NAIROBI, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- World half marathon record holder Joyciline Jepkosgei will make her eagerly awaited marathon debut at the Hamburg Marathon on April 28.
However, the 25-year-old has played down the parallels being drawn to another Kenyan sensation Eliud Kipchoge, the World marathon record holder (2:01.39) and Olympic champion, who also debut in Hamburg in 2013 and went on to dominate the distance.
Jepkosgei insists that parallel wasn't on her mind when choosing the setting for her debut.
"My manager and my coach both told me that Hamburg has a fast and flat course," Jepkosgei said on Friday from her training base in Eldoret. "I would like to achieve a time of around 2:22. But there are still two months of preparation to come. I have to wait and see how my body reacts to the training. Once I am a week away from the race I will see what kind of form I am in. Then I will determine my final goal."
As a final preparation, Jepkosgei will run the New York Half Marathon on March 17.
"It is important to gauge my preparations and that is why I will run in New York," said Jepkosgei.
Jepkosgei's debut over the 42.2km distance has been fervently anticipated. She was to launch her first race in Honolulu in January but a knee injury picked in training ruled her out. The Kenyan, now 25, broke six world records in the 2017 season.
Four of those came in one race at the Prague Half Marathon in the Czech Republic, where she clocked 30:05 at 10km, 45:37 at 15km and 1:01:25 at 20km on her way to a 1:04:52 performance over the full distance.
She clipped another second from that mark in Valencia the following October, lowering the world record to 1:04:51 where it currently stands. In 2017, Jepkosgei shattered the 10km record at the Prague Grand Prix, clocking a phenomenal 29:43.
Slowed in part by illness, her follow-up year didn't produce the same record-shattering achievements, but she did race to silver at the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia in March.
Hamburg organizers were quick to draw a parallel to another high profile marathon debut on their course, that of Kipchoge in 2013 when the Kenyan ace cruised to victory in 2:05:30. He's since gone on to be considered the best marathon runner of all time.
Organizers also announced that 2009 and 2011 world marathon champion Abel Kirui will be among the headliners in the men's field. Kirui will be targeting the Kipchoge's course record of two hours, five minutes and 30 seconds.
Kirui, who holds a personal best time of 2:05:04 from Rotterdam almost 10 years ago, will however, not only face the challenge of breaking the time and beating the clock but come up against Ethiopian duo of Ayele Abshero and Dibabe Kuma.
