. She was the fifth successive Ethiopian winner of the race.

A familiar figure on the US road racing scene, she ran a 15km PB of 51:05 in 2014 finishing fourth in the Utica Boilermaker race in New York State.

Her half marathon best of 70:03 was set in Lisbon in 2008.

Personal notesTufa lived and trained with Buzunesh Deba in the Bronx in New York for 11 months to prepare for the 2013 New York Marathon. She moved back to Addis Ababa in December 2013 when she joined the training group led by coach Haji Adilo.

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She returned to the New York Marathon in November 2011 seemingly in pursuit of the marathon world record. She swept through half way up on Paula Radcliffe’s pace (67:56) only to fade dramatically over the final 10km and finish third for the second year in a row.

She won the RAK again in 2012 before her second stunning London Marathon victory. But there was disappointment for Keitany in the British capital that summer when she missed out on an Olympic medal by less than half a minute. She finished fourth in 2:23:56.

Keitany skipped the 2013 season to have her second child, but made a spectacular return to competition in 2014 winning the Great North Run half marathon in a PB of 65:39 before finally clinching the New York title in 2:25:07, three seconds ahead of Jemima Sumgong, a time considerably slowed by the cold and very windy conditions.

After following Tufa home in London last April, she warmed up for her New York title defence by winning the Great North Run again, in 67:32. In New York she triumphed over two Ethiopian rivals with an impressive turn of speed in the last five miles, in the end winning by more than a minute. She has now won four of eight marathons and has never placed lower than fourth.

Personal notesMary Jepkosgei Keitany married Kenyan athlete Charles Koech on 31 December 2011. Her husband has run 61:27 for the half marathon. They have a son Jared Kipchumba, born in June 2008, and a daughter, Samantha, born in April 2013.

She trains in Iten and is coached by Gabriele Nicola.

MARY KEITANY (KENYA)Born: 18 January 1982 Kisok, Baringo DistrictMarathon best: 2:18:37 London 2012London Marathon record: 2011- 1st 2:19:19, 2012- 1st 2:18:37, 2015- 2nd 2:23:40Other World Marathon MajorsNew York: 2010- 3rd 2:29:01, 2011- 3rd 2:23:38, 2014- 1st 2:25:07, 2015- 1st 2:24:25Other major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- 4th 2:23:56

Career notes Reigning Abbott World Marathon Majors champion Mary Keitany returns to the British capital full of confidence after winning her second New York Marathon title in November. She is seeking to become only the fourth woman to win the London title three times.

Keitany relinquinshed her 100% record on the London course 12 months ago when she lost touch with Tigist Tufa over the last three miles, but salvaged second place by one second over Tirfi Tsegaye.

Keitany’s first appearance in London came in 2011 when she produced a brilliant victory in a time only Paula Radcliffe had ever beaten on the London course.

The then 29-year-old strode home in 2:19:19 to move alongside Irina Mikitenko as the fourth fastest in history. She defended her title 12 months later in even more impressive style, leading five Kenyans home – the first medal sweep in the women’s race – in 2:18:37 to take Catherine Ndereba’s Kenyan and African record and rise to second on the all-time list.

Keitany announced herself on the world stage when she was second to Lornah Kiplagat at the 2007 World Half Marathon Championships, running 66:48 as Kiplagat broke the world record. She had her first child in mid-2008, and returned in 2009 to win the World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham with an African record of 66:36, improving Elana Meyer’s 1999 time of 66:44.

Before her marathon debut in New York in 2010, Keitany said she had no idea how her body would react in the final few miles. In the event, she found herself in sight of victory with only compatriot Edna Kiplagat and USA’s Shalane Flanagan for company. In the end, Keitany was third in 2:29:01, losing out in the tussle over the ups and downs of Central Park.

In February 2011 Keitany broke Lornah Kiplagat’s world half marathon record when she won the Ra’s Al-Khaymah race in 65:50, taking 35 seconds from the previous mark. En route to her historic sub-66 minute time, Keitany went through 8km in 24:30 (a ‘world best’), 15km in 46:40, 10 miles in 50:05 (another world best) and 20km in 62:36 (a world record). The half marathon and 20km records have since fallen to Florence Kiplagat.

KEITANY


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ASELEFECH MERGIA (ETHIOPIA)Born: 23 January 1985 WolisoMarathon best: 2:19:31 Dubai 2012London Marathon record: 2010- 1st 2:22:38, 2011- dnf, 2015- 4th 2:23:53Other World Marathon MajorsNew York: 2015- 2nd 2:25:32Other major city marathonsDubai: 2011- 1st 2:22:45, 2012- 1st 2:19:31, 2015- 1st 2:20:02Paris: 2009- 2nd 2:25:02Marathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- 42nd 2:32:03Worlds: 2009- 3rd 2:25:32, 2011- dnf

Career notes Aselefech Mergia will start her fourth London Marathon hailed for the first time as the 2010 champion although she has yet to experience the joy of crossing the Finish Line first.

She came to London that year having clinched the world bronze medal in Berlin the previous August. She finished third behind the Russian pair Liliya Shobukhova and Inga Abitova in a huge PB of 2:22:38, ahead of four of her more favoured compatriots.

She was later promoted to second when Abitova was suspended for a doping violation, and was added to the women’s roll of honour last year when Shobukhova’s suspension was confirmed and her results annulled.

Since that race, Mergia has won the lucrative Dubai Marathon three times, including in 2012 when she broke the course record and the Ethiopian record with 2:19:31 as three women finished under 2:20.

Although her national mark fell soon afterwards to Tiki Gelana, Mergia is still placed eighth on the world all-time list as one of just 19 women who have run sub-2:20.

After three years of success at the half marathon, Mergia made her marathon debut in Paris in 2009. She finished second in a swift 2:25:02 winning her place on Ethiopia’s World Championships team. In Berlin she shadowed the Asians for 40km before dropping back to claim a bronze medal just 17 seconds behind the winner, China’s Bai Xue, and beating all of the more renowned Africans.

She continued her good form in London the following April with a performance that has finally been rewarded with a winner’s medal. She won the first of her three Dubai titles in January 2011 before returning to London where she dropped out after 30km having lost touch with the leading group powered by Mary Keitany.

She failed to finish the testing Daegu 2011 World Championships marathon that summer, dropping out in the final few kilometres, but was back to winning ways in Dubai in January 2012, dipping under 2:20 for a national record that lasted all of three months until Gelana sliced half a minute from it in Rotterdam.

While Gelana went on to triumph at the 2012 Olympics, Mergia struggled with London’s wet conditions and finished well down the field.

She didn’t race again for two years when she was on maternity leave, returning with a half marathon in Gothenburg in May 2014. Her return to the marathon came last January when she became the first woman to win the Dubai Marathon three times, taking victory and the $200,000 prize after a sprint finish against Gladys Cherono.

She was part of the large lead group that approached the final three miles in London last year but missed out on a podium place by 11 seconds. She performed well at her first New York Marathon last November, losing to Keitany only in the last few miles.

In 2008 Mergia was second at the World Half Marathon Championships in 69:57. Her half marathon PB is 67:21 from New Delhi in 2011.

Personal notesAselefech Mergia gave birth to her daughter Sena in July 2013.

She is coached by Gemedu Dedefo (the same as Feyse Tadese).

