World champ Bekele to lead constellation of runners as TSK 25k goes international
A constellation of stars will assemble at the City of Joy led by the redoubtable Kenensia Bekele in the men’s field and Helah Kiprop and Valentine Kipketer in the women’s as TSK 25K goes international from this year.
Kenenisa Bekele is a legend in his sport and has won over 21 Olympic and World Champion titles and broke 6 senior world records in a front line career of more than eight years, Bekele has won gold at the 10.000m in four straight World Championships. He won double Olympic Gold in Beijing in the 5.000m and 10.000m and repeated that at the Berlin World Championships. Furthermore, he is the first ever and only athlete to be world indoor, outdoor, cross and Olympic champion.
In 2014 he made his marathon debut in Paris winning in 2:05:03. Two years later he shaved exactly two minutes of his personal best by setting a new Ethiopian record of 2:03:03 in Berlin marathon. The form that he has shown in recent months have kept the world of running fingers crossed for he can easily set a world record at this distance here putting Kolkata on the record book.
The men’s flock could see Tanzanian Augustine Sulle emerge as the dark horse for the meet, who after competing in Brazil began his European chapter with a wonderful debut in Amsterdam.
Helah Kiprop will lead the women’s pack, with Valentine Kipketer and young Dibabe Kuma giving her tough competition.
Helah is well-known in India, she was the TCS World 10k Champion in 2012 and she won Cochin Half Marathon in 2013. She is an all-round athlete, holding personal best of 31:44 for 10k, 67:39 for half marathon and 2:21:27 in the marathon. In 2015 she won the silver medal at the World Marathon Championships in Beijing and in 2016 she won the prestigious Tokyo marathon. She took third places in last year’s Delhi half marathon and this year’s Bangalore 10k.
“The first three editions of the Tata Steel Kolkata 25km cultivated a domestic field but offered no incentives for international elite runners to participate. That has changed dramatically with the fourth edition to be held on 17 December with a host of top-ranked athletes contesting the race. Foremost among them is multiple world record holder Kenenisa Bekele who was the world's fastest Marathon runner in 2016 only five seconds shy of the world record. It's hard to see who in the men's field could challenge him but the up and coming Tanzanian, Augustine Sulle might,” said Hugh Jones, Race Director. TSK25K.
“The women's event, by contrast, has no standout favourite but is packed with seasoned campaigners still at the top of their game. Helah Kiprop has run many times in India and Valentine Kipketer won the Mumbai Marathon when she was a youngster and has since improved her marathon best significantly,” he added.
The elite field showcases a clash between the powerhouses in long distance running as all East African countries like Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Eritrea and Tanzania are represented in the festival. There is also participation from Italy and South Africa.
Please find the list below of the international elite athletes participating in the TSK 25K International:
MEN ELITE ATHLETES
Kenenisa Bekele ETH/1982
Robert Chemonges UGA/1997
Augustino Sulle TAN/1997
Michael Mazibuko RSA/1986
Tsegay Tuemay ERI/1995
Stefano La Rosa ITA/1985
Clement Langat KEN/1991
Dickson Marwa TAN/1982
WOMEN ELITE ATHLETES
F1 Helah Kiprop KEN/1985
F2 Valentine Kipketer KEN/1993
F3 Dibabe Kuma ETH/1996
F4 Failuna Matanga TAN/1992
F5 Nazret Weldu ERI/1990
F6 Bornes Kitur KEN/1988
F7 Eunice Jeptoo KEN/1983
F8 Degitu Azimeraw ETH/1999
MEN ELITE ATHLETES
1 |
Kenenisa Bekele |
ETH/1982 |
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Kenenisa Bekele is a legend in his sport and has won over 21 Olympic and World Champion titles and broke 6 senior world records in a front line career of more than eight years, Bekele has won gold at the 10.000m in four straight World Championships. He won double Olympic Gold in Beijing in the 5.000m and 10.000m and repeated that at the Berlin World Championships. Furthermore, he is the first ever and only athlete to be world indoor, outdoor, cross and Olympic champion.
In 2014 he made his marathon debut in Paris winning in 2:05:03. Two years later he shaved exactly two minutes of his personal best by setting a new Ethiopian record of 2:03:03 in Berlin marathon.
