Josphat Ndambiri selects Düsseldorf for his comeback race

With his personal best of 2:07:36 Ndambiri is currently the fastest runner on the start list of the METRO Marathon Düsseldorf. A year ago a total of 17,000 runners competed in the marathon and other running events staged parallel in Düsseldorf.

During the first part of his career the 32 year-old Kenyan was a top-class 10,000 m runner. He was fifth at the World Championships in Osaka in 2007 at this distance and then improved to a world-class PB of 26:57.36 two years later. With this time Ndambiri was number three in the world in 2009.

Two years later Josphat Ndambiri turned to the marathon and ran a perfect debut in Fukuoka. Winning this prestigious event he clocked his personal best of 2:07:36. However a long period of injuries followed and he did not manage to finish another marathon. Two years ago he competed in Hannover and was on course for a sub 2:09 time until around 25 k, before he then dropped out behind the 30 k mark. Now Ndambiri wants to come back strong in Düsseldorf.

Fellow-Kenyan Charles Cheruiyot will be among Ndambiri’s strongest rivals. He ran his personal best of 2:09:05 in Warsaw 2014. A year ago Cheruiyot took a fine second place at the Vienna City Marathon, clocking 2:10:09 despite very strong winds.

Two Europeans could also do well in Düsseldorf, although they have an African background. Coming from Eritrea Weldu Negash Gebretsadik has recently gained Norwegian citizenship. He was fifth in Rotterdam in 2014 with 2:09:14. Former Ethiopian Yared Shegumo has competed for Poland since 2003. The 34 year-old is the silver medallist from the European Championships’ marathon in Zurich 2014. He ran his PB of 2:10:34 when taking the Warsaw Marathon in 2013.

The women’s elite field is not yet finalized. Among those confirmed for the METRO Marathon Düsseldorf is Eri Okubo (JPN) who was fourth in the Tokyo Marathon in 2012 with a time of 2:26:08.