04 THE ELITE RACES VIRGIN MONEY LONDON MARATHON Elite Men. Entries. Media Guide

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1 04 THE ELITE RACES Elite Men Entries Bib no. Name Nation PB Bib name 1 Kenenisa Bekele ETH 2:03:03 BEKELE 3 Tesfaye Abera ETH 2:04:24 ABERA 4 Feyisa Lilesa ETH 2:04:52 LILESA 5 Abel Kirui KEN 2:05:04 KIRUI 6 Daniel Wanjiru KEN 2:05:21 WANJIRU 7 Tilahun Regassa ETH 2:05:27 REGASSA 8 Ghirmay Ghebreslassie ERI 2:07:46 GHIRMAY 9 Amanuel Mesel ERI 2:08:17 MESEL 10 Asefa Mengstu ETH 2:08:41 MENGSTU 11 Alphonce Simbu TAN 2:09:19 SIMBU 12 Ayad Lamdassem ESP 2:09:28 LAMDASSEM 13 Javier Guerra ESP 2:09:33 GUERRA 14 Ghebre Kibrom ERI 2:09:36 KIBROM 15 Abdellatif Meftah FRA 2:09:46 MEFTAH 16 Abdelhadi El Hachimi BEL 2:10:35 EL HACHIMI 17 Scott Overall GBR 2:10:55 OVERALL 18 Michael Shelley AUS 2:11:15 SHELLEY 19 Chris Thompson GBR 2:11:19 THOMPSON 20 Jesús España ESP 2:11:58 ESPANA 21 Tsegai Tewelde GBR 2:12:23 TEWELDE 22 Andrew Lemoncello GBR 2:13:40 LEMONCELLO 23 Kevin Seaward IRL 2:14:52 SEAWARD 24 Mick Clohisey IRL 2:15:11 CLOHISEY 25 Tasama Moogas ISR 2:15:29 MOOGAS 26 Matthew Bond GBR 2:15:32 BOND 27 Robbie Simpson GBR 2:15:38 SIMPSON 28 Ian Kimpton GBR 2:15:55 KIMPTON 29 Bouabdellah Tahri FRA 2:16:28 TAHRI 30 Jonny Mellor GBR 2:16:52 MELLOR 31 Andrew Davies GBR 2:16:55 DAVIES 32 Tom Anderson GBR 2:19:52 ANDERSON 33 Jesús Arturo Esparza MEX 2:23:04 ESPARZA 34 Jonathan Hay GBR 2:23:52 HAY 35 Bedan Karoki KEN Debut KAROKI 36 Diego Elizondo ARG Debut ELIZONDO Media Guide

2 Biwott, who won the 2015 New York City Marathon, is likely to be Bekele s main rival as he leads the Kenyan challenge in the absence of two-time champion Kipchoge. Biwott will hope to mark his 31st birthday, which falls just two days before the race, with his first London Marathon victory. He finished runner-up in 2014, fourth in 2015 and second again last year in a personal best of 2:03:51. The leading pair are just two of seven men who have run marathons in under 2:06, while the field contains two marathon world champions, three of the top five finishers from last summer s Olympic Games, and the winners of the Abbott World Marathon Majors races in Tokyo, Berlin, Chicago and New York in As ever, the main contenders come from east Africa with the Ethiopian contingent especially strong. Bekele s compatriots include Rio Olympic silver medallist and 2016 Tokyo Marathon champion Feyisa Lilesa, the 2016 Dubai and Hamburg Marathon champion Tesfaye Abera, and Tilahun Regassa, who is aiming to make the London podium after finishing fifth and sixth in the last two years. Preview: Bekele Tops a Stunning Field Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele tops the list of world class contenders for the men s elite race. Already a triple Olympic champion and double world record holder on the track, Bekele became the world s second fastest marathon runner of all time when he won the 2016 Berlin Marathon last September. He missed the world record by just six seconds when he crossed the line in the German capital in two hours three minutes three seconds after a thrilling battle with former world record holder Wilson Kipsang. It was the fastest marathon in the world in 2016 and broke Haile Gebrselassie s Ethiopian record, sending a powerful message to the selectors who had left him out of Ethiopia s team for the Rio Olympic Games. Now Bekele aims to strike another blow for his country as he seeks to become only the third Ethiopian man ever to win the coveted London Marathon title and the first since two-time winner Tsegaye Kebede in Bekele made his London Marathon debut last April when he ran an impressive race to finish third behind Kenyan duo of Eliud Kipchoge and Stanley Biwott despite not being fully fit. Now regarded as one of the true marathon elites, he will have Kipchoge s course record of 2:03:05 in his sight, and perhaps even Dennis Kimetto s world record of 2:02:57. London is the greatest marathon in the world and I would love to win there, said Bekele. The field is always the best and victory means so much. After finishing third last year, I know what I need to do to win. Biwott will have top class company in fellow Kenyans Abel Kirui and Daniel Wanjiru. The experienced Kirui, who won the world marathon title in 2011 and 2013, returns to London for the first time since 2012 when he was fifth just four months before winning Olympic silver in the same city. After a number of years without a major victory, he was a surprise winner of the 2016 Chicago Marathon last October and will be looking for another strong performance as he seeks selection for Kenya s 2017 World Championship team. Wanjiru will also be one to watch after he lowered his personal best by almost three minutes to win last October s Amsterdam Marathon in 2:05:21. Kirui won t be the only world champion on show as Eritrea s young star Ghirmay Ghebreslassie returns to London after finishing fourth last April in a PB 2:07:46. The 21-year-old became the youngest global marathon champion ever when he won the 2015 world title in Beijing at the age of 19. He enhanced his status as one of the world s best when he claimed the 2016 New York Marathon crown last November after placing fourth at the Rio Games in August. A number of Britain s best will be out in force too seeking a place on the London 2017 World Championship team. Former European 10,000m silver medallist Chris Thompson, London 2012 Olympian Scott Overall and Rio Olympian Tsegai Tewelde are the leading contenders. Thompson was 11th on his debut in London three years ago but could only finish 16th last year when Tewelde, a former Eritrean asylum seeker, was the surprise package. Overall will be hoping to summon the form which saw him finish fifth in Berlin a few years ago. 22 Media Guide 2017

