Kenyans aim to continue Munich’s success story

Three Kenyan runners with personal bests slightly over 2:08:00 will be on the start line besides the Olympic Stadium. The women’s race will feature two runners who have clocked good half marathon times and could be in for a breakthrough over the full distance in Munich.

A record total of over 25,000 runners (including races at shorter distances) is expected to compete in the 38th edition of the Generali Munich Marathon, which is an increase of around 20 percent compared to last year. About 7,000 will run the full marathon. Registration is still possible at: www.generalimuenchenmarathon.de

“We are really happy with the strong development of our entry figures. This shows that our concept is working and bearing fruit,” said Race Director Gernot Weigl.

Parts of the elite fields were announced today. Kenya’s Cosmas Birech is currently the fastest runner on the start list. He won the 2018 Rome Marathon in 2:08:03. In the same year he also clocked a half marathon PB of 1:00:06. While there were hardly any races during the pandemic Cosmas Birech was unlucky once the period of lockdowns was over. The Kenyan was injured for a longer time. At the age of 38 he now wants to give it another go and hopes to get back to his best.

Dominic Nyairo, who has a personal best of 2:08:13, produced fine performances in his recent marathons. The 27-year-old will be one of the main favorites on 13th October. In 2021 Nyairo won his debut in Hofu, Japan, with a sprint finish in 2:09:34. In 2023 the Kenyan came back to Japan and placed 16th in the highly competitive Tokyo Marathon, improving to 2:08:13. He then ran the Berlin Marathon and finished 19th in a fine 2:08:47. In contrast William Kibor achieved his personal best quite some time ago. He clocked 2:08:32 when he was fifth in the Vienna City Marathon in 2012. After a longer break, which was partly due to the pandemic, he came back running a couple of half marathons last year. The Generali Munich Marathon will be Kibor’s first race at the classic distance since 2019.

“We have produced the fastest times in the history of our event in the past two years. And I hope that we will once again see results in the region of 2:08 to 2:09,” said Gernot Weigl. “In the women’s race times between 2:25 and 2:27 should be possible.“

Two women who can still be regarded as newcomers could produce a surprise at the Generali Munich Marathon. Shamilah Kipsiror only started her career last year when she was already 36 years old. When she competed outside Kenya for the first time she had instant success, winning the Ghent Half Marathon in a fine 1:07:53. Kipsiror then ran a 2:28:13 marathon debut in Venice last October. She was fourth in that race and fourth again when she returned to Italy for the Rome Marathon this spring, improving to 2:27:33.

One of Kipsiror’s strongest rivals will be Uganda’s Viola Chemos. She has only run one marathon so far, but that was in high altitude in Eldoret, Kenya. While she clocked 2:36:38 the 31 year-old followed this up with a fine race in July. Chemos took the Kaptagat Half Marathon in Kenya’s well-known high altitude training region with 1:09:23. Because of their strong half marathon performances Shamilah Kipsiror and Viola Chemos could improve significantly at the Generali Munich Marathon.