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Kiplagat began winning international medals at a young age, starting with a 5000m silver at the 2006 World Junior Championships, when she was 19. She was fifth in the senior race at the 2007 World Cross Country Championships and, after becoming a mother in 2008, returned to win the 2009 World Cross in Amman.

Later that year she clocked 30:11.53 over 10,000m in Utrecht to erase Linet Masai’s Kenyan record, but a hamstring injury meant she could only finish 12th at the 2009 World Championships.

Injury prevented her defending her cross country title in 2010, but in September that year she made her half marathon debut, and a month later won the world half marathon title in Nanning, defeating Dire Tune in the final stages.

Personal notesHer full name is Florence Jebet Kiplagat.

She used to be married to Moses Mosop who ran 2:03:06 when he was second at the 2011 Boston Marathon and set world track records for 25,000m and 30,000m in 2011. She has two daughters, Faith and Aisha. Her uncle, William Kiplagat, is a marathon runner with a best of 2:06:50 from 1999.

She lives on a 20-acre farm in Eldoret with 1200 chickens, among other livestock. Edna Kiplagat is a neighbour. She is coached by Renato Canova.

FLORENCE KIPLAGAT (KENYA)Born: 27 February 1987 Kapkitony, Keiyo DistrictMarathon best: 2:19:44 Berlin 2011London Marathon record: 2012- 4th 2:20:57, 2013- 6th 2:27:05, 2014- 2nd 2:20:24, 2015- 5th 2:24:15Other World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2011- 1st 2:19:44, 2013- 1st 2:21:13Boston: 2011- dnfChicago: 2014- 3rd 2:25:57, 2015- 1st 2:23:23Other major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championships: None

Career notes World half marathon record holder Florence Kiplagat will start her fifth London Marathon full of confidence for her first win after clinching the Chicago Marathon title in October last year.

Her Chicago victory was her third in a World Marathon Majors race after she won the Berlin Marathon in 2011 and 2013. The closest she came to winning in London was in 2014 when she lost out to her namesake Edna Kiplagat in a sprint down The Mall, the three-second difference the smallest losing gap for 17 years. She returned last year aiming to go one better but had to be satisfied with fifth less than a minute behind the winner.

She broke the world half marathon record in Barcelona last February for the second time in two years, lowering the mark to 65:09 and breaking 15km and 20km world records along the way. She won again this year in 69:19.

Kiplagat made her marathon debut in Boston in 2011 but dropped out after going through half way in 1:11:42 and 30km in 1:42:59. It was an inauspicious start that she soon put behind her by winning the first of her two Berlin Marathon titles that September.

Kiplagat led from start to finish in Berlin and crossed the line more than two and a half minutes clear after shrugging off the attentions of two of the fastest women of all time, world record holder Paula Radcliffe and German record holder Irina Mikitenko.

She came to London in 2012 as one of five Kenyans vying for Olympic selection but finished fourth behind Mary Keitany, Edna Kiplagat and Priscah Jeptoo and so missed out on an Olympic place. Twelve months later, she was leading at 25km with Jeptoo and Edna Kiplagat, but faded badly to sixth.

She made a victorious return to Berlin in September 2013, when she regained the title ahead of Sharon Cherop and Mikitenko, and finished the year ranked fifth in the world.

After almost tasting victory in London in 2014, she reached another World Marathon Majors podium in October when she finished third at that year’s Chicago Marathon. She returned to the Windy City last year and improved to first, pulling away from a pair of Ethiopians in the last 5km before dedicating her victory to her two daughters.

F. KIPLAGAT


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She competed for Azerbaijan from February until December 2009 under the name Mare Ibrahimova and set Azerbaijani records for 3000m and 5000m on the track as well as for the half marathon when third in New Delhi in 68:45.

She lowered that time to 67:13 when second in Ra’s Al-Khaymah in 2010 after reverting to Ethiopia. That remains her personal best.

She has run one half marathon this year, finishing third in Houston in January in 67:55.

Personal notesHer full name is Mare Dibaba Hurssa. She is not related to the sisters, Tirunesh and Genzebe Dibaba.

She competed for Azerbaijan from February until December 2009 under the name Mare Ibrahimova but was revealed to be over age when entered for the European junior cross country championships.

MARE DIBABA (ETHIOPIA)Born: 20 October 1989 Sululta, Oromia regionMarathon best: 2:19:52 Dubai 2012 & Xiamen 2015London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon MajorsBoston: 2014- 3rd 2:20:35, 2015- 2nd 2:24:59Chicago: 2014- 2nd 2:25:37Other major city marathonsDubai: 2012- 3rd 2:19:52Frankfurt: 2010- 5th 2:25:27Los Angeles: 2011- 3rd 2:30:25Rome: 2010- 3rd 2:25:38Toronto: 2011- 2nd 2:23:25Xiamen: 2014- 1st 2:21:36, 2015- 1st 2:19:52Marathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- 22nd 2:28:48Worlds: 2015- 1st 2:27:35

Career notes Mare Dibaba became Ethiopia’s first ever World Championships marathon gold medallist in Beijing last summer when she outbattled three other women inside the Bird’s Nest stadium to claim gold for her country.

In a thrilling finish, Dibaba defeated Kenya’s Helah Kiprop by one second in 2:27:35 with Eunice Kirwa another three seconds back in third and Jemima Sumgong fourth – just seven seconds separating the top four in what was the closest marathon in World Championships history.

Dibaba may have had to fight for the title but her victory was not a surprise as she started the race as the fastest entrant after winning the Xiamen Marathon in China early last year in 2:19:52 – equalling her own personal best from Dubai three years before in a time that remained the quickest in the world in 2015 until Gladys Cherono’s Berlin performance.

Dibaba confirmed her good form in Boston last April when she was second to Caroline Rotich. She had finished third there in 2014 before going on to finish second in Chicago that October behind Rita Jeptoo (who has since been suspended for doping violations).

That was her third marathon of 2014 as she had started the year in winning form, taking her first marathon victory in Xiamen that January.

Dibaba made her marathon debut in 2010 when she was third in Rome in 2:25:38. She improved slightly when fifth in Frankfurt that October and took her best down to 2:23:25 finishing second in Toronto in 2011.

Her breakthrough came the following January when she was third in Dubai in 2:19:52 winning selection for the 2012 Olympics that summer. The rainy London weather didn’t suit Dibaba for she was 22nd in the Olympic race, nine minutes outside her best.

That remained her only global championship race until Beijing last summer, although she did win the All Africa Games half marathon title in 2011 in a Games record of 70:47.

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PRISCAH JEPTOO (KENYA)Born: 26 June 1984 Chemnoet Village, NandiMarathon best: 2:20:14 London 2012London Marathon record: 2012- 3rd 2:20:14, 2013- 1st 2:20:15, 2014- dnf, 2015- 7th 2:25:01Other World Marathon MajorsNew York: 2013- 1st 2:25:07, 2015- 6th 2:27:03Other major city marathonsPadua: 2010- 2nd 2:30:53Paris: 2011- 1st 2:22:55Porto: 2009- 1st 2:30:40Turin: 2010- 1st 2:27:02Marathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- 2nd 2:23:12Worlds: 2011- 2nd 2:29:00

Career notesPriscah Jeptoo came to defend her London Marathon title in 2014 after more than two years of consistently high performances which culminated in the 2012/13 World Marathon Majors crown.