3 KENENISA BEKELE (ETHIOPIA) Born: 13 June 1982 Bekoji Marathon best: 2:03:03 Berlin 2016 London Marathon record: rd 2:06:36 Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: st 2:03:03 Chicago: th 2:05:51 Dubai: dnf; dnf Paris: st- 2:05:04 : None Kenenisa Bekele ran the quickest marathon of 2016 when he won the Berlin Marathon last September in 2:03:03. It made him the second fastest marathon runner of all time (on record-eligible courses) and smashed Haile Gebrselassie s Ethiopian record. The performance sent a message to Ethiopia s selectors who had left him out of the Rio Olympic team after he had finished third in the London Marathon in 2:06:36. Bekele, who said he was just 90% fit, had matched Eliud Kipchoge and Stanley Biwott until the 18th mile. He made his marathon debut in Paris three years ago and despite running alone for much of the race, broke the course record with 2:05:04, the sixth fastest marathon debut at the time and quicker than the firsttime efforts of former world record holders Gebrselassie and Paul Tergat, and 2008 Olympic champion Sammy Wanjiru. His second marathon in Chicago that October provided stiffer opposition and although he finished under 2:06 again, he faded to fourth as Kipchoge led a Kenyan sweep. His ambitious plan to contest three marathons in nine months foundered in January 2015 when he was forced to drop out of the lucrative Dubai Marathon after 30km suffering with hamstring problems. He returned to Dubai this January for an attempt on the world record but tripped at the start and dropped out at half way with sore calves. Before moving to the roads, Bekele was already one of the greatest male distance runners of all time, a winner of three Olympic titles, five World Championship gold medals on the track, and 12 world cross country titles, plus a world indoor gold. He still holds world and Olympic records for both 5000m and 10,000m and is the most successful runner ever at the World Cross Country Championships with six long and five short course titles (plus one junior title). With team and junior medals, plus individual silvers and bronzes, his World Cross medal total stands at 29 (16 of them gold). His four successive World Championship 10,000m titles from 2003 to 2009 matched the winning streak of his hero and mentor Gebrselassie, and in 2009 he became the first man to win both 5000m and 10,000m at the World Championships. BEKELE In 2008 he became the sixth man in history to win the 5000m/10,000m double at the same Olympic Games. When he won the 3000m at the 2006 World Indoor Championships he became the first man to be Olympic, world outdoor, world indoor and world cross country champion at the same time. He first moved up to the roads in 2013, winning the Great North Run in comprehensive style from Mo Farah and Gebrselassie in 60:09. Renowned for his sprint finish, he was recorded running a second last lap of a 10,000m in 2003, including a 200m segment of 24s and a 100m of 12s. Bekele was born the second of six children in Bekoji, the same town which produced the record-breaking Dibaba sisters, Ejegayehu, Tirunesh and Genzebe, and their aunt, the double Olympic 10,000m champion, Derartu Tulu, plus Olympic marathon champions Gezahegne Abera and Tiki Gelana. He started running in primary school, inspired by Tulu and Gebrselassie. His younger brother Tariku Bekele is also a world class distance runner who beat him to claim the bronze medal in the 10,000m final at the London 2012 Olympics. Tragedy struck Bekele on 4 January 2005 when his fiancée, 18-year-old Alem Techale, a world youth 1500m champion, died of an apparent heart attack while out on a training run with him. He married Ethiopian film actress Danawit Gebregziabher on 18 November In 2012, Bekele built a six-lane all-weather track in Sululta, a town 25 minutes from Addis Ababa. He also built two hotels nearby for visiting athletes to stay in. The track has a softer surface than the notoriously hard circuit at the national stadium in Addis. Bekele s manager Jos Hermens once said: He is not Jesus Christ because he can t walk on water. But on land, no one can beat Kenenisa Bekele. Media Guide

4 TESFAYE ABERA (ETHIOPIA) Born: 31 March 1992 Marathon best: 2:04:24 Dubai 2016 London Marathon record: None Dubai: st 2:04:24 Hamburg: th 2:10:49, st 2:06:58 Hengshui: nd 2:10:00 Mumbai: st 2:09:46 Olympics: dnf In two short years, Tesfaye Abera has emerged from obscurity to add his name to the raft of Ethiopian marathon runners challenging for major honours around the world. ABERA He won his debut marathon in Mumbai in January 2015 and barely 12 months later joined the all-time top 10 by winning the lucrative Dubai Marathon in 2:04:24. It was quite a performance for he lowered his personal best by a yawning five minutes and missed the course record by one second having come from behind to outsprint defending champion Lemi Berhanu Hayle at the finish. That time now places him at number 11 on the marathon all-time list, fourth among Ethiopians. Just three months later Abera added the Hamburg Marathon title to his name and last August took his place on the start line at the Olympics. Not bad for an athlete who six years ago was running relay legs for his country at the African Junior Championships. Unfortunately, the warm and wet conditions in Rio didn t suit Abera and he dropped out of the Olympic race. It was the first time in six marathons that he has failed to finish. Abera began his road running career in 2011 running 10km in Utrecht. He ran his first half marathon in 2012, finishing third in Nice in 60:32, which remains his personal best. After winning his marathon debut in 2015 he placed eighth in Hamburg and second in Hengshui later that year. He followed up his victory in Dubai in January 2016 with another win in Hamburg three months later, clocking 2:06:58 despite high winds. He was fifth at the Egmond aan Zee half marathon in the Netherlands on 8 January this year in 64:53, his first race since Rio. He previously represented Ethiopia at the 2013 and 2015 World Cross Country Championships, finishing 14th and 26th respectively. 24 Media Guide 2017