2017 |
London Marathon |
2nd |
2:05:57 |
2016 |
Olympic Games Marathon |
1st |
2:03:03 |
2016 |
London Marathon |
3rd |
2:06.36 |
2014 |
Chicago Marathon |
4th |
2:05:51 |
2014 |
Paris Marathon |
1st |
2:05.03 |
2013 |
Great North Run Half Marathon |
1st |
60:09 |
2 |
Robert Chemonges |
UGA/1997
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Robert hails from a talented family, many of his brothers also are international runners. One of them, Jacob Kiplimo is the World Junior Champion Cross 2017. Robert lives and trains from Kween district in Uganda. |
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2017
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MTN Kampala Half Marathon |
1st |
64:31 (A) |
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2017 |
World Championships Marathon |
43rd |
2:21.24 |
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2017 |
Dusseldorf Marathon |
1st |
2:10.32 |
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2016 |
Ljubljana Marathon |
7th |
2:11.04 |
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2016 |
Pordenone Half Marathon |
1st |
62:55 |
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2016 |
Trieste Marathon |
1st |
2:11.45 |
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2016 |
World Half Marathon Championships |
21st |
63:39 |
3 |
Augustino Sulle |
TAN/1992
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|
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Training in Arusha with a small group of athletes Augustino started his career competing mostly in Brazil. In 2017 he made the step to compete in Europe and made his marathon debut in Amsterdam in a very good way qualifying himself for the 2018 Commonwealth Games Marathon. |
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2017 |
Amsterdam Marathon |
15th |
2:10:01 |
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2017 |
Rio de Janeiro 10Km |
3rd |
29:42 |
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2017 |
Jever Funlauf 10 Miles |
2nd |
47:32 |
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2016 |
Brasilia Half Marathon |
1st |
1:03.43 |
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2016 |
Brasilia Circuito Caixa 10km |
1st |
29:40 |
4 |
Michael Mazibuko |
RSA/1986 |
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Being coached by well-known distance legend, Hendrick Ramaala, Michael run a strong Cape Town Marathon in 2015 finishing 3rd running 2.12 on the hilly course. In 2016 had some challenges which kept him from competing internationally. He returned training early this year with the Ramaala group and Kolkata will be his first international appearance back. He earlier competed in Mumbai Marathon in 2015 where he unfortunately DNF. |
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2015 |
Cape Town Marathon |
3rd |
2:12:29 |
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2012 |
George SA Marathon |
2nd |
2:15:12 |
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2011 |
Cape Gate Vaal Half Marathon |
1st |
1:04:24 |
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2010 |
Hartebeespoort Half Marathon |
2nd |
1:05.11 |
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2010 |
Port Elisabeth Half Marathon |
15th |
1:05.15 |
5 |
Tsegay Tuemay |
ERI/995 |
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Eritrea has brought some very big talents over the years in road racing. Tuemay is no different, winning road races often and running top 3 frequently. Tsegay trains in the Eritrean capital Asmara. |
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2017 |
San Diego Half Marathon |
1st |
1:01:38 |
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2017 |
Hengshui Lake Marathon |
5th |
2:13.40 |
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2016 |
Boston Half Marathon |
3rd |
1:03.29 |
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2016 |
Yiwu Half Marathon |
2nd |
1:02.59 |
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2015 |
Breda Half Marathon |
2nd |
1:01.39 |
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2015 |
Asmara Half Marathon |
5th |
1:04:33 |
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6 |
Stefano La Rosa |
ITA/1985 |
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Stefano represented Italy on many occasions throughout his career. His personal bests on both track (13.23 5000m, 28:13 10.000m) and road (62.15 half and 2.11.11 full marathon) are credit to that as well. He belongs among Europe best distance runners at this moment. |
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2017 |
Arezzo Half Marathon |
7th |
63:20 |
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2017 |
European Cup 10.000m |
5th |
29:08.05 |
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2017 |
Italian Championships 10.000m |
2nd |
28:51.73 |
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2017 |
Treviso Marathon |
1st |
2:12.26 |
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2016 |
Olympic Games Marathon |
57th |
2:18.57 |
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2016 |
World Championships Half Marathon |
25th |
64:05 |
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2016 |
European Championships Half Marathon |
13th |
64:15 |
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2015 |
