MANILA, Philippines - A former world junior track and field silver medalist from Kenya looms as the top pick in the men’s division of the first Quezon City International Marathon that unfolds at the Quezon Memorial Circle today.
Based on recent form, 23-year-old Daniel Kipkemei Koringo, who won a silver medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2005 world juniors in Marrakesh, Morocco, has the inside track on the top prize of P300,000 in the event culiminating the 70th founding anniversary celebration of Quezon City.
The lanky 6-foot-2 native of Kaptagat Eldoret, a Kenyan town that has its own athletic club for long-distance runners, comes with impressive credentials, including winning the Malakoff 26K Run in Penang, Malaysia last June.
In April, Koringo, who is eyeing to run in the 2012 London Olympics, was runner-up in the Shanghai Marathon, clocking two hours, 14 minutes – a time that also makes him the favorite to break the 27-year-old standard for the fastest marathon time set on Philippine soil.
Two-time Olympic marathon champion Waldemar Cierpinski of Germany did the feat in the 1982 Manila International Marathon by winning the men’s event in 2:14.27, which has remained untouchable since then, but could finally be broken by the youthful Kenyan today.
“In Kenya, I train three times daily when I’m preparing for a marathon,” said Koringo, who arrived Friday with another male bet and three female Kenyan marathoners for the QC government-organized running showcase sponsored by San Miguel Corporation, The Philippine STAR, New San Jose Builders, GMA Network, Puregold, Ayala Land, Robinson’s Land and Shoemart.
He came with townmate Samuel Tarus Too, 29, who topped the Elquona Marathon in Cairo, Egypt in January with a winning time of 2:17.20.
The Kenyan lady runners are Doreen Nduku, whose personal best is 2:45, Lydia Rutto, third placer in the Songkhla International Marathon last August, and Sarah Maito, fresh from her runner-up finish in the Borneo Marathon last Oct. 11.
Koringo, whose group was introduced in the QCIM carbo-loading party Friday night, disclosed that 12 more Kenyan runners were set to arrive late that same night.
There was no word who among the local runners would challenge the Kenyan contingent.
although there were unconfirmed reports that Cresenciano Sabal might race in his second straight marathon after winning last week’s Milo Marathon men’s championship.
Whether Cristabel Martes, the Milo women’s marathon queen, would also compete was still to be verified.
Quezon City Mayor Sonny Belmonte, serving his final term at the helm of the city named after the late Philippine Commonwealth President, Manuel L. Quezon, is expected to fire the starting gun when the 42k run kicks off in front of the QC hall at 4:30 a.m.
The relatively flat marathon route will take the runners through some of the city’s historic landmarks and key spots, among them the University of Philippines Diliman campus and the La Mesa Dam eco park, the race’s halfway mark that has a two-kilometer uphill stretch that could literally become the race’s turning point.
“If it humid, that is okay, but should it rain a little, my race might even be better,” said Koringo, a first-timer to the country, who has made the Cameron highlands in Perak, an island off Kuala Lumpur, as the a temporary training camp with other Kenyan runners because of the busy Asian marathon calendar.
He said that he and most his Malaysia-based compatriots were scheduled to compete in the Singapore International Marathon in December, which has already drawn a massive entry of 60,000 runners, forcing its organizers to close down the registration since last August.