Daniel Kiplagat Cheribo wins the 2004 Milan Marathon (© Lorenzo Sampaolo)
The spotlight of Sunday’s (4 December) Samsung Milano City Marathon will be a battle between defending champion Daniel Cheribo and his Kenyan compatriot Michael Rotich.
Men’s race - A battle of former champions
Rotich revealed his potential in 2002 when he finished second in this race behind compatriot Robert Cheruiyot after a breathtaking sprint in the final metres of the race. Both Kenyans, along with Italian Daniele Caimmi, clocked 2:08:59 but victory went to Cheruiyot in an extremely close photo-finish.
The Marathon in Milano has always been a springboard for future Marathon stars. Cheruiyot and Rotich continued their successful road racing careers the following spring, with Cheruiyot winning the 2003 Boston Marathon in 2:10:11, while Rotich claimed an outstanding victory in the Paris Marathon with an 2:06:33, still 13th on the all-time list. Rotich, who was eighth in the 2003 World Championships in Paris and runner-up in Rotterdam in 2004, returns to Milan after his recent seventh place showing in Berlin in September (2:10:53).
Cheribo’s 2:08:38 win last year was a race record, and a big improvement from his previous best of 2:10:57. After his win here, he took fifth in the Paris Marathon in 2:10:13 the following spring.
"Last year's win in Milan was very important. It was the most important achievement in my career,” he said, adding though that he’s not in the same condition as last year, due to injury.
Other known names in the Milan line-up are Kenyans Frederick Cherono and Japheth Kosgei. Cherono, who took a notable pair of wins in Rome 2003 and Turin 2004, finished 11th in London last April. The 37-year-old Kosgei has several wins to his credit, including Turin (2:09:59) and Venice (2:11:27) in 1998, Rotterdam in 1999 (with his PB of 2:07:09), and Otsu in 2003 (2:07:39).
A newcomer that could be ready to surprise is Kenyan Simon Kiprop. A pacemaker in this year’s Prague and Rotterdam Marathons, Kiprop has a Half-Marathon personal best of 1:01:53 to his credit.
Others in the field include former World Half Marathon champion Paul Kirui, 2004 Padua and Florence winner Benjamin Kiprotich, and Luke Metto. Ethiopians Ambesse Tolossa (winner in Paris in 2004 and a 2:08:45 runner) and Medeksa Badada will challenge Kenyan dominance.
The main Italian prospect is experienced cross country specialist Giuliano Battocletti, who has a personal best of 1:00:47 in the Half-Marathon from Udine in 2002. This will be his second Marathon start this autumn, just one month after dropping out of the New York Marathon.
Sunday's race promises to be fast. Organizers have asked for a 63:45 pace for the first half, with a sub-2:08 winning time in mind. Seting the pace will be Wilson Kiprotich, who ran 59:27 in the Lisbon Half Marathon and won the Stramilano Half Marathon in 1:00:11 last spring.
Women's race - Kimutai and Deboba top the field
Experienced Kenyan Hellen Kimutai will start her fourth Marathon of the year, after finishing ninth at the World Championships in 2:26:14, her fastest of the year. Kimutai, who produced her lifetime best of 2:25:52 during her 2003 win at the Hamburg Marathon, will be challenged by cross country specialist Merima Denboba from Ethiopia who is now pursuing a road race career after a remarkable cross country career.
Between 1994 and 2003, Denboba claimed 10 top-eight individual finishes and 13 team medals in World Cross Country Championships --six gold, six silver and a bronze. Topping her list of credentials is the silver medal from Belfast in 1999 and bronze from Lausanne in 2003, both over the long course. The 31-year-old Ethiopian, who will make her Marathon debut here, has a lifetime best of 1:09:36 in the Half Marathon, run on the slightly downhill course in Lisbon in 2004.
Others in the field include Tanzanian Banuelia Mrashan, whose career highlight was her solid 2:24:59 win in Tokyo in 2002; and Angelica Sanchez from Mexico (PB 2:30:15), who returns to Milan two years after her 2:31:12 third place finish.
This year’s 5,407 runners will run on the race’s new course, sections of which for the first time run outside of the city, but will still finish in the world renowned Piazza del Duomo in the city’s historical heart.
Baldini update
Reigning Olympic champion Stefano Baldini again serves as the event’s Ambassador. Baldini, who dropped out of the World Championship race in Helsinki with cramps, will take part in a “Family Run,” and will also run the last leg of a televised telethon relay to raise funds for charity. His upcoming race plans include the Boclassic road Race in Bolzano on New Year’s Eve, and a pair of cross country competitions –the Cinque Mulini and the Italian Championships as a build-up to a spring Marathon.
“London is a possibility,” he said, “but I may opt for Boston this year. And I will definitely take part in next August’s European Championships.”
On 8 December in Rome, Baldini will be the first bearer of the Olympic torch when it begins its tour around Italy before the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in Torino on 10 February.
Diego Sampaolo for the IAAF
