Indian runners, course record holders ready for Marathon

Course record setters Jackson Kiprop of Uganda and Kenya's Valentine Kipketer are once again expected to lead the African dominance of podium places in the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon here tomorrow.
There's a strong Indian presence too, though they are unlikely to take the top three places, overall in either the men's or the women's race.
The likes of good Indian long distance track athletes
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Jaisha, Sudha Singh and Lalita Babar, among women, and Nitendra Singh Rawat, from the armed forces, are all set to try their best on the winding and, at times, up and down Mumbai roads from Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus to Bandra via the Rajiv Gandhi Sea Link.

Ugandan Kiprop, who specialises in marathons, came into the spotlight in 2013 at the Mumbai marathon as a pacemaker. He not only finished the race but created a new course record by clocking 2:09:32, which is still to be broken.

He's coming into the race after finishing 10th in the Beijing World Championships in 2:15:15 which makes him the favourite to win the men's event.
"This is my fifth marathon and I would like to perform better. If I run well now, I will be able to perform better in the Olympics," he said in the run-up to the race set to commence at 07:20 am.

"For last year's marathon, I prepared in the dry and humid climate of Kenya. This year I trained in Uganda, which is hot and windy with hilly tracks. I believe this will help me perform well in this year's marathon," he added.
Kiprop is expected to face a tough challenge from the Ethiopian brigade led by Seboka Dibaba, who has been running well in the recent years and was third in the Paris Marathon clocking 2.07 in April, 2015, after podium finishes at the Sydney Marathon in 2014 and Seoul International Marathon in 2013. With a personal best time of 2.06, he is among the fastest in the field.

"I had to run one marathon a year because of my injury. With good weather conditions, I am positive that I will be able to perform well," he said.
The women's contingent would be led by Kenyan Kipketer who won the 2013 Mumbai marathon with a course record of 2:24:33 which still remains unbeaten.
In that same year, she won the Amsterdam marathon with a time of 2:23 and later represented Kenya at the 2013 World Championships. Post her maternity break, she made her comeback in this year's Delhi half marathon.