TCS Amsterdam Marathon |
12th |
2:11.11 |
7 |
Clement Langat |
KEN/1991 |
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|
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Clement trains in Iten with multiple Olympic and World Champion Asbel Kiprop. Where Asbel is focused more on middle distance, Clement joins Leonard Barsoton (Silver at the World Cross Champs 2017) for the longer distances. Clement was part of the pacemaker group of NIKE Breaking 2 test event in Monza in March. |
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2017 |
San Blas Half Marathon |
1st |
64:01 |
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2017 |
Beach to Beacon 10km |
5th |
28:42 |
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2017 |
Okpekpe Road Race |
5th |
29:44 |
8 |
Dickson Marwa |
TAN/1982 |
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Dickson is a familiar face in India, having competed already seven times in India before in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai it’s now time to add Kolkata to that total as well. Dickson boosts impressive PB’s on both the track (27:38.58 for 10.000m) and road (59:52 for half marathon). He represented Tanzania in international championship for the first time in 2006 during the Commonwealth Games where he finished 6th over 10.000m and 8th over 5.000m. His best performance was a 8th place in 2007 at the World Half Marathon Championships. |
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2017 |
Kilimanjaro Airport International half marathon |
5th |
|
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2016 |
Shanghai International 10km |
3rd |
29:51 |
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2014 |
Tanzanian Championships 10.000m |
8th |
28:57 |
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2013 |
TCS Bangalore 10km |
6th |
28:50 |
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2011 |
All African Games Half Marathon |
6th |
65:22 |
WOMEN ELITE ATHLETES MUMBAI MARATHON 2016
F1 |
Helah Kiprop |
KEN/1985 |
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Helah Kiprop is well-known in India, she was the TCS World 10k Champion in 2012 and she won Cochin Half Marathon in 2013. She is an all-round athlete, holding personal best of 31:44 for 10k, 67:39 for half marathon and 2:21:27 in the marathon. In 2015 she won the silver medal at the World Marathon Championships in Beijing and in 2016 she won the prestigious Tokyo marathon. She took third places in last year’s Delhi half marathon and this year’s Bangalore 10k. |
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2017 |
Airtel Delhi Half Marathon |
4th |
68:10 |
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2017 |
World Championships Marathon |
7th |
2:28:19 |
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2017 |
TCS World 10k Bangalore |
3rd |
32:02 |
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2017 |
RAK Half Marathon |
6th |
67:48 |
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2016 |
New Delhi Half Marathon |
3rd |
68:11 |
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2016 |
Tokyo Marathon |
1st |
2:21:27 |
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2015 |
World Championships Marathon |
2nd |
2:27:36 |
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2015 |
Istanbul Half Marathon |
2nd |
68:23 |
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2015 |
Tokyo Marathon |
2nd |
2:24:03 |
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2014 |
Seoul International Marathon |
1st |
2:27:29 |
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2014 |
RAK Half Marathon |
4th |
68:36 |
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2013 |
TCS World 10k Bangalore |
6th |
32:26 |
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2013 |
Cochin Half Marathon |
1st |
71:54 |
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2013 |
Berlin Half Marathon |
1st |
67.54 |
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2012 |
TCS Bangalore 10k |
1st |
32:22 |
F2
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Valentine Kipketer |
KEN/1993 |
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|
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She left a landmark after her first appearance in India, breaking the Mumbai Marathon course record and setting an Indian All Comers record for the distance which remains unbroken till today. She then kicked off her international marathon career competing in some of the World Major Marathon series races. She gave birth to her first born in 2014 and returned to competition late 2015. |
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2017 |
Chicago Marathon |
5th |
2:28.05 |
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2017 |
Boston Marathon |
6th |
2:29.35 |
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2016 |
Chicago Marathon |
3rd |
2:23.41 |
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2016 |
Boston Marathon |
5th |
2:33.13 |
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2016 |
Mumbai Marathon |
3rd |
2:34.07 |
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2013 |
Amsterdam Marathon |
1st |
2:23.02 |
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2013 |
Mumbai Marathon |
1st |
2:24.33 |
F3
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Dibabe Kuma |