5 FEYISA LILESA (ETHIOPIA) Born: 1 February 1990 Shewa Marathon best: 2:04:52 Chicago 2012 London Marathon record: th 2:08:20, th 2:07:46, th 2:08:26 Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: rd 2:06:57 Chicago: rd 2:08:10, nd 2:04:52, dnf Tokyo: st 2:06:56 Dubai: th 2:06:35 Dublin: st 2:09:12 Frankfurt: dnf Honolulu: th 2:15:57 Rotterdam: th 2:05:23, th 2:11:42, th 2:09:55 Xiamen: st 2:08:47 Olympics: nd 2:09:54 Worlds: rd 2:10:32, dnf Feyisa Lilesa enjoyed his most successful year in 2016 when he won his first Abbott World Marathon Majors event, in Tokyo last February, and went on to claim the Olympic silver medal in August behind Eliud Kipchoge. It wasn t Lilesa s performance that attracted most attention in Rio, however, but his two-fisted, cross-arm gesture on the Finish Line, a sign of solidarity with the Oromo people that led to his subsequent exile in the United States for fear of retribution in his homeland. A teenage prodigy who broke 2:06 at the age of 19, Lilesa became the youngest marathon medallist in the history of the World Championships when he finished third in Daegu in 2011 at just 21, a feat since surpassed by Eritrea s Ghirmay Ghebreslassie in He won his debut marathon in Dublin in 2009 and confirmed his emerging talent at the beginning of 2010 when he won the Xiamen Marathon in China in 2:08:47, knocking four seconds off the course record. He was still 19. Three months later he became the youngest man in history to break 2:06 (a distinction later surpassed) when he clocked 2:05:23 in the 2010 Rotterdam Marathon just 10 weeks past his 20th birthday. He ran with a large group that went through half way in 62:06 and tried to break away with 10km to go before eventually yielding to a trio of more experienced Kenyans. In Chicago that October he again contested top spot, this time racing Sammy Wanjiru and Tsegaye Kebede. He eventually finished third in 2:08:10. He returned to Rotterdam in 2011 but couldn t match his performance from 12 months earlier as he finished seventh in his slowest finishing time to date. LILESA He returned to form in Daegu, however, where he was the only non-kenyan to make the podium in either marathon. He went on to place fourth in the Nice to Cannes marathon in November 2011, but could only finish 10th (now ninth) on his London debut in In Chicago that October he chased Kebede to the line, finishing second in 2:04:52, still his personal best. He made the Ethiopian World Championship team again in 2013 after finishing fourth in London in 2:07:46 just behind compatriot Ayele Abshero. He couldn t repeat his Daegu performance in Moscow, however, as he failed to finish. He dropped out of the wet and windy Frankfurt Marathon that October too, and was a non-finisher in Chicago the following autumn after placing ninth again in London in April 2014, his last appearance here. He was back on the podium in Berlin the following September after placing fourth in Dubai and fifth in Rotterdam earlier that year. A late dash to the line finally secured his first WMM win in Tokyo last February when he defeated long-time leader Dickson Chumba. Lilesa set his half marathon PB of 59:22 in Houston in January 2012 and was second in the same race this January in 61:14. He won the New York half in March in 60:04. His full name is Feyisa Lilesa Gemechu. He was born the son of farmers in the Shewa region of Ethiopia and is a member of the Oromo people. He is married with a fiveyear-old son and three-year-old daughter. His Rio gesture was made in solidarity with protesters against the relocation of the Oromo people from land around the capital, Addis Ababa. He has since been living in USA citing fear for his life if he returns to Ethiopia. He was re-united with his family in Miami in February. Media Guide

6 ABEL KIRUI (KENYA) Born: 4 June 1982 Bornet, Rift Valley Marathon best: 2:05:04 Rotterdam 2009 London Marathon record: th 2:08:04, dnf, th 2:07:56 Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 2:17:47, nd 2:06:51 Chicago: st 2:11:23 New York: dnf, th 2:13:01 Tokyo: th 2:09:04, th 2:08:06 Amsterdam: th 2:09:45, th 2:10:55 Rotterdam: rd 2:05:04 Singapore: rd 2:15:22 Tokyo: dnf Vienna: rd 2:10:41, st 2:07:38 Olympics: nd 2:08:27 Worlds: st 2:06:54, st 2:07:38 The two-time world champion and 2012 Olympic silver medallist, Abel Kirui, returns to London for the first time in five years following his surprise victory at the Chicago Marathon last October, his first major marathon win for half a decade. He had hinted at a return to form when placing fifth in Tokyo last February and in Chicago he outkicked defending champion Dickson Chumba to win by three seconds. Kirui became the third man to retain the world marathon title with his victory in Daegu six years ago, a dominant performance that left his nearest rival nearly two and a half minutes behind, the widest margin in World Championships history. He ran away from the field with an astonishing 14:17 from 25km to 30km. The Kenyan had dropped out in the later stages of the 2011 London race, but his victory in Daegu secured his place on Kenya s 2012 Olympic team. After placing fifth at that year s London Marathon he won an Olympic silver in the British capital where he was beaten by Uganda s Stephen Kiprotich. Until Chicago 2016, that was the last time he appeared on a marathon podium. Kirui started his first marathon as a pacemaker for Haile Gebrselassie in Berlin in He completed his pacing duties then kept going, clocking 2:17:47. Ten weeks later, running under challenging heat and humidity in Singapore, he took more than two minutes off that time. He made an even bigger improvement in Vienna in April 2007 when he was third, and he was back in Berlin that September pacing Gebrselassie to his first world marathon record. Taking advantage of ideal running conditions and the fast course, he finished second to the Ethiopian and smashed his PB by almost four minutes with 2:06:51. KIRUI Pacing Gebrselassie in Berlin again that September, he sped through 30km in 1:28:25, a couple of seconds ahead of the world record holder who went on to run the first ever sub-2:04 marathon. Kirui s own breakthrough came the following spring in Rotterdam when he clocked 2:05:04 finishing third behind Duncan Kibet and James Kwambai. Still his PB, that time was then the sixth fastest ever. He returned to Berlin that August as the fastest entrant in the 2009 World Championships. He was in control throughout, passed half way in 63:03 and pulled away from his Kenyan teammate Emmanuel Mutai with 5km left to break the tape in 2:06:54, a championship record by 97 seconds. He has never placed higher than fifth at the London Marathon and dropped out in 2011 just five months before his second world title. His half marathon PB of 60:11 was set in Rotterdam in He ran 61:30 to place fourth in the Barcelona half marathon this February. A child of the Rift Valley, Kirui did not have to look far for inspiration. His uncle, Mike Rotich, has a marathon best of 2:06:33 (2003), although Kirui claims his family s running history goes back to his great grandfather who used to chase an antelope and catch it. He started running seriously after he won a race he d entered as part of a police recruitment exercise. He eventually moved to Kapsabet and began professional racing in Poland. After pacing Gebrselassie in Dubai in January 2008, he dropped out of the Tokyo Marathon that February, but won in Vienna two months later when he set a course record. 26 Media Guide 2017

