Kenya's Kamworor eager to get maiden marathon title in NY quest

After almost a year's sabbatical from road races, world half marathon champion Geoffrey Kamworor of Kenya will return to contest the New York city marathon on November 5.

On the top of his agenda will be an attempt to improve the course record of 2:05:06 hours, set by Geoffrey Mutai in 2011, reports Xinhua news agency.

But for Kamworor to have any realistic chance of attacking the course record, he has to start by winning the race against spirited competition of experienced marathon runners from Kenya and Ethiopia.

In 2015, Kamworor finished second in 2:10:48 to compatriot Stanley Biwott (2:10:34). Now Kamworor, 24, believes he is the heir apparent to Olympic champion and his training partner Eliud Kipchoge and he will want to prove his critics wrong by taking the challenge to his rivals.

"There is no doubt in my mind of what I intend to do. It is going for the victory," said Kamworor.

The Kenyan opted to focus on the track competition ahead of the London World Championships this season, where he finished a disappointing sixth place in the 10,000m race.

But that is already water under the bridge and as he marshals his energy for the quest of the hilly New York marathon, there is only one outcome he is dreaming of, winning.

But that will be only possible if he can slay the challenge of defending champion Ghirmay Ghebreslassie of Eritrea, who is also the 2015 World marathon champion and 2016 Boston Marathon champion Lemi Berhanu and Lelisa Desisa, both of Ethiopia.

Desisa finished second at New York City Marathon in 2014 and third in 2015 before failing to finish last year.

--IANS

pur/vm