Seven athletes under 2:07 to headline next month’s Elite Label Mainova Frankfurt Marathon

Organizers of the Elite Label Mainova Frankfurt Marathon say seven athletes with best times of under 2:07 hours are on the start list for the 41st edition of the Marathon, which will take place on October 27 with ‘the two big running nations Kenya and Ethiopia will certainly decide the winner among themselves again.’

Ethiopia’s Herpasa Negasa is still number one on the list with his world-class best time of 2:03:40 with Kenyan, Elisha Rotich coming in with a personal best of 2:04:21.

The organizers also reveal they expect over 14,000 registrations for the marathon distance, which means a significant increase compared to last year.

‘In addition to Herpasa Negasa, the Ethiopians are sending four other runners with best times of under 2:07 into the race: Lencho Tesfaye (2:06:18), Aychew Bantie (2:06:23), Boki Asefa (2:06:46) and Birhan Nebebew (2:06:52) could use the fast Frankfurt course for new best times while the Kenyans also have Eric Kiptanui (2:05:47) in the Marathon mix,’ wrote the organizers on the race website.

Race director Jo Schindler says they expect an open race this year.

‘We expect a very open race this year, because there is no big favourite. It’s difficult to assess what can be possible – the field certainly has potential for surprises,’ he said.

Spaniard Abdelaziz Merzougui (2:08:00) is the fastest European on the start list while the most promising German runners will be Tom Thurley (2:14:52) and Jonathan Dahlke (2:15:42).