7 DANIEL WANJIRU (KENYA) Born: 25 May 1992 Marathon best: 2:05:21 Amsterdam 2016 London Marathon record: None Amsterdam: st 2:05:21 Frankfurt: th 2:08:18 Prague: th 2:09:25 : None Daniel Wanjiru lived up to the promise of his famous surname when he shocked the field to win last October s Amsterdam Marathon in 2:05:21, breaking the course record and taking almost three minutes from his personal best. WANJIRU The largely unknown 24-year-old may not be related to his late namesake, Sammy, but his performance was worthy of the late 2008 Olympic gold medallist and 2009 London Marathon champion who died so tragically young in Twice a winner of the prestigious Prague half marathon, Wanjiru was nevertheless an outsider for the Amsterdam title in a line-up that included defending champion Bernard Kipyego, sub-2:05 man Sammy Kitwara and course record holder Wilson Chebet. But it was Wanjiru who had the strength at the end to overhaul Kitwara and lead eight men under 2:07. Wanjiru made his debut in Frankfurt in 2014, when he was seventh in 2:08:18, but seemed certain to improve on that in Amsterdam having set PBs at 5000m, 10,000m, 10km and half marathon earlier in 2016, clocking 27:43 and 59:20 in the latter two disciplines, both in the Czech capital. Wanjiru ran that half marathon time when retaining the Prague title last April. He ran his first half marathon in 2010 and has an impressive record at the distance with five international victories and three sub-60 minute times. He was second in the Ra s Al Khaymah half in 2015 but could only finish 12th there this February when he clocked 62:16. His full name is Daniel Kinyua Wanjiru. He lives and trains in Embu in Kenya s Eastern Province on the south eastern slopes of Mount Kenya. He is managed by Volare Sports in the Netherlands where he has done much of his racing. Media Guide

8 TILAHUN REGASSA (ETHIOPIA) Born: 18 January 1990 Nazret Marathon best: 2:05:27 Chicago 2012 London Marathon record: th 2:07:16, th 2:09:47 Other World Marathon Majors Boston: dnf Chicago: rd 2:05:27 Dubai: th 2:08:11 Eindhoven: st 2:06:21 Rotterdam: st 2:05:38 Xiamen: nd 2:06:54 : None Tilahun Regassa made a spectacular marathon debut when he finished third at the 2012 Chicago Marathon in 2:05:27, then the third fastest debut on a standard course. He completed an Ethiopian clean sweep led by two-time London Marathon winner Tsegaye Kebede. Regassa was familiar with most of the Chicago course for he had been a pacemaker the previous year, when he passed 30km in 1:29:25 (at 2:06 marathon pace). He followed his debut with two prestigious European wins, first at the 2013 Rotterdam Marathon when he triumphed by more than a minute and finished just 11 seconds outside his PB, and then in October in Eindhoven, having failed to finish the 2014 Boston Marathon that April. He was second in the Xiamen Marathon in January 2015 behind Moses Mosop before finishing fifth on his London debut behind four Kenyans, the first time he d completed a marathon outside 2:07 and the first time he d failed to make the podium. REGASSA His full name is Tilahun Regassa Dabe. Regassa s parents divorced when he was three and he was raised by his father until he was 15, when his father died. He worked for a stone company and lived on the streets for three years, relying on food handouts. At 16, he entered the Great Ethiopian Run and came fourth. A year later he was ninth. Local coaches told an elite manager, Hussein Makke, of his potential and Makke took him into his stable of runners to train fulltime. He began competing in Europe in Regassa was once described by his manager as one of the most talented athletes in the world, but also as a wild man, in every meaning of the word. His attempts to make Ethiopia s Rio Olympic team were thwarted last year when he could only finish eighth in Dubai and sixth in London. Regassa is also a sub-one hour half-marathon runner with a best of 59:19 from his victory in the 2010 Zayed International in Abu Dhabi, worth US$300,000. He ran for Ethiopia at the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham, finishing 11th in 62:08 and winning a team bronze. He set four PBs in 2012 including 27:18.90 for 10,000m when he was sixth in Hengelo and 43:01 for 15km, his winning time in the Boilermaker road race in New York State. 28 Media Guide 2017

9 GHIRMAY GHEBRESLASSIE (ERITREA) Born: 14 November 1995 Kisadeka Marathon best: 2:07:46 London 2016 London Marathon record: th 2:07:46 Other World Marathon Majors Chicago: th 2:09:08 New York: st 2:07:51 Dubai: dnf Hamburg: nd 2:07:47 Olympics: th 2:11:04 Worlds: st 2:12:28 Ghirmay Ghebreslassie was just 19 when he became world marathon champion in Beijing two years ago, shocking the world as he claimed a place in the history books as the youngest marathon gold medallist ever. He was also the first Eritrean to win a World Championships title, joining his illustrious compatriot Zersenay Tadese, the ,000m silver medallist, as only the second athlete from his country to win a medal of any colour. He won his place on the Eritrean team just four months earlier when he was second in Hamburg in 2:07:47 having made his debut in Chicago the previous October. He started the Chicago race as a pacemaker, originally intending to run to 25km as a learning experience. He decided to finish the race and placed sixth in 2:09:08. That audacious attitude has since carried him, not only to the world title, but to fourth in London last year, when he lowered his best by a second, and again in Rio where he missed an Olympic medal by less than a minute. Undaunted by getting so close to glory, he went on to New York and dismissed a top-class field to become the first Eritrean to win the prestigious race. Ghebreslassie started running at school encouraged (against his parents wishes) by a PE teacher, and won 3000m gold and 5000m silver at a schools event. He first competed overseas in 2012, placing ninth in the junior race at the African Cross Country Championships and clocking 28:33.37 for 10,000m at the FBK Games in Hengelo. The following year he was seventh at the 2013 World Junior Cross Country Championships in Poland but injuries persuaded him to give up on track training and prepare for the roads, a switch encouraged by victory on his half marathon debut in Paderborn in 60:09. Despite a bout of sickness during training, Ghebreslassie was just one second slower than that personal best at the 2014 World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen where he was seventh, helping Eritrea to take team gold. The one blip in his progress to the world title came at the 2015 Dubai Marathon when he dropped out after 25km having missed 11 days training with right leg pain. GHIRMAY After placing second in Hamburg in April 2015 he increased his training runs to prepare for Beijing where he coped with the heat and humidity of the Chinese capital better than any of his rivals, including Kenya s world record holder Dennis Kimetto and former world record holder Wilson Kipsang who both withered in the blistering morning sun. Ghebreslassie made his winning bid with 3km left to push clear of Ethiopia s Yemane Tsegay. It was difficult, he said afterwards. But we Eritreans never give up until the finish line. He displayed the same attitude in New York last November when he won by more than a minute and finished just five seconds outside his PB. He was third in the Egmond aan Zee half marathon on 8 January this year in 62:43. Born into a rural farming community in the village of Kisadeka around 115km south of the capital, Asmara Ghebreslassie started running 7km to and from school when he heard that distance greats such as Tadese and Haile Gebrselassie had built their endurance that way. Encouraged by a PE teacher, he first ran competitively in 2009, defying his parents who wanted him to stick to academic pursuits. My parents wanted me to be a great university student, but I wanted to become a good athlete, he said. When they saw that I had the potential to become a good runner, they started supporting me. He is coached now by Dutchman Veron Lust and managed by Jos Hermens, who once guided his near namesake Haile Gebrselassie to world and Olympic honours. A huge football fan, Ghebreslassie has been supporting Manchester United since Cristiano Ronaldo played for the club. Media Guide

