Ryan Hall and Samuel Wanjiru Running 2008 London Marathon By David Monti (c) 2008 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved January 7, 2007
Race
director David Bedford has beefed up his already robust field for the
2008 Flora London Marathon by adding two of the sport's most promising
marathon stars: Ryan Hall of Big Bear Lake, Calif., and Samuel Wanjiru
of Kenya. The 28th edition of the race is scheduled for Sunday, April
13.
Hall, 25, is coming off of a dramatic victory at the USA
Olympic Team Trials - Men's Marathon held in New York City last
November. The former Stanford University star ran a brilliant race,
saving his strength during the first half of the hilly, five-loop
course in Central Park before unleashing a seemingly effortless 62:45
for the second half. His finish time of 2:09:02 was a Trials record,
despite the fact that he lost at least half a minute in the final miles
celebrating his victory. Hall also ran 2:08:24 at London in his debut
last April, a USA debut record.
Wanjiru, the world record holder
for the half-marathon, made his marathon debut a memorable one with his
course record 2:06:39 at Fukuoka last month. The 21 year-old, who runs
for the Japanese Toyota Kyushu corporate team, must be considered a
favorite for victory in London, despite his relative lace of experience
at the distance. He was the #10-ranked marathoner in the Race Results
Weekly marathoner rankings for 2007.
"I am delighted that these
two highly talented young marathon runners will be part of the London
Marathon story in 2008," Bedford said through a media release. "We
have assembled one of the best ever fields for the race this year and
the competition will be as fierce as ever, but I am sure Sammy and Ryan
will be among the main contenders as the athletes approach the finish
line in The Mall."
By virtue of winning the Trials race, Hall
has already been selected for his country's Olympic team. Kenya has
not named their team yet, but one of Wanjiru's coaches, Dr. Gabriele
Rosa, told RRW at last month's Honolulu Marathon that Wanjiru would
like to run in the Olympic Games. The men's Olympic Marathon is
scheduled for Sunday, August 24, the final athletics event of the
Beijing Olympics.
The Flora London Marathon is part of the World
Marathon Major series. In the 2007/2008 points standings, neither Hall
nor Wanjiru have a place on the leaderboard, having yet to score any
Majors points. Martin Lel, with victories at both London and New York
in 2007, is the men's points leader with a perfect 50 points.