But Jeptoo’s run of form ended here that April when she failed to finish, dropping out before 30km with a calf injury. She didn’t return to action until that November when she won a 15km road race in the Netherlands, clocking a best for the distance of 46:59, having withdrawn from the 2014 New York Marathon earlier that month.

Jeptoo’s sequence of successful marathons had begun when she snatched the silver medal from her teammate Sharon Cherop in the closing stages of the Daegu 2011 World Championships, helping Kenya to a clean sweep of the medals. She added an Olympic silver in 2012 having won her place on the Kenyan team just four months earlier finishing third on her London Marathon debut behind Mary Keitany and Edna Kiplagat in a personal best of 2:20:14.

She returned to London in 2013 hoping to improve her PB and left with the title after dominating a race containing some of the most impressive marathon runners of all time. She broke away in the second half and crossed the line more than a minute clear of world champion Edna Kiplagat, one second outside her PB.

She skipped the 2013 World Championships in Moscow instead focusing on the Great North Run, where she ran a half marathon PB of 65:45 to beat Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba, and the New York Marathon, where she overcame more than three minutes deficit at half way to win by 49 seconds and secure the WMM prize. She was the first woman since Grete Waitz in 1983 and 1986 to win London and New York in the same year.

She ran both marathons again last year but couldn’t repeat her winning form of two years earlier, placing seventh in London and sixth in New York.

JEPTOO

Her first victory came in Porto in 2009, followed by Turin in 2010. But she first grabbed the world’s attention in April 2011 when she won the Paris Marathon in 2:22:55, then the second quickest time in the race’s 35-year history and more than four minutes quicker than she had run before. She finished nearly two minutes ahead of Agnes Kiprop to secure her spot on Kenya’s World Championship team.

A year later she claimed her Olympic place, finishing third of the quintet of Kenyans who dominated the 2012 London Marathon. That August she missed out on Olympic gold by just five seconds, clocking 2:23:12, a time that would have won every previous Olympic title. It was the smallest losing margin in Olympic history.

She followed that with a brilliant victory in the 2012 Great North Run when she ran a sensational 10th mile of 4:34 and covered 10k to 20k in 30:06 to leave Meseret Defar and Tirunesh Dibaba adrift. Her time of 65:45 was a supreme performance, although not eligible as a world record because of the course.

She won the 2014 Ra’s Al-Khaymah half marathon and was eighth this year in 68:04, a PB for a record-legal course.

Personal notesHer full name is Priscah Jeptoo Chepsiror. Her husband Douglas Chepsiror is also her training partner and massseur. They have a son, Faustin Kipchumba and live on a 15-acre farm in Kapsabet. Her mother, Beatrice Samoei, was a 1500m runner.

She is coached by Claudio Berardelli.

Relatively tall for a female marathon runner, she runs with wide elbows and an awkward-looking, swinging stride.


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FEYSE TADESE (ETHIOPIA)Born: 19 November 1988Marathon best: 2:20:27 Berlin 2014London Marathon record: 2014- 4th 2:21:42Other World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2014- 2nd 2:20:27Other major city marathonsDubai: 2011- 10th 2:30:23Eindhoven: 2011- 3rd 2:25:20Paris: 2013- 1st 2:21:06Seoul: 2012- 1st 2:23:26Shanghai: 2012- 1st 2:23:07Venice: 2009- 10th 2:36:57Marathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2013- dnf

Career notesFeyse Tadese became a significant presence on the World Marathon Majors scene in 2014 starting with her performance at the London Marathon where she produced a strong finish to place fourth, just behind her compatriot Tirunesh Dibaba in 2:21:42, just half a minute outside her personal best.

She was more than half a minute inside her PB in Berlin that September when she finished second, just nine seconds behind another Ethiopian, Tirfi Tsegaye.

She was set to return to London last April and challenge for a place on the podium but an ankle injury sustained three weeks before the race forced her to withdraw. She didn’t return to racing until last October when she was fourth at the Lisbon half marathon.

Tadese’s marathon career began in Venice in 2009 when she was 10th in 2:36:57. She was 10th again in Dubai in January 2011 when she ran six and a half minutes faster to record 2:30:23. She improved both time and place in Eindhoven that October, finishing third in 2:25:20 behind fellow Ethiopian Shitaye Bedaso.

She followed that with a string of three marathon victories, first in Seoul in March 2012 when she crossed the line in 2:23:26, then in Shanghai that December when she went a fraction quicker, clocking a course record of 2:23:07.

That PB didn’t last long either as she cut it down by another two minutes to win the 2013 Paris Marathon in a course record 2:21:06, continuing a steady sequence of improving times.

That performance also won her a place on Ethiopia’s World Championships team, but Tadese failed to finish in Moscow, unable to cope with the torrid conditions.

Tadese picked up her first global honour in 2012 when she won a silver medal at the World Half Marathon Championships in Kavarna, a race she led until the closing stages when she was passed by her teammate Meseret Hailu. She had been fourth in 2010 and was seventh in that year’s World Cross Country Championships.

She set her half marathon PB when she was ninth in the 2013 Ra’s Al-Khaymah half in 68:35. She was seventh in the same race in January 2014 in 69:19.

Personal notesHer full name is Feyse Tadese Boru. Her name is sometimes listed as Feysa Tadesse.

She is coached by Gemedu Dedefo (the same as Aselefech Mergia).

TADESE


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JEMIMA SUMGONG (KENYA)Born: 21 December 1984Marathon best: 2:20:41 Boston 2014London Marathon record: 2015- 6th 2:24:23Other World Marathon MajorsBoston: 2012- 2nd 2:31:52, 2014- 4th 2:20:41Chicago: 2013- 2nd 2:20:48New York: 2014- 2nd 2:25:10Other major city marathonsCastellón: 2011- 1st 2:28:32Frankfurt: 2007- 4th 2:29:41Las Vegas: 2006- 1st 2:35:12Mumbai: 2008- 11th 2:44:12Rotterdam: 2013- 1st 2:23:27San Diego: 2008- 2nd 2:30:18, 2010- 5th 2:32:34Marathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2015- 4th 2:27:42

Career notesJemima Sumgong has completed 13 marathons in her career so far, and finished in the top five in all but two, including five of her six World Marathon Majors races.

At her first, the 2012 Boston Marathon, it was only inexperience that cost her victory as Sharon Cherop accelerated off the final turn to pull away for a two-second victory.

Eighteen months later, at the 2013 Chicago Marathon, Sumgong pushed her training partner and eventual winner, Rita Jeptoo, for most of the race, before winding up second again in 2:20:48.

She came close to victory again in 2014, running seven seconds quicker than her personal best at the Boston Marathon to finish fourth in 2:20:41. She then placed second behind Mary Keitany in New York that November, a race she lost by just three seconds, matching the closest margin in the event’s history.

She made her London Marathon debut last April and placed sixth in the close-fought race, finishing fractionally over a minute behind the winner. Selection for the World Championships followed and in Beijing she was again close without reward, finishing fourth in 2:27:42, just seven seconds behind the winner.

She first established herself on the US road circuit in 2005, and made her marathon debut 10 years ago when she won the 2006 Las Vegas Marathon aged 21.

She broke 2:30 for the first time the following year, finishing fourth in Frankfurt in 2:29:41, but didn’t notch up another marathon victory until 2011 when she was first in the Castellón de la Plana Marathon, lowering her best to 2:28:32.