ETH/1996 |
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Younger sister to Internationally known marathoner Abera Kuma, Dibabe got her shot at an international career in 2015 winning her 1st international appearance in a 10km in Holland. |
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2017 |
Barcelona Half Marathon |
2nd |
1:09:49 |
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2017 |
Göteborg Marathon |
5th |
1:12:01 |
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2016 |
Paris Half Marathon |
1st |
1:09:18 |
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2016 |
Kopenhagen Half Marathon |
7th |
1:10:47 |
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2016 |
Barcelona Half Marathon |
1st |
1:09:19 |
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2016 |
Göteborg Marathon |
5th |
1:12:15 |
F4
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Failuna Matanga |
TAN/1992 |
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After starting her career competing in Brazil for a couple of years, Failuna made her breakthrough this year. 2017was a year full off highlights for the young Tanzanian runner competing in two world championships and making her marathon debut in Amsterdam. |
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2017 |
Amsterdam Marathon |
10th |
2:34.12 |
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2017 |
World Championships 10.000m |
23rd |
32:29.97 |
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2017 |
FBK Games Hengelo 10.000m |
9th |
31:47.37 |
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2017 |
TCS Bangalore 10km |
7th |
33:32 |
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2017 |
World Championships Cross |
16th |
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F5
|
Nazret Weldu |
ERI/1990 |
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Where Eritrean men are represented in bigger numbers and at the highest level, for women that’s a different scenario. Nazret is already for years the lone Eritrean female athlete competing internationally. |
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2017 |
Houston Half Marathon |
2nd |
1:14:56 |
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2016 |
Houston Half Marathon |
5th |
1:11:30 |
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2016 |
Xiamen Half Marathon |
4th |
1:12:23 |
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2016 |
FBK Games 10.000m |
13th |
32:58.28 |
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2016 |
Nanning Half Marathon |
3rd |
1:12:44 |
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2015 |
San Francisco 12 KM |
2nd |
40:46 |
F6 |
Bornes Kitur |
KEN/1986 |
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|
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Bornes Kitur has had a very successful year running sub 2.30 in three marathons and winning the Mumbai Marathon. In 2016 she came a surprise 2nd in Mumbai Marathon, now she will use Kolkata 25km as a last test towards defending her Mumbai title on 21st January 2018. |
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2017 |
Sydney Marathon |
2nd |
2:29.01 |
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2017 |
Seoul Marathon |
7th |
2:29.40 |
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2017 |
Mumbai Marathon |
1st |
2:29.02 |
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2016 |
Eldoret Marathon |
1st |
2:42:58 (A) |
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2016 |
Cologne Marathon |
1st |
2:32:16 |
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2016 |
Mumbai Marathon |
2nd |
2:32:00 |
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2016 |
Copenhagen Half Marathon |
5th |
70:00 |
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2014 |
Hannover Marathon |
3rd |
2:33:50 |
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2014 |
Ljubljana Marathon |
5th |
2:36:02 |
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2014 |
Azkoitia-Azpeitia Half Marathon |
2nd |
70:32 |
F7
|
Eunice Jeptoo |
KEN/1983 |
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|
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Eunice is a very experienced marathon runner having completed 11 marathons in her career so far. Four times she managed to finish top 3 and once she won. |
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2017 |
Eindhoven Marathon |
1st |
2:26.13 |
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2017 |
Rabat Marathon |
2nd |
2:33.41 |
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2016 |
Enschede Marathon |
4th |
2:32.36 |
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2016 |
Sevilla Marathon |
4th |
2:33.13 |
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2015 |
World Military Championships Marathon |
12th |
2:42.27 |
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2015 |
Stockholm Marathon |
2nd |
2:34.59 |
F8
|
Degitu Azimeraw |
ETH/1999 |
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Only little is known about Degitu, Kolkata will be her 1st international competition. She is training with Meseret Defar in Ethiopia for a year now. |
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2017 |
Addis Ababa 5km |
1st |
15:54
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