every ten profiles, i thought i would make a solid gold guaranteed prediction, so here goes- wherever they finish, Jordan Hasay will be behind Mare Dibaba.
every ten profiles, i thought i would make a solid gold guaranteed prediction, so here goes- wherever they finish, Jordan Hasay will be behind Mare Dibaba.
My tip for sixth in Soloman Deksisa. Wins in Mumbai and Hamburg along with a third in Amsterdam in 2018 caused David Graham to rate Soloman as an honourable mention just outside the top ten marathoners. He is a former second placegetter in Rotterdam and a winner at San Diego's Rock 'n' Roll half marathon. He burst onto the elite running scene in 2010, when he won a half marathon at Reims in France in 62.19 as a 16 year old.
My choice for 6th among the women is Betsy Saina. Betsy has already run and won a half marathon this month in Marugame. Won Paris last year and finished eighth in a deep field in Frankfurt (second fastest 8th placed finisher in 2018). Has represented Kenya at a World Champs in 10000m on the track and at the Rio Olympics.
Seventh overall could be Lemi Berhanu (known as Hayle Lemi on the IAAF site). He won Hengshui Lake in China last year, 4th in New York 2017, Lemi was second in Dubai in 2016 in 2.04.33 and won Boston three months later but was only 13th at the Rio Olympics. David Graham rated him 8th that year
I would literally die of happiness if Bekele ran Boston and destroyed everyone there. He is great at hills because of his quads. I wish he would run here. He could destroy the non wind assisted course record here.
Seventh woman to finish, i believe will be Mare Dibaba. Represented Ethiopia at the London World Champs. finishing 8th. One of her best recent results over the half marathon distance was a win over Vivian Cheruyiot in 2017 at Lisbon. Mare's marathon PB dates back to Dubai 2012 but was bronze medalist at the Rio Olympics. Has run second here in Boston in 2015, the same year she won the World Champs. That year Letsrun ranked her the world's number one marathoner among women and the next year placed her 8th because the 6th and 3rd placings Dibaba had were against the two toughest fields of the year,
Felix Kandie is my pick for 8th. He was third in Toronto last October and 4th in Berlin in 2017. He negative split the distance when breaking the course record in Athens in 2014, taking more than 5 min off his previous best set in Australia. Was 6th in a very competitive Amsterdam race in 2016 (3 of the five ahead of him ran what is still the best times of their careers and Felix beat home Wasihun and G.Kirui). His worst marathon result was a tenth placed finish in Rwanda in 2.34.00.
Marta Megra may be the 8th finisher among the women. In 2018, Megra was 6th in Paris and 2nd in Toronto. A year previous, she finished 5th in Tokyo. Ultra consistent, has run in 14 marathons since 2013 on 3 continents and finished every time in under 2.32, the last eight under 2.29. Still no Americans in the top 8, maybe next?
First official IAAF rankings are out for the marathon. i will list the eight men and eight women i have listed here so far with their ranking and age-
Lelisa Desisa rank 32, 29yo
Geoffrey Kirui 91 [hr 7], 26yo
Sisay Lemma 17, 28yo
Lawrence Cherono 2, 30yo
Kenneth Kipkemoi 8, 34yo
Soloman Deksisa 40, 25yo soon
Lemi Berhanu 99, 24yo
Felix Kandie 38, 32yo next month
women-
Meskerem Assefa rank 6, 33yo
Edna Kiplagat 53 [hr 11], 38yo
Aselefech Mergia 140, 34yo
Worknesh Degefa 11, 28yo
Belaynesh Oljira 30, 28yo
Betsy Saina 37, 30yo
Mare Dibaba 121 [hr 69], 29yo
Marta Megra 24, 28yo
Ninth among the men, imo, will be Zersenay Tadese. The holder of the two best times over the half marathon, Tadese ran his best official time of 2.08.46 in the Berlin marathon this last September but with ten times under an hour at the half, many think he should be capable of a quicker full time. he finished second in the Breaking2 at Monza in 2.06.51. Now 37yo and ranked 129 by the IAAF.
