Recovered ace Kipserem to defend London Marathon title
Two-time Rotterdam marathon champion Marius Kipserem will be defending his title in London later this year.
Kipserem said that he is back on form after he sustained injuries from a car accident early this year.
“This year I was supposed to run well in Rotterdam, in search of my third title but I got in an accident in February thus failing to train very well for the race,” he said.
Kipserem who paced Eliud Kipchoge at the Ineos 1:59 Challenge has resumed his training and his journey to London is unstoppable.
“I started training slowly, hoping to run either Chicago or London marathons. For now, I am not sure but am still waiting for an invitation. Now that I am in good condition and training well, I’m ready for the next race,” he added.
Kipserem, who won the Rotterdam Marathon titles in 2016 and 2019 with a course record of 2:04.11 is also passionate about nurturing upcoming athletes. He said that there are many sprouting athletes in the North Rift region but they lack training areas and facilities for them to realize their talents.
The 2018 Abu Dhabi Marathon champion said the region may run dry of champions since the majority of current elite marathoners are aging.
“I urge our leaders to start building some small training camps everywhere for the young talents. Young athletes cannot come and start running from nowhere, they need guidance to progress. To become champions, they have to be built slowly, for instance participating in small races in the local communities,” he said.
He added that many camps in the region are privately owned making it difficult for young people to start training from there.
“We don’t have enough camps for young athletes but we are discussing with some leaders to establish many camps,” he said.
The 2021 Rotterdam marathon silver medalist is credited in winning the Abu Dhabi marathon, Rotterdam marathon twice and competing at Milan, London and many marathons across the world.