10 AMANUEL MESEL (ERITREA) Born: 29 December 1990 Asmara Marathon best: 2:08:17 Valencia 2013 London Marathon record: dnf, dnf Fukuoka: dnf, th 2:10:48 Prague: th 2:11:51 Valencia: nd 2:08:17, th 2:10:54 Warsaw: th 2:08:18 Olympics: st 2:14:37 Worlds: th 2:15:07 Amanuel Mesel returns to the London Marathon hoping to improve on his two previous performances in the British capital when he has dropped out. MESEL A former Eritrean junior record holder at 5000m, Mesel was 16th in the junior race at the 2007 World Cross Country Championships and moved up to ninth the following year. He made his senior debut for Eritrea in 2007 when he was 11th in the African Games 5000m. Then in 2010 he placed 13th at the World Half Marathon Championships and eighth in the 5000m at the African Championships. He ran 5000m at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, placing 11th but was knocked out in the heats of the 2012 Olympics. He ran his first marathons in 2013, finishing sixth in Prague and second in Valencia where he clocked his personal best. He returned to the Spanish city in 2014 when he placed fifth. Fourth place in Warsaw in April 2015, just one second outside his PB, was enough to win selection for the World Championships. He was ninth in Beijing that August as his compatriot Ghirmay Ghebreslassie took an unexpected gold. Despite not finishing in Fukuoka in December 2015 and London last April, he was still selected for the Rio Olympics where he placed 21st in 2:14:37. He returned to Fukuoka last December and finished fifth. Mesel s half marathon best of 60:10 stems from Prague in 2013 when he was second, outsprinted at the end by teammate Zersenay Tadese, the world record holder. Both were given the same time. He has the same coach as world record holder Tadese, the Spaniard, Jeronimo Bravo. 30 Media Guide 2017

11 ASEFA MENGSTU (ETHIOPIA) Born: 18 January 1985 Marathon best: 2:08:41 Cape Town 2016 London Marathon record: None Bloemfontein: st 2:11:16 Cape Town: st 2:08:41 Valencia: th 2:19:40 : None Asefa Mengstu took two and a half minutes from his personal best to win the Cape Town Marathon in September last year in 2:08:41. It was not only a course record and South African all-comers record but the fastest ever marathon in sub-saharan Africa. MENGSTU David Tsebe s 2:09:50 in Port Elizabeth was the previous best on South African soil back in All three medallists in Cape Town beat that time, with Emmanuel Tirop and Barnabas Kiptum following Mengstu home. He has improved by 11 minutes in less than two years since his marathon debut in Valencia in November His win in Cape Town was his second victory in South Africa in He also won the Bloemfontein Marathon in April in 2:11:16. Mengstu finished 15th for Ethiopia at the 2010 World Half Marathon Championships. His half marathon best of 61:36 was set in Valencia in He matched that time in July last year when he was third in Port Elizabeth. He has a 10km PB of 28:41 from His full name is Asefa Mengstu Negewo. Media Guide

12 ALPHONCE SIMBU (TANZANIA) Born: 14 February 1992 Marathon best: 2:09:19 Otsu 2016 London Marathon record: None Gold Coast: th 2:12:01 Hofu: th 2:14:15 Mumbai: st 2:09:32 Otsu: rd 2:09:19 Olympics: th 2:11:15 Worlds: th 2:16:58 Alphonce Felix Simbu came close to ending a 36-year Olympic medal drought for his country when he finished fifth in the marathon at the Rio Games last August. SIMBU Tanzania s last Olympic athletics medals came at the 1980 Games in Moscow when Filbert Bayi in the steeplechase and Suleiman Nyambui in the 5000m took silver on the track. Simbu ran with the lead pack in Rio until the 35km point where gold medallist Eliud Kipchoge broke clear. He kept going to place fifth in 2:11:15, just 70 seconds behind bronze medallist Galen Rupp. He set his personal best of 2:09:19 finishing third at the Lake Biwa Marathon in Otsu, Japan, last March and went on to run a half marathon PB in New Delhi in November when he was seventh in 61:59. He returned to India on 15 January this year and won the Mumbai Marathon in 2:09:32, beating 10 Kenyans and Ethiopians to the title. He made his marathon debut in Australia two years ago when he was sixth in the Gold Coast Marathon in 2:12:01, good enough to win a place at that summer s World Championships in Beijing where he was 12th. He placed seventh in Hofu that December before achieving his first podium finish in Japan last March. He has also represented Tanzania on the track, running 10,000m at the 2011 All Africa Games where he was eighth. He was 48th at the 2015 World Cross Country Championships. His 10km PB is 29:42 from Brasilia in His full name is Alphonce Felix Simbu. He comes from the Singida region in Tanzania. After his performance in the marathon he was made the flag bearer for Tanzania at the Closing Ceremony in Rio. 32 Media Guide 2017

13 AYAD LAMDASSEM (SPAIN) Born: 11 October 1981 Morocco Marathon best: 2:09:28 London 2013 London Marathon record: th 2:09:28 Fukuoka: th 2:12:31 Otsu: nd 2:14:39 Worlds: dnf The experienced Spanish international Ayad Lamdassem set his marathon best when finishing ninth at the London Marathon four years ago. The former Moroccan, who ran 10,000m for Spain at the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, made his marathon debut in 2012 when he was 22nd in Lake Biwa in 2:14:39. He improved dramatically in London a year later but dropped out of the World Championship marathon in Moscow that summer. He returned to Japan for his third marathon of 2013 and placed eighth in Fukuoka. Lamdassem was the IberoAmerican 5000m champion in 2010 when he also finished fourth over 10,000m at the European Championships in Barcelona, a race he led early on, and won a silver medal at the European Cross Country Championships. He won European cross silver again in 2011 and was seventh in last December s edition in Chia. LAMDASSEM Born in Morocco, Lamdassem gained Spanish citizenship in May He arrived in Spain as part of the Moroccan team for the 2002 World University Games Cross Country Championships in Santiago de Compostela. He did not compete and left the team to join other Moroccan runners in exile in Valencia. He later moved to Lleida to work with coach Antonio Canovas. At global level he was 24th in the 10,000m at the 2008 Olympic Games, and 23rd in London four years later. He also ran 10,000m at the Berlin World Championships in He finished in the top 20 at the World Half Marathon Championships in 2014 and 2016, and was 12th in the half marathon at the 2016 European Championships in Amsterdam. His half marathon best of 61:22 was set at the World Half in Copenhagen three years ago. He won the Spanish half marathon title in 2013 and No stranger to the UK, he was second at the Great South Run in 2012 and set his 10km PB of 28:09 when finishing runner-up to Haile Gebrselassie at the Great Manchester Run in May Media Guide