No American runner, male or female yet? Here she is. Jordan Hasay in my next choice. Didn't run a marathon in 2018 but in 2017 she ran 3rd in both Boston and Chicago, causing this site to rank her second in their top five from the USA and 8th overall in the world. The IAAF ranks her 56th currently and she is 27 years old.
The tenth best marathoner in this field, i believe, is Benson Kipruto. Ranked 18th in official rankings on the back of his win in Toronto last year and a 3rd placing in Seoul in 2.07.11. In 2017 Benson was 2nd in another South Korean race and 4th in Praha. He was second in Athens in 2016 and was born in 1991.
Mary Wacera could be the 10th placed woman, making her debut at the distance. Mary will warm up for it by running the New York Half on March 17, along with Des Linden and Mary Kiplagat. Wacera was previously married to Stanley Wanjiru, who held the half marathon record as an 18yo and won the Olympic marathon in 2008 , but sadly died aged 24. Mary already has a half marathon under her belt this year, finishing 9th in Houston.
Aussiestatman wrote:
Mary Wacera could be the 10th placed woman, making her debut at the distance. Mary will warm up for it by running the New York Half on March 17, along with Des Linden and Mary Kiplagat. Wacera was previously married to Stanley Wanjiru, who held the half marathon record as an 18yo and won the Olympic marathon in 2008 , but sadly died aged 24. Mary already has a half marathon under her belt this year, finishing 9th in Houston.
Wacera’s best time at the half of 66.23 is the fastest ever run by a woman on US soil, but is just 35 sec faster than Mary Keitany ran the second half of the Chicago marathon last year.
20 profiles done. Here is my second solid gold fearless prediction. Winner of the 2015 world champs, and fourth in the Rio Olympics, Ghirmay Ghebreslassie of Eritrea will finish behind Hiroto Inoue, whose best time of 2.06.54 wouldn’t rate him above of the top 7 pb’s in the Tokyo marathon starting in two hours from now.
Aussiestatman wrote:
No American runner, male or female yet? Here she is. Jordan Hasay in my next choice. Didn't run a marathon in 2018 but in 2017 she ran 3rd in both Boston and Chicago, causing this site to rank her second in their top five from the USA and 8th overall in the world. The IAAF ranks her 56th currently and she is 27 years old.
Running a half next week, supposedly
Eleventh finisher will be Philemon Rono. Aged 28 and ranked 77. Had a poor 2018 with a DNF here and 9th in Toronto. The year before won Toronto after 8th in Rotterdam. Also previously won Toronto in 2016 after 2nd in Hamburg. His PB of 2.06.52 is 11th among the best times of this elite field.
i believe Sharon Cherop will be the 11th woman to finish. She is almost 35 and ranked 106. Fourths in Roma and Ljubljana in 2018 after a poor 2017 when 6th in Istanbul in 2.39.34. Has a long running history, starting last century as a 15yo, finishing 3rd in the Kenyan Championships over 10000m on the track. Ran an astonishing time of 15.40.7 for 5000m on the track at age 16 to win her national junior title.
12th best for me is Hiroto Inoue. His best time of 2.06.54 in finishing 5th in Tokyo last year wouldn't have included him among the best 7 pb's in last weekend's Tokyo event but he has some good results against talented opposition. He represented Japan, a country with such a rich tradition in distance running, in the 2017 World champs and won the Asian games last year. At the finish of that marathon, Bahrain lodged a complaint that he had barged their runner. Inoue is 26 years old and ranked 186.
Twelfth female, imo, will be Des Linden [ Desiree Davila on her IAAF profile]. She is 35yo and ranked 146. Is the defending champ, winning in harsh conditions in 2.39.54. Desi was 6th in New York last November. She finished 4th in Boston 2017 and 7th at the Rio Olympics. This site rated her 2018 record as best of the American marathoners. Her fastest time in Boston is 2.22.38 in 2011 and her quickest on a record-eligible course is 2.25.55 in Houston in 2012.