After making her WMM debut in Boston in 2012, she had the biggest marathon victory of her career the following spring in Rotterdam where she not only won the prestigious race but knocked some five minutes from her best with 2:23:27, a time she improved still further over the next 12 months in Chicago and Boston.

Sumgong shaved a few seconds from her half marathon best in 2014, clocking 68:32 for second in Luanda, and lowered it further when sixth at this year’s Ra’s Al-Khaymah half marathon in 66:58.

Her 10km PB of 31:15 was set in 2006.

She set 1500m and 10,000m track PBs last year and won the Luanda 10km road race on New Year’s eve.

Personal notesHer full name is Jemima Jelagat Sumgong and she is sometimes listed as Jemima Jelagat.

She married Noah Talam in 2009, an elite marathon runner with a 2:12 best. She took a break from running in 2009 and gave birth to her daughter in 2011.

Sumgong trains in Kapsabet in the Nandi Hills under the direction of her coach, Claudio Beradelli.

She works for the Kenyan Armed Services.

Sumgong tested positive for the banned substance prednisolone after the 2012 Boston Marathon and was given a two-year ban by Athletics Kenya. However, she was cleared on appeal by the IAAF in September 2012 as the local injection Sumgong received was permitted under the governing body’s rules.

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Now 34, she has been Ibero-American 3000m champion three times, and was World Universities 5000m champion in 2007. As a 5000m runner she represented Portugal at the 2005 and 2007 World Championships, while she was 11th in the 3000m steeplechase in 2009. She was 10th over 10,000m at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu.

She also competed in both the 5000m and steeple-chase at the 2008 Olympics, but failed to make the final in either.

She has some decent form on the roads with a half marathon PB of 69:08 from her victory at the 2009 Great North Run. She was second at the Great North Run in 2011, 12th in 2012 and ninth in 2013.

After missing most of last year, she returned to racing at the Lisbon 10km on 26 December when she finished second in 33:35. She was third in the Portuguese 10km championships in January this year in 33:07, and a month later was third in the Barcelona half marathon in 70:58.

JÉSSICA AUGUSTO (PORTUGAL)Born: 8 November 1981 Paris, FranceMarathon best: 2:24:25 London 2014London Marathon record: 2011- 7th 2:24:33, 2012- 8th 2:24:59, 2013- dnf, 2014- 6th 2:24:25Other World Marathon MajorsNew York: 2011- dnfOther major city marathonsYokohama: 2013- 3rd 2:29:11Marathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- 7th 2:25:11Europeans: 2014- 3rd 2:25:51

Career notes Jéssica Augusto returns to London in 2016 after a year of injury hoping to repeat the form which saw her finish sixth in 2014 in 2:24:25, shaving eight seconds from the personal best she set on her marathon debut here in 2011.

She followed that up two years ago by winning a bronze medal at the 2014 European Championships in Zürich, clocking an impressive 2:25:51 on the hilly course.

Augusto has always performed well in a Portuguese vest, whatever the weather. She placed seventh at the London 2012 Olympics in a similar time. Running a steady race in the pouring rain, she eased through the field to finish as the third European.

She failed to finish at the New York Marathon in 2011 and again in London in 2013, but she made a marathon podium for the first time later that year when she was third in Yokohama in 2:29:11.

A hugely experienced athlete, Augusto has been a Portuguese international since 1998. In 1999 she was sixth at 3000m and 12th over 1500m at the European Junior Championships. The following year she won the European junior cross country title and it’s at cross country where she’s enjoyed most success as a senior.

Her victory in the 2010 European Cross Country Championships was one better than her runner-up spot in 2008, while she was 21st at the 2010 World Cross Country Championships following 12th place in 2007. At the 2010 Europeans in Albufeira she led virtually from start to finish and celebrated with her home crowd before crossing the line. She not only led Portugal to the team gold but became the first former junior champion to win the senior title.

On the track she won two medals at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona – silver in the 10,000m and bronze at 5000m. She then represented Europe at the IAAF Continental Cup over 5000m, finishing seventh.

In fact, 2010 was a good year for Augusto as she also set national records for two miles indoors (9:19.39 in Birmingham, also a European best) and 3000m steeplechase outdoors (9:18.54), as well as PBs at 1500m (indoors and out), 5000m (14:37.07), 10,000m (31:19.15) and 10km (31:47 when second at the Great Manchester Run).

AUGUSTO


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VOLHA MAZURONAK (BELARUS)Born: 14 April 1989Marathon best: 2:25:36 London 2015London Marathon record: 2015- 9th 2:25:36Other World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsBaltimore: 2012- 4th 2:40:06Debno: 2012- 1st 2:33:56Lódz: 2013- 2nd 2:33:33Omsk: 2012- 1st 2:44:47Sacramento: 2014- 1st 2:27:33Marathons in major championships: None

Career notes Volha Mazuronak broke both her official and her unofficial personal best when she finished ninth in London last year in 2:25:36.

The Belarusian had shattered the course record by nearly two minutes when she dipped under 2:30 for the first time to win the previous December’s California International Marathon in Sacramento, a race that starts shortly after dawn but is run on a downhill course, so doesn’t count for records.

It was the 26-year-old’s third victory in five marathons and she improved her personal best by exactly six minutes, but her official PB remained from Lódz in 2013.

A former international race walker at youth and junior level, she moved up to the marathon in 2012, winning the Belarusian championships in Debno in 2:33:56. That was in April, and four months later she won again, this time in Omsk, although in a much slower time.

She ran her first overseas marathon just two months later, finishing fourth in Baltimore in 2:40:06. She shaved 23 seconds from her PB when she was second in Lódz in April 2013 before running her quickest time in California towards the end of 2014 – quickest that is until London last April when she was a surprise presence among the top 10 in a time barely two minutes slower than the winner.

Mazuronak’s international career stretches back to 2005 when she was fourth in the 5000m walk at the World Youth Championships.

She was fifth at the following year’s World Juniors in the 10,000m walk having finished fourth in the junior 10km race at the World Race Walk Cup in La Coruña that year. She was Belarus junior champion at 10km walk in 2006 and 2007.

She set a half marathon PB of 72:02 in Minsk last September a year after finishing seventh over 10,000m at the European Championships in 32:31.15, another PB.

She also lowered her 5000m best last summer to 15:35.21 finishing second at the World Military Championships in Mungyeong.

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Personal notes Previously known as Sonia Thomas, she became Sonia Samuels when she married Nick (3:44.2 for 1500m in 2010) in 2008.

She studied at Loughborough University and was coached by George Gandy until 2013. Now she is guided by Terrence Mahon. She runs for Sale Harriers Manchester.

She used to make her living teaching German, Spanish and French at John Flamsted School in Denby, but has recently put her teaching career on hold while she concentrates on achieving her dream of a place on Britain’s Rio 2016 Olympic team.

A qualified open water diver, she has dived with great white sharks and in open water at night. She also cycled from Geneva to Nice through the Alps.

SONIA SAMUELS (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)Born: 16 May 1979 WallsendMarathon best: 2:28:04 Berlin 2015London Marathon record: 2012- 18th 2:33:41, 2015- 16th 2:31:46Other World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2012- 9th 2:30:56, 2015- 9th 2:28:04Other major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2013- 16th 2:39:03

Career notes Sonia Samuels broke the 2:30 barrier for the first time when she finished ninth at the Berlin Marathon last September in 2:28:04. That was nearly three minutes inside her previous best and well inside British Athletics’ Rio 2016 Olympic qualifying standard. It also meant Samuels finished 2015 ranked number one in the UK.

