Kenyans, Ethiopians lead crack MIM field

MANILA—World-class campaigners from Kenya and Ethiopia head a crack field of 500 aiming to smash an ancient record in the revived Manila International Marathon which fires off this Sunday on Roxas Boulevard.

Also entered in the event, last staged in 1997, are top Filipino  long-distance runners and their counterparts from the United States, Germany, Canada, Chinese-Taipei, England, Hong Kong and Singapore.

They will attempt to break the all-comers mark of two hours, 14 minutes and 27 seconds set by German Waldemar Cierpinski, two-time Olympic marathon champion, who ruled the maiden edition of the MIM in 1982.

“That clocking has been in the Philippine record book for the past 29 years and I believe it should be improved this time,” said Dino Jose, chief organizer of the MIM, once the most prestigious road race in the country until it was scrapped in 1997.
Jose, who also heads the organizing Roadracing Events Inc., said during the recent Scoop Sa Kamayan weekly session that this year’s MIM will be confined to Roxas Boulevard and its periphery to give participants conducive conditions to rip the meet mark or their personal bests.