32 world runners to take part in Jakarta marathon
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
As many as 32 world-class runners were confirmed to take part in the 2005 Jakarta International 10K to be held here on Sunday, and which offers a total of Rp 600 million (US$66,000) in cash prizes.
The visiting contenders come from Australia, Mexico, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Russia, Germany, Malaysia, Philippines, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.
However, last year's winning pair of Sammy Kirupto and his Kenyan female compatriot Eunice Jepkorir were not on the list due to commitments to other races.
The absence of Kirupto leaves Sulle Martin of Tanzania and Sisay Bezabeh of Australia, who finished runner-up and third place last year, as likely favorites in Sunday's race.
In the women's category, last year's runner-up Leah Mallot of Kenya and third-placed Denboba Merima will also be competing for top prize of US$11,000. The men's winner will also take home US$11,000.
Tigor Tanjung, the secretary-general of the Athletics Association of Indonesia (PASI) said on Monday that some foreign athletes were still attracted to come here to race despite recent travel warnings related to terror attacks.
"Most of the foreign athletes do not question the security problems," he said.
"But, I did just receive a question from one Australian manager about whether the athletes would stay at a Western-owned hotel, but I told him no, they'd be at the Borobudur Hotel, which is locally owned."
Sunday's race is scheduled to start and finish at the National Monument in Central Jakarta. The starting time is 6:30 a.m. with the route encompassing Jl. MH Thamrin, Hotel Indonesia crossing section and Jl Jend. Sudirman.
Tigor expects around 25,000 people for the race, compared to last year's 23,000.
As of today, over 19,000 entrants have registered, according to Tigor, including 10 men's and nine women's national runners, who are currently preparing for next Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
Last year's winners Jauhari Johan of South Sulawesi and women's Triyaningsih of Central Java will lead the national charge which provides the winners' cash of Rp 15 million in each category.
Apart from international and national, cash prizes will also be up for grabs in the students category and open race.
Tigor said that he expected men's national athletes could reach a time of 29 minutes or 30 minutes in the race, while women's national athletes could likely go around 32 minutes.
"If they can do that, I will put it down to their good workouts," he said.
"I hope John Murray will continue his good form after his surprise 100 meter win at the Asian Grand Prix over the weekend."
However, Tigor was aware of the huge gap between national runners and their world peers, and said he was pessimistic that any national stars could compete with top runners.
In the men's division, Martin of Tanzania has a personal best time of 28 minutes and 15.60 seconds compared to Jauhari's 31:01.
Mallot has a PB of 30:57.70 while Triyaningsih's best is 35:12.