14 JAVIER GUERRA (SPAIN) Born: 10 November 1983 Marathon best: 2:09:33 London 2015 London Marathon record: th 2:09:33 Other World Marathon Majors Tokyo: th 2:11:01 La Coruña: st 2:12:21 Worlds: th 2:14:33, th 2:17:00 Europeans: th 2:12:32 Javier Guerra ran his quickest time when he was seventh on his London Marathon debut two years ago in 2:09:33, lowering his PB by nearly three minutes. He had missed a medal by just 17 seconds at the European Championships in Zürich the previous summer, finishing fourth on the hilly course in 2:12:32. GUERRA He won his marathon debut in La Coruña in 2013 to secure a place at that year s World Championships. He performed well in difficult conditions in Moscow to place 15th in 2:14:33, the first European finisher. He ran for Spain again at the 2014 World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen, setting a PB of 62:27 in 38th, a time he reduced by five seconds in Santa Pola last January. He took another few seconds off when he was fourth at this year s Grannollers half marathon in 62:14 on 5 February. He was well down the field at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing but achieved a second top 10 place at the 2016 Tokyo Marathon last February. Guerra first pulled on a Spanish vest as a junior in 2001 when he finished ninth at the European Cross Country Championships. He also ran 5000m at the 2002 World Junior Championships. As a senior he has represented Spain at seven European Cross Country Championships, finishing fifth in 2011, and at the 2010 World Cross. On the track, he twice made the 5000m final at the World University Games, finishing seventh in 2009 and has PBs at 5000m of 13:46.12 (2007) and 10,000m of 28:53.03 (2009). 34 Media Guide 2017

15 GHEBRE KIBROM (ERITREA) Born: 1 February 1987 Marathon best: 2:09:36 London 2015 London Marathon record: th 2:09:36, th 2:11:56 Cologne: th 2:11:56 Hengshui: th 2:10:00 Milan: rd 2:11:12 Sydney: th 2:13:49 Valencia: th 2:10:38 : None Ghebre Kibrom has produced seven top 10 finishes in his seven marathons so far, most successfully when third in Milan in 2014 behind Kenyans Francis Kiprop and Stephen Tum. KIBROM His time of 2:11:12 improved his personal best from his debut in Cologne the previous October and he lowered it still further in his third outing in Hengshui, China, in September He clocked 2:10:00 to finish fifth in a race won by Ethiopian Markos Geneti. He shaved another 24 seconds from that PB on his London debut in 2015 when he was eighth in 2:09:36, the first Eritrean across the line. Another top 10 finish followed in Sydney that September in his slowest time so far. He was 10th in London last year just behind world record holder Dennis Kimetto, and went on to place fifth at the Valencia Marathon last November. His full name is Ghebrezgiabhier Weldemicael Kibrom, sometimes listed as Kibrom Ghebrezgiabhier. Media Guide

16 ABDELLATIF MEFTAH (FRANCE) Born: 3 January 1982 Bouchane, Morocco Marathon best: 2:09:46 Frankfurt 2011 London Marathon record: None Frankfurt: th 2:09:46, th 2:11:05 Paris: th 2:10:52, th 2:12:25, th 2:11:11 Olympics: dnf Europeans: th 2:13:16 A London 2012 Olympian who finished sixth at the European Championships in 2014, Abdellatif Meftah will make his World Marathon Majors debut in London two years since running his last marathon. MEFTAH That was in Paris in April 2015 where he clocked 2:11:11 to finish 11th, the first European across the line. He made his marathon debut in the French capital in 2011, placing 10th in 2:10:52, and improved to 2:09:46 in Frankfurt that October, which remains his best. He dropped out of the Olympic marathon in London the following summer and returned to both Paris and Frankfurt in 2013, but didn t improve in either race. He was the leading Frenchman in the testing 2014 European Championships marathon in Zürich. Meftah, then called Musabeker Marda, won the Pan Arab Games half marathon title for Morocco in 2004 four years before he switched to France. He was 54th for France at the 2014 World Half Marathon Championships and has represented his adopted country at six European and one World Cross Country Championship. He was fourth at the Europeans in He broke the French half marathon record when he was fifth in Lille in 2010 in 60:46, which is still his PB. He was 10th for France over 10,000m at the 2010 European Championships. He was second in the Nice 10km this year in 29:18. Born in Morocco as Musabeker Marda, Meftah became a French national in July Media Guide 2017

17 ABDELHADI EL HACHIMI (BELGIUM) Born: 15 December 1974 Morocco Marathon best: 2:10:35 Gold Coast 2016 London Marathon record: None Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 2:12:45 Amsterdam: th 2:15:11, th 2:11:30 Antwerp: st 2:12:54 Carpi: th 2:20:52 Düsseldorf: nd 2:13:46 Eindhoven: th 2:11:53, th 2:13:45, th 2:15:13 Florence: :15:08, th 2:16:17 Gold Coast: rd 2:10:35 Grottazzolina: st 2:20:48 Hamburg: th 2:13:10 Hannover: th 2:14:14 Latina: th 2:18:39 Livorno: th 2:23:55 Luxembourg: rd 2:27:23 Marengo: st 2:25:06 Milan: th 2:14:35 Padua: :17:32, th 2:16:26 Palermo: st 2:15:26 Valencia: th 2:14:02 Worlds: th 2:17:41 Europeans: th 2:16:35 With some 26 marathons behind him, the 42-yearold Abdelhadi El Hachimi can count himself the most experienced man in the elite men s field. EL HACHIMI On the track he has won the Belgian 10,000m title for the last four years, and took the 5000m/10,000m double at the Belgian Championships in 2013 and The Moroccan-born El Hachimi became a Belgian citizen in May He runs for the Sambre et Meuse Athlétique Club. At 42, he is the oldest man in the elite field. Born in Morocco, he ran his first marathon in December 2005 in Latina seven years before he took Belgian citizenship, and his most recent in July last year when he improved his five-year-old personal best to 2:10:35 finishing third at the Gold Coast Marathon in Australia. In between he has won marathons in Grottazzolina, Palermo, Marengo and Antwerp, while he has finished in the top 10 in Florence, Milan, Carpi, Eindhoven, Valencia and Hamburg, among other cities. In 2007 he ran five marathons in one calendar year, winning two and finishing no lower than ninth. His one previous World Marathon Majors race was in Berlin in 2014 when he was 12th. He has run marathons for Belgium at two international championships, placing 14th at the 2014 Europeans in Zürich and 16th at the 2015 Worlds in Beijing. He also ran at the 2013 and 2014 European Cross Country Championships, winning team silver with Belgium in El Hachimi improved his half marathon best last year to 63:49 at the City Pier City race in The Hague. His 10km best of 28:51 was set in Media Guide

