NAIROBI, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Defending Daegu Marathon champion Janet Rono and last year's runner-up Evans Korir will return to the IAAF Silver Label road race on Sunday hoping to win their races.
Korir clocked a lifetime best of 2:06:35 in the Korean city 12 months ago, which would have been a course record had he not been beaten by six seconds by Abraham Kiptum.
The 32-year-old will be highly motivated to go one better than last year, but he faces an incredibly strong field that includes fellow Kenyan Dennis Kimetto.
"I hope Kimetto has not regained his fitness because I believe am in better shape and ready mentally to win the race," said Korir on Friday.
But Kimetto, who finished his first race in Shanghai in October last year after three years, says his injury worries are over and he is back on track to reclaim his titles that saw him go on to become the World marathon record holder in Berlin in 2014 clocking two hours, two minutes and 57 seconds.
"I am still hungry for win," said Kimetto. "After finishing fifth in Shanghai, I believe it is right for me to dream of a podium finish. A win will do me justice."
Since breaking the world record in 2014, Kimetto has withdrawn from more marathons than he has completed.
Beset by injuries to his quadriceps, groin and triceps, the 35-year-old ran 2:14:54 in Shanghai last year, his first completed marathon since his 2:11:44 clocking in London in 2016.
It may be some way off his 2:02:57 lifetime best, but Kimetto is hopeful that the worst of his injury worries are now behind him and that he can return to challenging for top honors at major marathons.
There are nine men in the field with sub-2:07 lifetime bests and four of them have personal bests quicker than the Daegu course record of 2:06:29: Ethiopia's Shifera Tamru, who clocked 2:05:18 in Dubai earlier this year, three-time Houston Marathon winner Bazu Worku, three-time Amsterdam winner Wilson Chebet and evergreen Kenyan Mark Kiptoo.
The men's field includes five men who have run under one hour in the half marathon distance.
The fastest of those is Guye Idemo Adola of Ethiopia, whose 59:06 best came in New Delhi back in 2014.
But he's gotten off to a decent start in 2019, winning the Roma-Ostia Half Marathon last month in 1:00:17.
