MARATHON CHAMPIONS SET TO CLASH IN CASTELBUONO TONIGHT
By David Monti
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved - used with permission

The reigning male champions of the Boston, London and New York City marathons will clash tonight over a hilly 10-kilometer course at the 86th Giro Podistico Internazionale di Castelbuono in Sicily, one of the summer's most competitive road races.  The race will mark the first time that Boston champion Geoffrey Mutai, London champion Emmanuel Mutai, both of Kenya, and New York City winner Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopia have competed in the same event.

"After the Boston Marathon I have been fine," Geoffrey Mutai told race organizers earlier this week.  "I recovered from the effort in a few weeks even if a little disappointed that my record (2:03:02) has not been approved (as a world record).  Many organizers invite me into their races, but I decided to run a few, better to prepare for a major marathon in the fall. I know Castelbuono is something special and unique so will be a great honor for me to take part in this very important race."

The race uses a 1130-meter circuit which is paved with tiles made from volcanic stone and cobblestones worn smooth by centuries of use.  The traditional distance has been 11.3 km (10 circuits), but organizers changed the distance to a certified 10 km this year.  Each circuit has a significant hill, so fast times are difficult.  A "knockout" race, athletes are required to remain on the lead lap or they must retire.

In addition to the three marathon champions, race director Mario Fesi has also recruited Italian marathon ace Ruggero Pertile (2:09:53 PB), Moroccan marathoner Abderrahim Goumri (2:05:30), and Kenyan half-marathoner Mathew Kisorio (1:00:03 PB) to compete.  American half-marathon record holder Ryan Hall withdrew from the race, preferring to focus on altitude training in St. Moritz (he flies back to the USA tomorrow, according to his Twitter feed).

The race will be broadcast LIVE at 7:00 p.m. local time on RAI Sport 1, and can also be viewed online in certain territories at this link (abbreviated): http://tinyurl.com/2wq4qdt.

PHOTO: Gebre Gebremariam of Ethiopian and Kenyans Geoffrey Mutai and Emmanuel Mutai pose yesterday in Castelbuono (photo courtesy of the Giro di Castelbuono).

ENDS