She made her marathon debut in London four years ago when she finished 18th, fourth Briton, in 2:33:41.

She failed to make the British team for the London Olympics but ran at the Berlin Marathon that September and knocked nearly three minutes from her London time to finish ninth.

She was selected for Britain at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow and ran well to finish 16th in 2:39:03.

Samuels took a break from marathon running in 2014 to improve over the shorter distances and, after recording a personal best of 32:39.36, was selected to run 10,000m for England at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games where she was seventh.

She went on to win a place in the British squad for the European Cross Country Championships in Samokov in December 2014, and finished 15th helping Britain’s women to a team gold medal.

She returned to the marathon in London last April and finished 16th in 2:31:46 as the first Briton home.

She also set a 20km PB of 70:19 on the roads last year. She has a half marathon PB of 72:36 from 2013 when she was sixth in Berlin. She finished third there in 2011.

Samuels was national junor cross country champion as long ago as 1999 and won the British universities cross country title in 2001.

She made her first international appearance as a junior in 1997 at the World Cross Country Championships and ran in the senior race at the World Cross for the first time in 2002.

On the track, she became British 10,000m champion in 2011 having finished third the previous year.

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Personal notes She married Michael Ross in September 2012. She lives in Stenhousemuir and runs for Edinburgh Athletics Club.

She is an engineering graduate of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and worked as a structural engineer in Newcastle before becoming a full-time athlete. She received an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt University in 2014.

She is coached by British record holder Steve Jones, the 1985 London and Chicago Marathon winner.

FREYA ROSS (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)Born: 20 September 1983 EdinburghMarathon best: 2:28:10 London 2012London Marathon record: 2012- 13th 2:28:10Other World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsYokohama: 2013- 7th 2:35:19Marathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- 44th 2:32:14

Career notes Freya Ross (then Murray) ran an impressive marathon debut at the London Marathon in April 2012 to finish 13th, second Briton behind Claire Hallissey in 2:28:10.

At first that was not good enough to be selected for the Olympic Games, but she eventually took Paula Radcliffe’s place when the world record holder pulled out just a week before the race.

Ross flew in to London from her home in the north east and finished 44th, the first Briton home.

She went on to run a half marathon best of 72:23 to finish ninth at the 2012 Great North Run, a time she improved in October 2013 when she was second at the Scottish Championships in Glasgow in 71:51. The following month she was seventh in the Yokohama Marathon in 2:35:19.

She hasn’t competed at either the marathon or half marathon since as the next two years were disrupted by injuries. A broken hip forced her to miss the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow while a related injury hampered her return last year when she raced only in cross country races in Scotland.

Ross won the Great Ireland Run in 2010 and the Great Yorkshire Run in both 2009 and 2010, setting the course record in 2009.

She was 12th at the 2011 European Cross Country Championships when the British women won gold, and ninth in 2009 when Britain were second.

In February 2012, she won the Scottish cross country title for the sixth time in seven years.

She was fifth and seventh for Scotland over 5000m and 10,000m at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and has raced for Britain at four World Cross Country Championships between 2003 and 2010.

Her 5000m PB is 15:26.5 and her 10,000m best is 32:23.44, both set in 2010.

She finished 12th at the British Athletics Cross Challenge in Cardiff in January this year after placing ninth at the Edinburgh cross country international.

She was second in the Scottish cross country championships at the end of February.

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RENE KALMER (SOUTH AFRICA)Born: 3 November 1980 Roodepoort, GautengMarathon best: 2:29:27 Berlin 2014London Marathon record: 2012- dnfOther World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2014- 9th 2:29:27Boston: 2013- 17th 2:37:15Other major city marathonsJohannesburg: 2011- 1st 2:51:35Prague: 2011- 5th 2:34:57Soweto: 2009- 1st 2:44:06Vienna: 2015- 6th 2:33:21Yokohama: 2011- 5th 2:29:59, 2013- 6th 2:32:39Marathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- 34th 2:30:51Worlds: 2011- 30th 2:38:16

Career notes Former Soweto and Johannesburg marathon winner Renè Kalmer makes her third appearance in a London Marathon a year and a half after breaking into the top 10 in Berlin with a personal best of 2:29:27.

Kalmer’s first London Marathon in April 2012 didn’t go well as she was forced to drop out. She returned to the British capital that August for the Olympic race and finished 34th.

A long-serving South African international on the track, she made a winning start to her marathon career in 2009 when she won in Soweto. She also won the Johannesburg Marathon in March 2011 and was fifth in Prague that May gaining selection for the Daegu World Championships where she was 30th.

She broke 2:30 for the first time in her fourth marathon of 2011 when she clocked 2:29:59 finishing fifth in Yokohama.

She was sixth in the same city in 2013 six months after placing 17th in Boston, but it was in Berlin in 2014 when she shaved another half-minute from her time. She ran one marathon last year, placing sixth in Vienna.

Kalmer first ran 1500m for South Africa at the 2001 World Championships at the age of 20. She was a finalist at that distance at the 2003 World University Games, the 2007 All-Africa Games and the 2008 and 2010 African Championships. She also ran 1500m at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing but did not get past the first round.

In 2010 she was a world indoor 3000m finalist in Doha where she broke the South African 3000m record having claimed the national indoor 1500m record the previous month.

She has also run for South Africa at three World Half Marathon Championships, finishing 14th in 2009 and 16th in 2012. Her half marathon best of 70:13 was set at the 2012 Great North Run where she was sixth.

Personal notesHer sister Christine Kalmer is also an international runner.

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Personal notes Known as ‘Aly’ to her friends, she lives in Sunderland and runs for Sunderland Strollers. She previously ran for Chester-le-Street AC and Sunderland Harriers.

She is self-coached.Her father was a marathon runner and she says she was brought up with athletics as part of her life. She started to take running seriously when she won the British university championships 10,000m in 2001.

She writes an award-winning blog which carries the motto, ‘Marathon running: it’s not a hobby, it’s a lifestyle’. It won the 2014 Sports Blog of the Year award at the North East Bloggers Awards.

She says: “I want to use it to show people the ups and downs of racing and training to a high level. To share … the good times when it all goes to plan and you run a PB or gain selection to a major champs, but also the heartache of everything going wrong and not achieving your goals.”

ALYSON DIXON (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)Born: 24 September 1978 CoventryMarathon best: 2:29:30 Berlin 2015London Marathon record: 2010- 24th 2:43:48, 2012- 23rd 2:35:46Other World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2015- 11th 2:29:30New York: 2010- 28th 2:42:50Other major city marathonsBrighton: 2011- 1st 2:34:51, 2013- 2nd 2:31:10Marathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2011- 42nd 2:50:51Commonwealths: 2014- dnf

Career notes Alyson Dixon improved her marathon best by 100 seconds at the Berlin Marathon last September when she finished 11th in 2:29:30, breaking the 2:30 barrier for the first time and dipping well inside British Athletics’ Rio 2016 Olympic qualifying standard.

It was a big breakthrough for the Sunderland Stroller who has been gradually improving since her low-key debut in London in 2010 when she finished 24th in 2:43:48.

