Geoffrey Kirui winning the IAAF World Championships London 2017 marathon title (© Getty Images)
Those running the marathon at the IAAF Athletics World Championships Doha 2019 will be in uncharted territory.
For the women, on day one, and the men, on day nine, the event will start at a time they are normally tucked up in bed: midnight – by which point the temperature will have dropped nearer to 30C.
The world’s first championship midnight marathons will be run on a fully lit, looped course along the waterfront of Doha’s famous Corniche connecting Doha Bay and Doha City Centre, set against the capital city’s towering skyline.
If recent history is any guide, the men’s marathon title is likely to go to an African runner in a time that would be far from cutting edge in any of the big city races.
Two years ago in London the world title was won in 2:08:27 by Kenya’s 24-year-old Geoffrey Kirui, who had won the Boston title earlier in the year in what was only his third marathon, and who is back to defend his title.
Two years before that, Eritrean teenager Ghirmay Ghebreslassie claimed gold in Beijing in 2:12:27.
At the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, gold went to the Olympic champion, Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda, in 2:09:51. Kiprotich, still only 30, will also toe the line in Doha.
The two titles before that – at Berlin in 2009 and Daegu in 2011 – went to Kenya’s Abel Kirui, in respective times of 2:06:54, the championship record, and 2:07:38.
If Kiprotich will be able to draw on a huge fund of experience, there is no more experienced runner in the race than Eritrea’s 37-year-old, five-time world half marathon champion Zersenay Tadese.
But logic, and history, say that the Doha winner is likely to be Kenyan, Ethiopian or Bahraini.
Kirui’s personal best, from 2016, is 2:06:27. All of his teammates have run faster. Amos Kipruto has run 2:05:43, Laban Korir 2:05:54 and Paul Lonyangata 2:06:10.
But the fastest men in this race – at least on paper – are, with one exception, Ethiopian. And the two fastest times have been run this season.
Mosinet Geremew tops the entry list with his Ethiopian record of 2:02:55, set as he followed home Kenya’s Olympic champion and world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge as he won the London Marathon.
Geremew’s teammate Mule Wasihun was one place behind in London in a personal best of 2:03:16 that places him third in this season’s list also.
These two are clear favourites, along with, you would have to say, their 29-year-old teammate Lelisa Desisa, who, although his personal best is 2:04:45, has proven class, having earned world bronze in Moscow six years ago and having also won last year’s New York marathon.
Bahrain’s Elabbassi El Hassan, with a personal best of 2:04:43, should also not be ruled out, and nor should his teammate Alemu Bekele.
Others to look out for include Turkey’s 2016 European 10,000m champion Polat Arikan, and Britain’s Callum Hawkins, who is a tough championship runner who will, it is hoped, have learned to manage running in extreme heat following his distressing collapse while leading the marathon at the Commonwealth Games last year.
Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF
