The former world record holder Brigid Kosgei has been added to the strong elite field of the Hamburg Marathon. She broke Paula Radcliffe’s longstanding mark with a time of 2:14:04 back in 2019 in Chicago. That means three women are now on the start list with personal bests of sub 2:19:00. Fellow Kenyan Amos Kipruto leads the men’s field with a PB of 2:03:13. He is one of five athletes who have already run sub 2:05:00. The 39th edition of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg will take place on 27th April.
“With regard to the fastest men and women on the start list, this is the best field ever assembled in the history of the Haspa Marathon Hamburg. We are looking forward to some thrilling and fast racing,” said chief organiser Frank Thaleiser.
Kosgei, who was the Olympic silver medallist in Japan in 2021, is the fastest runner ever to enter a marathon in German-speaking territory. With her 2:14:04 PB, she still is the fourth fastest woman in history. While the 31-year-old did not achieve super fast times more recently, she managed to run sub 2:20:00 in each year following her world record. The two-time London Marathon Champion (2019 and 2020) and winner of the Tokyo Marathon (2022) will run her first race at the classic distance since taking fifth in London with 2:19:02 a year ago. Kosgei will face a group of very strong Ethiopians in Hamburg on 27th April. Roza Dereje and Workenesh Edesa are the two fastest of them with personal records of 2:18:30 and 2:18:51, respectively.
The men’s field features three athletes who have run under 2:04:00. Kenya’s Amos Kipruto has a PB of 2:03:13, while Ethiopians Guye Adola and Kinde Atanaw have achieved times of 2:03:46 and 2:03:51, respectively. Kenyans Bethwel Chumba (2:04:37) and Philemon Kiplimo (2:04:56) are the other two with PBs of sub 2:05:00. It will be interesting to see what Richard Ringer can achieve in such a strong field. Germany’s European Marathon Champion from Munich 2022 improved to 2:05:46 in Valencia last December.
Elite Runners with personal bests
MEN:
Amos Kipruto KEN 2:03:13
Guye Adola ETH 2:03:46
Kinde Atanaw ETH 2:03:51
Bethwel Chumba KEN 2:04:37
Philemon Kiplimo KEN 2:04:56
Richard Ringer GER 2:05:46
Cyrus Mutai KEN 2:06:11
Awet Habte ERI 2:06:25
Felix Kibitok KEN 2:06:28
Abay Alemu ETH 2:06:50
Samuel Tsegay SWE 2:06:53
Erick Sang KEN 2:07:50
Julien Wanders SUI 2:11:52
WOMEN:
Brigid Kosgei KEN 2:14:04
Roza Dereje ETH 2:18:30
Workenesh Edesa ETH 2:18:51
Etagegn Woldu ETH 2:20:03
Waganesh Mekesha ETH 2:20:44
Sichala Kumeshi ETH 2:20:42
Shitaye Eshete BRN 2:21:33
Fozya Jemal ETH 2:21:53
Tsige Haileslase ETH 2:22:10
Muluhabt Tsega ETH 2:22:21
Karoline Grovdal NOR Debut
More information about the Haspa Marathon Hamburg is available at: www.haspa-marathon-hamburg.de
