McCambridge and Mutai Aiming For Belfast Marathon Records Irish Olympian Maria McCambridge and triple Belfast Marathon winner John Mutai are both determined to break the course record in Monday’s 29th running of the Deep RiverRock Belfast City Marathon(Start at the City Hall at 9am).
Both athletes while aiming simply to win a big Marathon title have also the incentive of earning a possible £5,000 which includes first prize plus a roll over fund to break the male and female records. Each has high hopes of achieving this goal despite the acknowledged difficult hilly nature of the Belfast course particularly on the Antrim Road section.
Former 5000 metres specialist McCambridge is determined to make amends for dropping out at an early stage in the recent Paris Marathon where she ran an impressive PB of 2hrs 35mins29secs last year. This is almost 4 minutes faster than the Belfast record set 2 years ago by Marashet Jumma of Ethiopia.
Maria says she is fully recovered from her Paris leg cramps. While she is determined to set a good time in Belfast she could be pressed by Ethiopia’s Enatesh Tadesse who has run 2 hrs 44 mins for the distancing international Sarah Stradling (PB of 2.50)should also be well to the fore.
However, McCambridge will have one key advantage over her rivals in the form of pacing support from husband Gary Crossan who is also aiming for a time below 2.35.Gary who is returning from lengthy injuries has excellent credentials for this task. He was 3rd in Belfast in 2001 and 2nd the following year behind England’s Simon Pride.
Interest will be just as intense in the Men’s race where John Mutai of Kenya will be aiming for an unprecedented 4th consecutive victory and in so doing finally erase Marty Deane’s 25 year old record of 2.15.51.
Despite his 44years Mutai has the still the ability to set new figures as two of his Belfast wins missed the record by just 40 secs. Mutai is again in great shape as shown by his 2.16.38 time in Mumbai 3 months ago.
However the wily Mutai is leaving nothing to chance as he has enlisted the help of team mate Zach Kahira to act as pacemaker for much of the race. Kihara battled with Mutai last year and was rewarded with the runner up spot to add to his second place in 2006.
Both runners will need to keep a wary eye on Ethiopian Urga Negewo who recorded an impressive 2.16 in Rome a year ago. Half marathon specialist Jonathan Chesso of Kenya should also be to the fore.
Among the top local entries is Armagh’s Richard Turkington who ran 2.31 in London last year. Also running are Willowfield’s Robert Malseed and Alistair Duffield. Malseed who was 6th last year is aiming for a sub 2.30 this time while Duffield has a PB OF 2.37.
Running mania shows no sign of abating with a record 18,000 runners taking part in Monday’s various events. This includes 3,300 entries from 13 countries for the Marathon itself which is close to the all time high of 3,600 in the early 1980’s.
For the first time this year, the Marathon is introducing pacers, for those seeking to finish the run in times of three hours, 3.5 hours, four hours and 4.5 hours.
Runners wishing to avail of the pacers can sign up at the Athletics NI Stand at the Marathon Expo, which takes place in the City Hall from Thursday 29 April through to Sunday 2 May, alongside race registration and pack collection.
This is a sign up process and limited to 30 per pacer.
The Expo opening times for pack collection will be as follows;
Thursday 29th April 2010 10.00am – 5.00pm
Friday 30th April 2010 10.00am – 5.00pm
Saturday 1st May 2010 10.00am – 9.00pm
Sunday 2nd May 2010 9.00am – 5:00pm
The Athletics NI Stand will have plenty of freebies to give away including new ANI Bookmarks and also have a free prize draw where you can win a goody bag worth over £200 and includes a pair of New Balance trainers, Mizuno Sports Luggage Bag, Athletics NI T-shirt, Free Mary Peters Track Membership, free entry to races and much more!
Visit www.niathletics.org for more information.