Titus Ekiru going for glory in Milano Marathon
Kenyan runners Titus Ekiru (right) Edwin Koech (centre) and Matthew Kipkoech Kisorio -first, second and third place respectively- pose after crossing the finishing line of Mexico City International Marathon, at the Olimpic University stadium on August 26, 2018.
What you need to know:
- The race will begin at 8am Kenyan time.
- At least 120 participants are expected to compete with many of the athletes using the race to attain the Olympic Games qualification mark.
Defending Milano Marathon champion Titus Ekiru wants to improve his time when he lines up for the race in Italy on Sunday.
Ekiru, who has been training in Kapsabet, Nandi County, won the last edition in a course record of two hours:04:46 (2:04:46), and he is looking to lower that time.
Organisers have developed a faster circuit of 7.5 kilometres in this year’s edition in which athletes will run five times in front of Castello Sforzesco in the heart of Milan.
The race will begin at 8am Kenyan time. At least 120 participants are expected to compete with many of the athletes using the race to attain the Olympic Games qualification mark.
In an interview with Nation Sport, Ekiru said that he is happy that he will be competing once again after a long break after sports events were disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
“I want to do better by improving my performance. It has been a long break, but we can’t blame anyone because the pandemic affected the whole world,” said Ekiru, who has won all the races he participated in since 2018.
He expects stiff competition in Italy but is looking forward to a good race.
“Athletes have stayed home for a long time. You don’t know how your competitor has prepared for the race due to the long break. Anything might happen during the race, but I’m going to do my best,” said Ekiru.
During his preparations for the race, Ekiru said the number of athletes doing group training was minimised to avoid the dangers of coronavirus.
“We used to train in large groups and since the virus broke last year, we had to scale down the number of athletes as one way of following the laid down protocols by the Ministry of Health,” said Ekiru, who used to cover 250-300 kilometres per week.
His training mate Emmanuel Saina will also be in the race and he is eyeing a podium finish after good preparations back home.
He said that he will be doing his best after a nagging injury healed.
“The 2019 season came to an end while I had an injury and I’m happy that I was able to treat it before all the races were cancelled. That gave me enough time to heal,” said Saina.
Also in the start list is former two-time world marathon champion Abel Kirui, Elisha Kipchirchir, Joel Kimurer among others.
In the women category, Stella Barsosio will be battling it out for the top honours with her compatriot Bornes Chepkirui among other athletes from different countries.
