Sharon Cherop chasing glory in Hannover marathon

Former Boston Marathon winner Sharon Cherop is chasing victory at this year'sADAC Marathon Hannover slated for Sunday 14 April.

The 40-year-old with a personal best (PB) of 2:22:28 is the quickest on paper but her best time was achieved 11 years ago. 

It is well over ten years ago when she was among the world’s leading marathon runners, having been thrust to the limelight at 15 and went on to win a 5000m bronze medal at the World Championships in Daegu in 2011. 

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She won the Boston Marathon in 2012 and clocked her PB of 2:22:28 when she was runner-up in the Berlin Marathon in 2013. Last year she won the Milan Marathon and ran 2:24:56 for second place in Buenos Aires. 

While it remains to be seen if Cherop might be in a 2:25 shape Germany’s Domenika Mayer seems to be ready for such a pace. 

The 33 year-old caused a major surprise when she smashed her PB at last year’s Berlin Marathon with 2:23:47, ensuring her place among the German Olympic team. 

A foot injury sustained during that race prevented her from proper training until January. But since then Mayer has already run personal bests at 10km (31:54) and the half marathon (69:46). 

“I am looking forward to running a marathon without any pressure. There is no qualifying time to chase and I don’t have to prove anything," said Mayer, who surprisingly won her debut marathon here in Hannover two years ago with 2:26:50.

She was then sixth at the European Championships in Munich in 2022. "Returning to Hannover gives me a very good pre-race feeling. I know that the course is fast. The minimum goal is to break the 2:25:45 course record which was established by Croatia’s Matea Parlov Kostro a year ago." 

Meanwile, National record holder Amanal Petros heads the men's start list with his PB of 2:04:58, which makes him the sixth fastest European marathon runner of all time. 

Petros returns as the defending champion and course record holder. A year ago he smashed Hannover’s record with a time of 2:07:02. In the meantime he also improved his German record significantly when he clocked 2:04:58 in Berlin last September. 

“I have trained for this race in Kenya since January," said Petros during the press conference in the town hall by the finish line on Friday. “It is my goal to improve my course record by may be 30 to 40 seconds. The temperatures seem to be fine, I just hope the wind will not be a problem." 

Asked to compare his shape to the Berlin Marathon last year Petros said: “The training for Berlin was really intense and I had two to three more weeks. But nonetheless my form is similar now."

Elite race coordinator Philipp Kopp, who took over from his late father Christoph Kopp, expects Kenyans Amos Mitei (PB: 2:07:28), Edwin Kimutai (2:08:15) and debutant Boaz Kipkemei to follow the 2:06:30 pace of the leading group on Sunday. 

MEN

Amanal Petros GER 2:04:58

Samuel Tesfamariam SWE 2:06:53

Amos Mitei KEN 2:07:28

Polat Arikan TUR 2:08:14

Edwin Kimutai KEN 2:08:15

Victor Kiplimo KEN 2:10:56

Hammington Cherop KEN 2:10:58 

Remigijus Kancys LTU 2:12:50

Boaz Kipkemei KEN Debut

 WOMEN

Sharon Cherop KEN 2:22:28

Domenika Mayer GER 2:23:47

Sardana Trofimova KGZ 2:24:38

Viktoriia Kaliuzhna UKR 2:27:05

Yevheniia Prokofieva UKR 2:28:06

Nora Szabo HUN 2:28:25

Failuna Matanga TAN 2:28:57

Serser Alice Milgo KEN 2:30:35

Lilian Jebitok KEN 2:31:31

Juliette Thomas BEL Debut

Winnie Jebet KEN Debut