18 SCOTT OVERALL (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) Born: 9 February 1983 Hammersmith, London Marathon best: 2:10:55 Berlin 2011 London Marathon record: pace, dnf, th 2:19:55, th 2:13:13, dnf Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 2:10:55, dnf, th 2:13:00, th 2:11:24 Chicago: th 2:18:21 Fukuoka: th 2:14:15 Olympics: st 2:22:37 Scott Overall became the first British man to qualify for the London 2012 Olympic athletics team when he ran 2:10:55 to finish fifth on his marathon debut in Berlin in 2011, and he was first to achieve the qualifyfing time for the Rio Olympics too when he finished 10th in the 2015 Berlin race in 2:11:24. But the Londoner missed out on Rio selection when he dropped out of the London Marathon last April, failing to match his performance from 2015 when he was first Briton across the Finish Line on The Mall, 13th overall. Overall warmed up for the 2012 Olympics by winning the Silverstone Half Marathon in March 2012, finishing eighth at the New York City half marathon in a PB of 61:25, then by pacemaking British runners at the 2012 London Marathon. He finished third at the Bupa London 10,000 that May, two places behind Mo Farah and was 61st in the Olympic race in 2:22:37. He ended the year placing 13th at the Fukuoka Marathon in 2:14:15 to rank third in the UK. He was seventh in the 2013 New Orleans half marathon in 64:51, and won the Silverstone half again in March that year in 65:43, looking in good shape for his London Marathon debut that April. But it turned out to be a race to forget as he dropped out around 25km troubled by a knee injury. He returned to the Berlin Marathon that September but again struck bad luck when he tore his calf half way into the race. The 2014 London Marathon was also a frustrating experience. Overall set off with high hopes of a quick time after what he described as near enough perfect training with Chris Thompson in Colorado Springs. But he finished 19th, suffering a slow death over the last seven to eight miles, and ended with a time just inside 2:20. Things improved slightly when he placed 14th in Berlin that September in 2:13:00, then his second quickest time and good enough to rank third in Britain for the year behind Mo Farah and Thompson. OVERALL Skipping the World Championships in Beijing, he carried that form on to Berlin at the end of September where he put himself in prime position for Rio selection. But Overall s Olympic hopes were dashed when he dropped out of last year s London Marathon after 25km, already trailing four other Britons. He was ninth at last September s Great North Run and returned to the full distance in Chicago a month later when he was 13th in 2:18:21. Overall was the national 5000m champion on the track in 2009 and represented Britain at European indoor and cross country championships. He was sixth in the 2005 European under m and has a best at the distance of 13: He set his 10,000m track PB in September 2014 when he ran 29: He has run three races this year, finishing second in all of them: the Hamilton 10km on 14 January in 30:19, the Hamilton half marathon a day later in 67:05, and the Chertsey half on 26 February in 66:25. Born in Hammersmith, London, Overall began running during physical education lessons at school. A member of Blackheath & Bromley Athletic Club, he attended Leicester University then Butler University in Indianapolis, USA, where he studied economics, before joining Team Indiana Elite in Bloomington where he hooked up with coach Robert Chapman. He is now based in Sutton, Surrey, and is coached by Alan Storey. He was just 13 seconds slower in London the following year when he was 13th, the first Briton home in 2:13: Media Guide 2017

19 MICHAEL SHELLEY (AUSTRALIA) Born: 10 October 1983 Marathon best: 2:11:15 Commonwealths 2014 London Marathon record: th 2:11:38, th 2:11:19 Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 2:12:20 Chicago: th 2:13:09 Amsterdam: th 2:11:23 Oita: th 2:13:12 Rotterdam: th 2:13:05 Olympics: th 2:14:10, th 2:18:06 Commonwealths: nd 2:15:28, st 2:11:15 Michael Shelley became the first non-african winner of the Commonwealth Games men s marathon for two decades when he triumphed in Glasgow s pouring rain three years ago. The 30-year-old from Southport in Queensland pulled clear of Kenya s Stephen Chemlany two miles from the finish to win by 43 seconds in 2:11:15 before being embraced by Steve Moneghetti, the Australian marathon legend and 2014 chef de mission who was the last man from outside Africa to strike Commonwealth gold in The victory was the climax of a remarkable five-year turn-around for Shelley who almost quit the sport in 2009 after he suffered a stress fracture to his pelvis and lost funding from the Australian Institute of Sport. That would have been a sad end for the promising distance runner who made his international debut as a steeplechaser at the 2002 World Junior Championships, represented Australia at four World Cross Country Championships and finished 16th at the 2008 World Half Marathon Championships. With the encouragement of his coach, Dick Trelford, Shelley persevered, and his step up to the marathon in 2010 was an inspired move, bringing swift and unexpected success. After running 2:13:05 on his debut in Rotterdam that April, Shelley was selected for the 2010 Commonwealth Games where his pre-race aim was merely to complete the 42km in Delhi s harsh conditions. Yet the relatively slow pace worked to his advantage. After lying eighth at halfway, he finished strongly and overhauled Kenyan Amos Tirop Matui in the last 3km to take the silver medal, 53 seconds behind John Kelai in 2:15:28. Being able to finish would have been an amazing result it s my first Commonwealth Games and my first multisport Games, he said afterwards. It was a learning experience and we ll see what happens next. SHELLEY He improved that by 15 seconds in Amsterdam that autumn, and then finished 16th at the London 2012 Olympics, one place ahead of Emmanuel Mutai. He qualified for Glasgow by running 2:13:09 to place 12th at the 2013 Chicago Marathon, won by Dennis Kimetto in 2:03:45. In Glasgow he timed his effort to perfection, producing his best time when it mattered most. He was just four seconds slower in London the following April when he placed 12th in 2:11:19. He was 12th again in Berlin that September and pulled on the Australian vest for the Cardiff World Half Marathon Championships last March, when he was 20th, and for the Rio Olympics, where he was 47th. Shelley s half marathon PB of 61:27 was set when finishing 10th in the 2012 New York half marathon. He has a 10km PB of 28:44, also from On the track his 10,000m best is 27:59.77 and he s run 13:38.30 for 5000m, both in He won the Sydney half for the second time last May. Coached by Dick Trelford, Shelley trains in hot and humid conditions on the Gold Coast. He was introduced to running at primary school sports carnivals, then attended the Helensvale State High School which also produced Olympic sprint hurdles gold medallist, Sally Pearson, and tennis player, Sam Stosur, a US Open winner. The school named its sports house after Shelley in November last year. What happened next was Shelley received an invitation to run the London Marathon in 2011 and he finished a creditable 10th in 2:11:38. Media Guide

