WORLD RECORD HOLDER KOMON TO RETURN TO ROADS IN BERLIN
By Chris Lotsbom
(c) 2011 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved. Used with permission.

(08-Oct) -- Kenya's Leonard Patrick Komon, the IAAF world record holder for 10-K and 15-K on the road, will return to the Asics Grand 10 in Berlin this Sunday, aiming to defend his course record win of a year ago. The 23-year-old ran 27:12 over the 10-K Berlin course last year, which takes about 5000 competitors through the German capital.

With his winning time of 2010, Komon holds the German all-comers record for 10-K. Though he is the favorite going into Sunday's race, the Nairobi native will be facing his younger training partner, 21 year-old Josphat Kipkoech Bett. In 2008, Bett earned gold at the IAAF World Junior Championships in the 10,000m, and last June at the Prefontaine Classic he ran a career best 26:48.99 for that distance.  That mark ranks sixth in the world this year.

Great Britain's Mara Yamauchi headlines the women's field. Most recently, she dropped out of the Bupa Great North Run half-marathon last month in Newcastle, England, her first race after a 10-month layoff for a hamstring injury.  She'll be using Sunday's race as a tune-up for the Yokohama Women's Marathon on November 20, where she hopes to qualify provisionally for the 2012 London Olympics by running at least 2:31.

The women's course record stands at 33:48, set by Joan Aiyabei in 2009.