- Abel Kirui is one of the most successful Kenyan marathon runners.
- He has stated that the 2025 London Marathon will be one of the competitive races this year.
- Kirui also said that the level of marathon running in Kenya has greatly improved.
Two-time World Athletics Championship gold medalist Abel Kirui has backed Kenyan women to shine in the upcoming 2025 London Marathon.
The much awaited event is scheduled to take place on Sunday, April 27, less than a week after this year’s Boston Marathon edition.
The organizers of the Abbott World Marathon Majors (AbbottWMM) race have assembled a strong field in both the men’s and women’s categories.
Some of the stars that are expected to compete in the glamorous men’s race include former world record holder Eliud Kipchoge, defending champion Alexander Mutiso Munyao and the reigning Valencia Marathon champion Sabastian Sawe.
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In addition, Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who holds the half marathon world record of 57:31, 2024 Berlin Marathon winner Milkesa Mengesha and one-time Olympic Games champion Tamirat Tola, who both hail from Ethiopia, will be in contention.
Similar to the men’s field, the women’s category has a lot of star names that includes 2024 Paris Olympic Games winner Sifan Hassan and Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich, who recently lowered the world record to 2:09:56.
Others include the immediate former world record holder Tigst Assefa, Peres Jepchirchir, Joyciline Jepkosgei and Uganda’s Stella Chesang.
Hassan shifts camp to Iten
Hassan has switched her training base to Iten with a few weeks remaining until the eagerly anticipated showdown.
The Ethiopian-born Dutch runner will be seeking to win the London Marathon for the second time in her phenomenal career, having won it for the first time in 2023.
However, she will have to be at her best to overcome the talented East Africans, who are all capable of winning the race.
Kirui, who finished second in the 2012 London Marathon before going on to win the 2016 Chicago Marathon title, has envisaged a very tough race
“Personally, I was in the gym last week with Sifan Hassan, who is not a Kenyan. So, Kenyans, we need to be serious.
If somebody can come from the Netherlands and train in Iten, we need to strategize well because it will be a tough race,” he stated during a brief interview at the 2025 Athletics Kenya (AK) National Cross Country Championships.
Nonetheless, despite the stiff competition that he expects in the streets of London, Kirui was optimistic that Kenyans will shine.
The runner, who won the 2016 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, also praised Kenyan road runners for the good job they are doing.
According to him, the level of competition has greatly increased over the past few years.
“The level of marathon in Kenya is improving day by day with the use of modern facilities and modern ways of training. The records are still getting broken,” ended Kirui.
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When is the London Marathon 2025?
The 2025 edition of the London Marathon will take place on Sunday 27 April 2025.