The elite coordinator of the 2022 Haspa Hamburg Marathon that will happen on Sunday, Jurrie van der Velden has said that the weather looks good at the moment and that if it remains so on Sunday, then we should be optimistic to see times of around 2:05 in the men's race.
There are great elite fields assembled in both the men's and the women's marathon races and with the current trend of times being improved in road running, the men’s course record of 2:05:30 set in 2013 by Eliud Kipchoge and the Women's 2:21:54 set in 2016 by Ethiopia’s Meselech Melkamu could be gone in two days’ time.
Both races have the right combination of competitors who could easily work together to bring out some very fast times this weekend. There will be a battle between the experienced versus the young and energetic in the women’s race while a race that will likely have a huge leading pack and a great competition towards the finish line should be expected in the men’s race given there are twelve runners who have run under 2:10 for the marathon on the start list.
Three men have already run under the course record of 2:05:30, a time that was set by Eliud Kipchoge in his marathon debut here in 2013. Ethiopia’s Abebe Negewo is the fastest man on the start list with a PB of 2:04:06 which he ran in Valencia in 2019. His fellow countryman, Tsegaye Mekonnen is the second fastest with a PB of 2:04:32 and will be returning after winning here in 2017. With that time he still remains the unofficial world junior record holder. Barselius Kipyego of Kenya with a PB of 2:04:48 which he recorded at the Paris Marathon in 2021 is the third fastest on the start list.
In the women’s race, the Olympic silver medalist from the London Games in 2021, Priscah Jeptoo of Kenya, is the fastest on the start list with her 2:20:14 personal best time for the marathon. There are also two other women in the field who have won the Haspa Hamburg Marathon in the past. Gadise Mulu with a PB of 2:26:20 is the defending champion while Dibabe Kuma who is the second fastest on the start list with her PB of 2:23:24 won the Hamburg Marathon in 2019.
But, a lot of focus will be on the new emerging star in road running. The 22-year-old Ethiopian, Yalemzerf Yehualaw is expected to follow in the footsteps of Eliud Kipchoge here by starting a great marathon career as well. After her extraordinary performances on the road in the 10K and the half marathon distances, she looks to be all set for a great marathon career ahead of her. She has a personal best time of 63:51for the half marathon, the second-fastest ever at this distance. Yehualaw has shown that she is in great form this year having just ran an amazing 10k world record of 29:14 in Castellon, Spain earlier this year.
Earlier on, the 22-year-old while talking about her upcoming marathon debut in Hamburg had said that she had looked at the course and that Hamburg was a wonderful course with great scenery. “They say the people here are very friendly and the organization is very good. I hope I can perform very well here and will try to set a new course record,” she had said.
Elite Men:
Abebe Negewo ETH 2:04:06
Tsegaye Mekonnen ETH 2:04:32
Barselius Kipyego KEN 2:04:48
Dejene Debele ETH 2:05:46
Simon Kipkosgei KEN 2:07:07
Cybrian Kotut KEN 2:07:11
Bernard Ngeno KEN 2:07:18
Amos Mitei KEN 2:07:28
Workineh Tadesse ETH 2:07:42
Abrar Osman ERI 2:07:46
Mustafa Kedir ETH 2:07:49
Alfred Koech KEN 2:09:01
Victor Kiplangat UGA 2:10:18
Bazezew Asmare ETH 2:10:51
Masresha Bere ETH 2:10:55
Arturo Esparza MEX 2:11:04
Philipp Pflieger GER 2:12:15
Johannes Motschmann GER 2:12:18
Gasper Csere HUN 2:14:34
Dario Castro MEX 2:14:51
Marco Salami ITA 2:14:57
Stephen Kissa UGA Debut
Ronald Kirui KEN Debut
Ibrahim Hassan DJI Debut
Filimon Abraham GER Debut
Elite Women:
Priscah Jeptoo KEN 2:20:14
Dibabe Kuma ETH 2:23:24
Carla Rocha POR 2:24:47
Tseginesh Mekonnen ETH 2:24:50
Gadise Mulu ETH 2:26:20
Alice Cherono KEN 2:26:51
Deborah Schöneborn GER 2:26:55
Kristina Hendel CRO 2:27:31
Rosa Chacha ECU 2:28:17
Andreia Hessel BRA 2:34:55
Maria Sagnes Wagan NOR 2:35:34
Camilla Elofsson SWE 2:35:37
Yalemzerf Yehualaw ETH Debut
Alia Mohamed UAE Debut