Ethiopian distance runner Meseret Mengistu Biru. (Getty Images)
By Jorg Wenig (organisers) for the IAAF
Meseret Mengistu Biru, the winner of the Paris Marathon in April, will head a strong Ethiopian women’s quartet at this year’s Frankfurt Marathon on Sunday 25 October, the organisers of the IAAF Gold Label Road Race announced.
Mengistu will arrive in Frankfurt aiming to continue her winning streak., having won her last three marathons. She won in Cape Town and Soweto last year but the 25-year-old had a breakthrough performance in the French capital, triumphing on the streets of Paris with 2:23:26, an improvement in her personal best of almost six minutes.
However, victory far from a foregone conclusion for Mengistu.
Among her rivals is Ashete Bekele, who has a very similar personal best. In Dubai at the start of this year, Bekele improved to 2:23:43 yet, such was the quality of the field, it was only good enough for 10th place.
Bekele also has the advantage of knowing the course of the Frankfurt Marathon already, having finished third here a year ago in 2:24:59. Another Ethiopian marathon runner on the Frankfurt start line will be Dinkinesh Mekash. Since 2012 she has been admirably consistent, running between 2:25 and 2:30 each year.
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