She lowered her time at that year’s New York Marathon where she was the quickest in her age group, and was called up to run for Britain at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu after winning the inaugural Brighton Marathon in April that year. She was 42nd in Daegu, hampered by a foot injury that turned out to be two broken bones.

She returned to London in 2012, with just five months training since her Daegu injury, in an attempt to qualify for Britain’s Olympic team, and was close to her best in 24th place, running 2:35:46.

Returning to Brighton the following April, she ran a PB of 2:31:10, but could not quite regain the title, finishing second 2 minutes 20 behind Kenya’s Eunice Kales.

Ranked second in Britain at the end of 2013, she was selected to run for England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow but dropped out of the race with a tear to her right calf. That was her last marathon outing before the 2015 Berlin race.

She was 18th for Britain at the 2014 World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen, clocking a PB of 70:38 after finishing 44th at the 2009 World Half in Birmingham.

She ranked second in the UK last year for the marathon and fourth for the half marathon.

She also set PBs for 3000m and 10,000m on the track and for 10km on the roads, clocking 32:17.

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KATARZYNA KOWALSKA (POLAND)Born: 7 April 1985 LipnoMarathon best: 2:29:41 Berlin 2015London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2015- 12th 2:29:41Other major city marathonsWarsaw: 2014- 5th 2:34:57Marathons in major championships: None

Career notes A two-time European under 23 champion at 3000m steeplechase, Kowalska has competed over the barriers for Poland at two Olympic Games and three World Championships while she made the steeplechase final at three European Championships.

She has run two marathons so far in her career, finishing fifth in Warsaw in April 2014 and 12th in last year’s Berlin Marathon where she broke the 2:30 barrier with 2:29:41.

Her international career stretches back to 2004 when she ran at the World Junior Championships but her greatest success came at European level where she won the under 23 title at 3000m steeplechase in 2005 and 2007.

She was also a cross country bronze medallist in the under 23 race at the 2007 European championships having finished ninth the year before.

Her best place at a senior championships was seventh in the steeplechase at the 2014 Europeans, while she was 11th at the 2009 Worlds. She was knocked out in the heats at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

On the roads, she has a half marathon best of 71:27 set when winning the Warsaw half marathon in 2011.

Her 10km best of 33:12 was run at the end of 2015. She also won the Polish 10km title last year.

Personal notes She runs for the LKS Vectra Włocławek club.

KOWALSKA


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Personal notesA Hampshire-based teacher, Damen writes a running blog for realbuzz.com.

She is a member of Winchester AC. She used to be self-coached but is now guided by Richard Nerurkar.

She sometimes used to train with Michelin-starred chef Alan Murchison.

LOUISE DAMEN (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)Born: 12 October 1982Marathon best: 2:30:00 London 2011London Marathon record: 2011- 19th 2:30:00, 2012- 15th 2:31:37Other World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsOsaka: 2014- 8th 2:32:21Yokohama: 2011- dnfMarathons in major championshipsCommonwealths: 2014- 7th 2:32:59

Career notes Louise Damen’s marathon best dates from her debut in London in 2011 when she was timed at exactly 2:30:00. She hoped to repeat that form the following year but missed out on Olympic selection when she was 15th in 2:31:37.

Two years later she won a place on England’s team for the 2014 Commonweatlh Games by finishing eighth at the Osaka Women’s Marathon in 2:32:21. She ran well in Glasgow to finish seventh in 2:32:59.

Now 33, she returns to London for her first marathon since that race having not run a half marathon since 2012.

That might seem something of a risk, but then the fact that Damen is a runner at all is something of a minor miracle, let alone one with serious Olympic ambitions. She was born without a left hip socket and spent several of her first months in traction and splints.

Yet by the age of 21 she was running for Britain at World Cross and European Under 23 Championships, picking up bronze over 10,000m in the latter. In 2004 she won another bronze helping Britain’s women to third at the World Cross Country Championships as she finished 22nd.

Three years later she won the Reading half in an impressive 70:47, which remains her PB, and helped Britain to silver at the European Cross.

In 2011 and 2013 she won the English cross country title and was second in the 2011 Bath half before making her marathon debut in London. It proved to be a triumph as she strode home second Briton in 2:30:00.

It seemed like a promising start to what could be a successful marathon career, but as yet Damen has been unable to improve on that performance.

She dropped out at half way in the 2011 Yokohama Marathon suffering from the 25-degree heat.

Having finished fourth at the Bupa London 10,000 in 2014, she won the Bristol 10km race last May.

DAMEN


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SUSAN PARTRIDGE (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)Born: 4 January 1980 CarlukeMarathon best: 2:30:46 London 2013London Marathon record: 2004- 20th 2:41:44, 2005- 15th 2:37:50, 2008- 17th 2:41:40, 2010- 14th 2:35:57, 2011- 19th 2:34:13, 2012- 23rd 2:37:41, 2013- 9th 2:30:46Other World Marathon MajorsChicago: 2015- 11th 2:31:31Other major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championshipsWorlds: 2011- 23rd 2:35:57, 2013- 10th 2:36:24Europeans: 2010- 14th 2:39:07Commonwealths: 2006- 10th 2:39:54, 2014- 6th 2:32:18

Career notes An experienced international with 13 marathons to her name, Susan Partridge made her bid for 2012 Olympic selection when she was third Briton home in London in 2011 in 2:34:13, a PB by more than 90 seconds and inside the Olympic B standard of 2:35.

Partridge went on to finish 23rd at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu where she was first Briton in 2:35:57, but she couldn’t improve again in 2012, finishing 23rd that year in London in 2:37:41.

She made a big leap forward in 2013 when she was ninth in 2:30:46, again winning a place at the World Championships. She performed superbly in Moscow to place 10th in 2:36:24.

The following year she finished 10th for Scotland in the marathon at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games, a position she improved to sixth on home soil in Glasgow eight years later.

She also ran for Britain at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona, finishing 14th and helping Britain to team bronze in the European Marathon Cup.

Her most recent marathon was in Chicago last October where she finished 11th in 2:31:31, within touching distance of British Athletics’ Rio Olympics qualifying time.

Raised in Oban, the Leeds-based Scot made her marathon debut in London in 2004 when she was 20th in 2:41:44, a time she improved by almost four minutes the following year.

Having been a junior cross international in the late 1990s, she first represented Britain as a senior in 2005 when she was 25th at the World Half Marathon Championships.

Her current half marathon PB of 70:32 was set in Bath in 2013.

Personal notes Raised in Oban, in west Scotland, she is now based in Leeds and runs for Leeds City.

She is coached by British record holder Steve Jones, the 1985 London and Chicago Marathon winner.

PARTRIDGE


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SARA HALL (UNITED STATES)Born: 15 April 1983 Santa Rosa, California. née BeiMarathon best: 2:31:14 Chicago 2015London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon MajorsChicago: 2015- 10th 2:31:14Other major city marathonsLos Angeles: 2015- 22nd 2:48:02Marathons in major championships: None

Career notes The 2011 Pan American Games 3000m steeplechase champion makes her London Marathon debut after finishing 10th in Chicago last October in 2:31:14, the second American home behind US record holder and former London Marathon champion, Deena Kastor.

Hall took almost 17 minutes from the time she ran on her debut in Los Angeles last March.

