May 12, 20.31 PM IST || Pocket Press Release
World half marathon champion Peres Jepchirchir and Mumbai Marathon champion Gideon Kipketer all geared up to lead the field on Sunday
12th May, 2016, Bengaluru: With less than 72 hours to go for the 9th edition of the TCS World 10K to be flagged off, the crème de la crème of the international running community gathered to talk about the upcoming race on Sunday.
The women runners included Gladys Chesir, placed 3rd at the TCS World 10K 2015; Peres Jepchirchir, the world half marathon champion at Cardiff; Helah Kiprop, who will be representing Kenya in the marathon event in Rio this August; and Agnes Tirop, the cross country world champion making her official road racing debut. The men's field had the following representatives: Patrick Makau, a former world record holder in the marathon event making his debut in Bengaluru; Cyprian Kotut, the Paris Marathon champion and also the first reserve in the Kenyan marathon squad for the Rio Olympics; and Gideon Kipketer, the 2016 Mumbai Marathon champion who also set a course record at the same time.
As the rain began to fall outside the stadium, the question on everyone's minds was: how will these world class athletes cope with the changing weather conditions of Bengaluru that saw rain and sweltering heat hit in one day. Gladys and Peres both were unfussed by the prospect of rain. "We have raced in rainy conditions before and the last ten minutes of Cardiff was wet so we are prepared for anything including the hot and humid conditions." Said Peres echoing her fellow competitors' thoughts about the weather affecting their race.
The experienced Helah Kiprop was encouraged by the runners of different age groups as her competitors and said that she was excited about running in Bengaluru for the 5th time in her career. "I learn from the young runners and they learn from my experience. It's a mutually beneficial outing that helps us both."
Agnes Tirop, the world cross country champion, will be making her road debut this Sunday and was excited about the challenges that it poses. Although she has done some track running during her school days, as a senior athlete, this will be a completely different ball game.
Helah has also qualified for the Olympics in the marathon event while Gladys, Peres and Agnes are trying out for the 10000m event at Rio.
The men's international elite field saw three champions in their own right representing the rest of the field. Patrick Makau was encouraged by his return to the competitive arena after an injury on his left knee kept him out of racing for two years. A career that spans 10 years was still going strong because of his renewed hunger to keep competing. "I haven't changed anything in training but only because of my injury I was unable to compete. This is my first time in Bengaluru and I am excited about the prospect of returning to winning ways."
The Paris marathon champion and Martin Lel's younger brother, Cyprian Kotut was all smiles as he recounted the reasons that prompted him to participate in the Bengaluru run a mere 5 weeks after a gruelling Paris course. "My personal best timing in the half marathon event was gotten during the Delhi Half Marathon. Every time I compete in a half marathon, I remember this connection to India. It was difficult to recover from Paris but when I heard that I would be running in Bengaluru, my body immediately recovered." Kotut is currently the first reserve in the Kenyan marathon squad for the Rio Olympics.
The value of success means more so to Gideon Kipketer after winning the Mumbai Marathon with a course record of 2:08:35 earlier this year. He remembered how he was received at his home after the win and revealed that preparation for the run this Sunday has been in full force. It was remarkable to see the athletes display such humility after such great achievements. Kotut mentioned that it was all down to discipline as athletes. "We train as athletes and not as champions because the factor of status cannot come into training. When we are competing, we want to win and exert our champion status. During training, all we think about is disciplining ourselves."
In the end, all the athletes agreed that Sunday will be a tough fight with the new route springing up a possible fast finish and with the roads revamped for better navigation.
COURSE RECORD - TCS WORLD 10K
OVERALL MEN: Geoffrey Kamworor - 00:27:44 (2014)
OVERALL WOMEN: Lucy Kabu - 00:31:48 (2014)
Agnes Tirop, Gladys Chesir and Helah Kiprop pose with the Maruti S-Cross Lead Car along with International Event Ambassador Mike Powell and Vivek Singh, Joint Managing Director, Procam International