32 world runners to take part in Jakarta marathon
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.