Tanui, Kiplimo headline Bogota half marathon fields

Amsterdam Marathon 2021 winner Angela Tanui makes a return to this year’s Bogotá Half Marathon where she looks to call the shots in the Colombian capital and reclaim the title she won in 2022.

The 32-year-old returns to the race on the back of two great performances earlier in the year, winning the Naples Half Marathon in Italy in a personal best of 1:07:04 seconds and coming in second place in the Daegu Marathon in South Korea, clocking 2:21:32.

Tanui, who boasts marathon victories in Amsterdam (Holland), Tuscany (Italy), Dhaka (Bangladesh), and Venice (Italy) faces stiff competition from compatriots Daisy Kimeli and Gladys Kwamboka. 

Kimeli won the 2023 race in 1:15:12 as Tanui settled for fifth in 1:16:31. On her part African Athletics Championships gold medalist in 10,000m Kwamboka, who is making her debut in the 21km distance.

The Kenyan contingent, looking to extend the country’s dominance in the women’s race faces stiff competition from Ethiopians led by Buzunesh Getachew, champion of the Frankfurt Marathon who holds a personal best time of 2:19:27 in the classic distance.

Joining Getachew in the race is compatriot Aberu Ayana, winner in February at the Guadalajara Half Marathon in Mexico who holds a PB of 1:08:51. 

Meanwhile, the men’s charge is led by Philemon Kiplimo, who heads to the race with a marathon PB of 2:04:56 from his eighth-place finish at last year’s Berlin Marathon and a 58:11 PB in the 21km race achieved in December 2020.

Edward Koonyo, champion at the Gent Half Marathon (Belgium) and the Yangzhou Half Marathon (China) in 2024 is also in the running as is Edwin Soi who settled for bronze in last year’s race as well as Alfred Barkach.