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By David Monti, Race Results Weekly
Race director Dave Bedford announced today that Kenya’s Mary Keitany, the world half-marathon, would return to the Virgin London Marathon to defend her title on Sunday, April 22, leading a blockbuster field of international marathon stars. Bedford has recruited three women with sub-2:20 credentials (Keitany, Irina Mikitenko and Florence Kiplagat), and a total of 14 women who have run sub-2:24.
“This has to be one of the most talented women’s fields we’ve ever had and with numerous Olympic places up for grabs I’m sure we’ll see a fantastic race,” said Bedford through a news release.
Moreover, British women still have a chance to grab the one remaining spot on their Olympic Marathon team. After the early selection of Paula Radcliffe and Mara Yamauchi, based on their Berlin and Yokohama performances, respectively, British women still have an opportunity to eclipse Jo Pavey’s time of 2:28:24 set at London last year (Pavey also ran 2:28:42 in New York last November). The UK Athletics qualifying period ends with the London Marathon.
The London invited field is as follows (with career best times):
International:
Mary Keitany (Kenya) 2:19:19
Irina Mikitenko (Germany) 2:19:19
Florence Kiplagat (Kenya) 2:19:44
Edna Kiplagat (Kenya) 2:20:46
Constantina Dita (40+/Romania) 2:21:30
Atsede Baysa (Ethiopia) 2:22:04
Ejegayehu Dibaba (Ethiopia) 2:22:09
Inga Abitova (Russia) 2:22:19
Koren Jelila Yal (Ethiopia) 2:22:43
Priscah Jeptoo (Kenya) 2:22:51
Bezunesh Bekele (Ethiopia) 2:23:09
Isabellah Andersson (Sweden) 2:23:41
Mariya Konovalova (Russia) 2:23:50
Aberu Kebede (Ethiopia) 2:23:58
Jessica Augusto (Portugal) 2:24:33
Nadia Ejjafini (Italy) 2:26:15
Yuliya Ruban (Ukraine) 2:27:00
British:
Liz Yelling 2:28:33
Claire Hallissey 2:29:27
Louise Damen 2:30:00
Susan Partridge 2:34:13
Alyson Dixon 2:34:51
Amy Whitehead 2:35:39
Helen Decker 2:35:43
Rebecca Robinson 2:37:14
Freya Murray Debut
Sonia Samuels Debut
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved, used with permissions.
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