Hall ran 3000m for USA at the 2002 World Junior Championships when she was 15th and as a senior over the same distance at the 2006, 2010 and 2012 World Indoor Championships. Her best finish was eighth in 2012.

Her only major international track honour to date was the 2011 Pan Am steeplechase title while she was 20th at last year’s World Cross Country Championships after finishing fifth in the US Championships. She was US cross country champion in 2012 when she just beat Molly Huddle to the line.

She improved her half marathon best to 70:07 finishing fifth in Houston this January while she has won half marathons in Dallas, San José and Healdsburg, California, twice.

Last year she ran personal bests for 10,000m (32:35.87), 25km (1:27:41), half marathon and marathon, while she was seventh at the Great North Run.

Personal notes Formerly Sara Bei, Hall is married to Ryan Hall, the US marathon runner who clocked 2:04:58 in Boston in 2011 and was fifth at the 2008 London Marathon in 2:06:17 before placing 10th at the Beijing Olympic Games. He is the second fastest American of all time.

Like her husband, Sara was an All-American at college while competing for Stanford University, where they met. They married in 2005. They have four adopted daughters, Hana, Mia, Jasmine and Lily, sisters from Ethiopia.

Together they run the Hall Steps Foundation which aims to use the energy and resources that fuel runners’ athletic achievements for social justice.

HALL


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IRVETTE VAN ZYL (SOUTH AFRICA)Born: 5 July 1987 SandtonMarathon best: 2:31:26 London 2013London Marathon record: 2012- 17th 2:33:41, 2013- 10th 2:31:36Other World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathonsPorto Alegre: 2014- 1st 2:47:15Marathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- dnf

Career notes Irvette van Zyl ran her two best marathon times on the London Marathon course, finishing 17th in 2012 and 10th in 2013 in 2:31:36.

She fared less well on the London Olympic course, however, dropping out well before the finish.

Her only marathon outside London was in 2014 when she won the Porto Alegre race in Brazil.

She made her senior debut for South Africa at the 2010 World Half Marathon Championships when she was 49th having represented her country as a junior at three World Cross Country Championships, coming 18th, 16th and 26th.

She has been a prolific half marathon runner over the last 12 years, racing more than 30 times at the distance in Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

Her personal best was set in 2011 when she was eighth in New York in 70:56 while she has won races on home soil in Bedfordview, Pretoria and Port Elizabeth, and finished in the top 10 in New York, Birmingham and Lisbon. She won the Benoni half marathon in 2015 and 2016.

Her 10km PB of 32:50 was also set in 2011.

She has won national titles at 10,000m on the track and at 10km and half marathon on the roads.

Personal notes Previously known as Irvette van Blerk, she married South African 400m hurdler LJ van Zyl in 2012.

Her first major win came when she was just 15. She won the high profile Zevenheuvelenloop 15km race while on holiday in the Netherlands.

Between 2005 and 2007 she was a student at the University of Johannesburg.

She was badly injured in a scooter accident when she was 17, and she lost her stepfather (one of her biggest supporters) in a motorcycle accident. In 2011 she was hit by a car.

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NATALIA ROMERO (CHILE)Born: 26 February 1980Marathon best: 2:34:55 Santiago de Chile 2012London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon MajorsBerlin: 2014- 13th 2:43:36, 2015- 35th 2:43:02Other major city marathonsBuenos Aires: 2009- 2nd 2:44:31, 2010- 3rd 2:40:03Santiago de Chile: 2007- 3rd 2:50:22, 2007- 2nd 2:50:06, 2008- 1st 2:45:42, 2009- 3rd 2:44:24, 2010- 1st 2:41:13, 2011- 4th 2:37:06, 2012- 1st 2:34:55, 2014- 6th 2:45:11Marathons in major championshipsOlympics: 2012- 66th 2:37:47Pan Am: 2011- 7th 2:47:35South American: 2009- 2nd 2:44:31

Career notes Natalia Romero ran her personal best when winning the Santiago de Chile Marathon for a third time in 2012, qualifying for the London 2012 Olympics where she finished 66th.

She made her debut in Santiago in 2007 when she was third and won for the first time in 2008 and again in 2010.

She won a silver medal for Chile at the 2009 South American Championships in Buenos Aires and was third in the Argentine capital’s own marathon in 2010.

In 2011 she was seventh in the Pan American Games marathon in Guadalajara.

She comes to London for her third World Marathon Majors race having placed 13th at the Berlin Marathon in 2014 and 35th there last September.

She ran PBs at 5000m (17:36.44 for a bronze at the South American Championships) and 10,000m (37:20.77) last year.

Personal notes Her full name is Natalia del Carmen Romero Jaramillo.

ROMERO


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CASSIE FIEN (AUSTRALIA)Born: 15 September 1985Marathon best: 2:38:53 New York 2015London Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon MajorsNew York: 2015- 12th 2:38:53Other major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championships: None

Career notes An Australian international at the half marathon, Cassie Fien made her marathon debut in New York last November, finishing 12th in 2:38:53.

Her half marathon career stretches back to 2007 when she was second in Noosa in 77:51. She won the 2008 Melbourne half marathon and the Sydney half in 2010 while she also ran for Australia at the 2009 and 2010 World Half Marathon Championships, finishing 30th and 42nd respectively.

She lowered her half marathon PB at last July’s Gold Coast half where she was third in 71:28. She also won the City2Surf 14km race in Sydney last August.

In February this year she won Queensland titles at 5000m and 10,000m on the track.

Personal notes Fien is a physical training instructor and a corporal with the Royal Australian Air Force, the RAAF. She was on a seven-month deployment in Afghanistan while the London 2012 Olympic marathons were taking place.

She hadn’t even thought of aiming for Rio Olympic selection until she finished 12th in New York last November after leading for much of the race.

She is self-coached and runs for the Defence Athletics Club.

She trains on a treadmill rather than on the open road and often competes in a skirt rather than shorts.

FIEN


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CHARLOTTE PURDUE (GREAT BRITAIN & NI)Born: 10 June 1991 WindsorMarathon best: DebutLondon Marathon record: NoneOther World Marathon Majors: NoneOther major city marathons: NoneMarathons in major championships: None

Career notes Charlotte Purdue makes her marathon debut after winning four individual medals at junior and under 23 level at European Cross Country Championships.

Purdue was a dominant winner of the European junior cross country title in 2010 having won silver in 2008 and bronze in 2007. She went on to win bronze in the under 23 race in 2013.

On the track, she won a 5000m silver medal at the 2009 European Junior Championships in Novi Sad.

As a senior she was 14th for Britain at the 2011 World Cross Country Championships after finishing sixth at 5000m and fourth at 10,000m for England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, despite missing much of that year with a knee stress fracture.

On the roads, she won the Great Ireland Run 10km race in Dublin in 2011 and ran her PB for the distance there in 2012 when she was second to Gemma Steel.

She made her half marathon debut at the 2014 Great North Run, finishing eighth in 71:43, which remains her best.

She has won numerous English, English schools, British universities and national titles at track and cross country in the junior and senior age groups.

Personal notes She runs for Aldershot, Farnham & District and is coached by Nic Bideau.

She has been training for the London Marathon in Australia.

She writes a running blog called PocketRocketRun.

She has achieved a grade five in ballet.

PURDUE


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Awards & Bonuses for Elite Races

Awards for place

Men Women1 $55,000 $55,0002 $30,000 $30,0003 $22,500 $22,5004 $15,000 $15,0005 $10,000 $10,0006 $7,500 $7,5007 $5,000 $5,0008 $4,000 $4,0009 $3,000 $3,00010 $2,000 $2,00011 $1,500 $1,50012 $1,000 $1,000 $156,500 $156,500

Total prize money: $313,000

Time & Record Bonuses

Men WomenAny runner recording sub: Any runner recording sub:(not cumulative) (not cumulative)2:05:00 $100,000 2:18:00 $100,0002:06:00 $75,000 2:20:00 $75,0002:07:00 $50,000 2:22:00 $50,0002:08:00 $25,000 2:23:00 $25,0002:08:30 $15,000 2:24:00 $15,0002:09:00 $10,000 2:25:00 $10,0002:09:30 $5,000 2:26:00 $5,0002:10:00 $3,000 2:27:00 $3,0002:11:00 $1,000 2:28:00 $1,000

Any runner achieving the following will receive (in addition to the above):

• First in race and men’s course record (2:04:29) - $25,000• First in race and women’s only course record (2:17:42) - $25,000• First in race and men’s world record (currently 2:02:57) - $125,000• First in race and women’s only world record (currently 2:17:42) - $125,000


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The British Race

The British athletes listed on the next page are those who will line-up on the ‘elite’ start lines. To be considered part of the elite entries British athletes must satisfy the following criteria:

Men: athletes who have run a sub-2:18:00 marathon or sub-67:00 half marathon between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2015.

Women: athletes who have run a sub-2:38:00 marathon or sub-1:17:00 half marathon between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2015.

These athletes are all offered travel expenses and two nights accommodation. Any other athlete achieving these times at the 2016 Virgin Money London Marathon will have their travel expenses reimbursed.

Rio 2016 Olympic Games selectionThe 2016 London Marathon is also the official British Athletics marathon trial for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. To be eligible for selection athletes must have run the following qualifying times between 1 January 2015 and 24 April 2016:

Men: 2:14:00 Women: 2:31:00

The first two British athletes to finish the London Marathon who hold the qualifying time will be selected automatically. Athletes who have achieved the standard before 1 January 2016 will be expected to prove their fitness over 10km, 10 miles, half marathon or marathon between 1 January 2016 and midnight on 24 April 2016.Marathon performances must be achieved on IAAF accredited courses (as listed on the IAAF website).

The British marathon competitors for the 2016 Olympic Games will be announced on Monday 25 April 2016.

British Athletics can select up to three athletes for the men’s and women’s Olympic marathons.

Currently, the following athletes have achieved the British Athletics marathon standards:Men: Scott Overall (2:11:24); Callum Hawkins (2:12:17)Women: Sonia Samuels (2:28:04); Alyson Dixon (2:29:30)

UK ChampionshipsThe 2016 Virgin Money London Marathon is also the 2016 British Athletics men’s and women’s marathon championships. To compete in the championships an athlete must be a member of a UK Athletics affiliated club and have run the following times in 2014 or 2015:

Men: 2:45, or 1:15 half marathonWomen: 3:15, or 1:30 half marathon

UK BonusesThese bonuses apply to all British athletes eligible to compete for the UK in major championships.These sums are not cumulative.

Men WomenSub 2:11:00 - $8,000 Sub 2:31:00 - $8,000Sub 2:12:00 - $7,000 Sub 2:32:00 - $7,000Sub 2:13:00 - $6,000 Sub 2:33:00 - $6,000Sub 2:14:00 - $5,000 Sub 2:34:00 - $5,000Sub 2:15:00 - $4,000 Sub 2:35:00 - $4,000Sub 2:16:00 - $2,500 Sub 2:36:00 - $2,500Sub 2:17:00 - $1,500 Sub 2:37:00 - $1,500Sub 2:18:00 - $1,000 Sub 2:38:00 - $1,000Sub 2:19:00 - $500 Sub 2:40:00 - $500


Media Guide 2016 81

British Elite Runners

Men

Bib Name Club PB (year) Age Bib name19 Scott Overall Blackheath & Bromley 2:10:55 (11) 33 OVERALL20 Chris Thompson Aldershot, Farnham & District 2:11:19 (14) 34 THOMPSON21 Callum Hawkins Kilbarchan 2:12:17 (15) 23 HAWKINS24 Lee Merrien Newham & Essex Beagles 2:13:41 (12) 36 MERRIEN26 Derek Hawkins Leeds City 2:14:04 (12) 26 HAWKINS28 Phil Wicks Belgrave Harriers 2:15:38 (11) 31 WICKS30 Ben Moreau Aldershot, Farnham & District 2:15:52 (13) 34 MOREAU31 John Beattie Newham & Essex Beagles 2:16:38 (12) 30 BEATTIE32 Andrew Davies Stockport 2:16:55 (15) 36 DAVIES35 Tsegai Tewelde Shettleston / Glasgow City Debut 26 TEWELDE36 Jonathan Hay Aldershot, Farnham & District Debut 23 HAY37 Ryan McLeod Tipton Harriers Debut 30 MCLEOD38 Matthew Bond Sale Harriers Manchester Debut 33 BOND

Women

Bib Name Club PB (year) Age Bib name111 Sonia Samuels Sale Harriers Manchester 2:28:04 (15) 36 SAMUELS112 Freya Ross Edinburgh Southern Harriers 2:28:10 (12) 32 ROSS114 Alyson Dixon Sunderland Strollers 2:29:30 (15) 37 DIXON116 Louise Damen Winchester 2:30:00 (11) 33 DAMEN117 Susan Partridge Leeds City 2:30:46 (13) 36 PARTRIDGE122 Charlotte Purdue Aldershot, Farnham & District Debut 24 PURDUE

Preview: Britons to battle for Olympic places

No fewer than 14 British men and seven women are set to line up at the elite Blue Start with hopes of securing a place on Team GB’s Rio-bound plane for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Londoner Scott Overall and Scot Callum Hawkins have already beaten British Athletics’s men’s qualifying time of 2:14 with confident autumn runs in Berlin and Frankfurt respectively. They just need to be among the first two Britons across the line to guarantee a ticket to South America.

Among those hoping to join them are Chris Thompson, the 2010 European 10,000m silver medallist, who was 11th on his marathon debut in London two years ago and Leeds City’s Derek Hawkins, Callum’s brother.

Phil Wicks and Lee Merrien could also be in contention, as could Ben Moreau who has run at recent European Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Sonia Samuels and Alyson Dixon are in the driving seat in the women’s race as they both beat the standard of 2:31 at the Berlin Marathon last September.

Samuels was the first Briton home in London last year and the Sale Harrier finished ninth in Berlin in a personal best of 2:28:04. Dixon also ran a PB in the German capital and the Sunderland Stroller will be hoping to make up for 2012 when she missed out on the London Games.

Susan Partridge could also be in the mix after coming desperately close to the selection time in Chicago last October, while Freya Ross has high hopes of making the Olympic team again after running at London 2012 as a late replacement for Paula Radcliffe.

The experienced Louise Damen is also capable of achieving the time, and marathon debutante Charlotte Purdue should not be discounted.

Documents

04 THE ELITE RACES - Amazon Web Serviceslondon-marathon.s3.amazonaws.com/vmlm2014/.../206/...section-4.pdf · when he was the surprise package, clocking a personal ... making his