20 CHRIS THOMPSON (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) Born: 17 April 1981 Barrow-in-Furness Marathon best: 2:11:19 London 2014 London Marathon record: th 2:11:19, th 2:15:05 : None : None The 2010 European 10,000m silver medallist made his marathon debut in London in 2014 when he was 11th in 2:11:19, the second Briton home behind his long time friend and training partner Mo Farah. He was hoping to repeat that performance in 2016 to win an Olympic place but finished behind the Hawkins brothers, Callum and Derek, and Tsegai Tewelde, in 2:15:05. Thompson has been an international runner since 1998 when he went out in his 3000m steeplechase heat at the World Junior Championships. In 1999 he was 12th over 5000m at the European Junior Championships and he also made the final at the World Juniors in He was fifth at the European under 23s in 2001 before winning the under m title in As a senior he ran for Britain in the European Cup in 2004 and 2006, but his finest hour came in 2010 when he won the 10,000m silver medal behind Farah at the European Championships in Barcelona. While Farah won gold with ease, Thompson outbattled the 2006 champion and crowd favourite Jesús España on the final lap to clinch second. He also placed eighth in the 5000m at the Europeans and was a finalist for England in both 5000m and 10,000m at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games. He took on the top Africans in both, finishing fifth in the shorter race, when he was the best placed non-african, and eighth in the 10,000m. THOMPSON Thompson s 10,000m PB of 27:27.36, at Stanford in 2011, is the fourth fastest ever by a Briton. Nicknamed Thommo, he is coached by Alan Storey and trains with Scott Overall. He has suffered badly with injuries over the years. A heel injury ruled him out of the 2011 World Championships in Daegu, and his 2012 season was also interrupted by injury problems. His girlfriend is British middle distance runner Jemma Simpson. He was selected to run 10,000m for Britain at the London 2012 Olympic Games and finished 25th as Farah won the first of his two golds. His aim of running 10,000m at both the 2014 European Championships and the Glasgow Commonwealth Games was thwarted by injury. At cross country Thompson was European junior silver medallist in 2000 and 19th in the senior short race at the World Cross in On the roads he has a 10km PB from 2010 of 28:02 and he was second to Haile Gebrselassie at the Great Manchester Run 10km in Thompson was seventh in the New York half in March 2012 in 61:23 and lowered that PB to 61:00 in September that year when he was sixth at the Great North Run. He was seventh at the Great North Run last September, second at the Birmingham half the following month and lowered his 10 miles PB to 47:23 to win the Great South Run in Portsmouth a week later. 40 Media Guide 2017

21 JESÚS ESPAÑA (SPAIN) Born: 21 August 1978 Valdemoro, Madrid Marathon best: 2:11:58 Seville 2016 London Marathon record: None Seville: th 2:11:58 Olympics: th 2:20:08 The 2006 European 5000m champion Jesús España moved up to the marathon in April last year when he was sixth in Seville in 2:11:58. That was good enough to qualify for the Rio Olympic Games where he was 65th in 2:20:08. ESPANA A hugely experienced track runner, España has enjoyed most success at 5000m, most notably in 2006 when held off Mo Farah down the home straight to win the European title in Gothenburg. The positions were reversed four years later when Farah won two golds in Barcelona leaving España with the 5000m silver. He was IberoAmerican champion at the same distance in 2004 and 14th at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. His best finish from five World Championships was seventh in 2007 in Osaka while he also made the final in Berlin 2009 and Daegu He won three 3000m bronze medals at European Indoor Championships in 2002, 2007 and 2009, and was fourth at the World Indoors in He was Spanish 5000m champion eight times between 2003 and He ran a half marathon best of 63:28 in Santa Pola last January and was 10th in the half marathon at the European Championships last July. He was 10th at this year s Granollers half in 64:45. His 10km best of 28:29 was set in Madrid in His full name is Jesús España Cobo. Media Guide

22 TSEGAI TEWELDE (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) Born: 8 December 1989 Eritrea Marathon best: 2:12:23 London 2016 London Marathon record: th 2:12:23 : None Olympics: dnf Tsegai Tewelde provided the shock of the day in last year s race when he emerged from obscurity to finish second Briton behind Callum Hawkins, running 2:12:23 on his debut to claim a place on Britain s team for the Rio Olympics. Tewelde was one of six Eritrean runners who requested asylum in Britain after competing in the 2008 World Cross Country Championships in Edinburgh. TEWELDE Two years earlier, he had set an Eritrean junior 1500m record of 3:42.10 when finishing fifth at the 2006 World Junior Championships in Beijing. He also ran for Eritrea in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships in 2007 and He joined Shettleston Harriers in Glasgow and won silver medals on the track at the 2008 and 2009 Scottish championships. He has a 10km best of 29:07 from 2009 but competed rarely for four years between 2011 and 2015 when he finally received his British passport. His first competition in his new country s colours didn t go as well as he d hoped, however, for he was forced to drop out in Rio well short of the finish. He was fourth in the 2015 Great Scottish Run half marathon in Glasgow, in a personal best of 63:34, but could only place seventh in Glasgow last October. He ranked second in the UK for the marathon last year. Tewelde ran for Eritrea before claiming asylum in Britain in 2008 along with five fellow athletes, including current Scottish international Tewolde Mengisteab. Tewelde received his British passport in Media Guide 2017

23 ANDREW LEMONCELLO (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) KEVIN SEAWARD (IRELAND) LEMONCELLO SEAWARD Born: 12 October 1982 Tokyo, Japan Marathon best: 2:13:40 London 2010 London Marathon record: th 2:13:40, th 2:15:24 Fukuoka: dnf, st 2:24:31, dnf Las Vegas: st 2:21:47 : None Andrew Lemoncello was the 2015 Las Vegas marathon champion. He was UK steeplechase champion twice before he stepped up to the marathon in He finished eighth in London in 2:13:40 on his marathon debut, the first European, but has been unable to improve on that time since. He was 14th in London the following year. He ran the Fukuoka Marathon three times between 2010 and 2012 but failed to finish on two occasions. He returned to marathon running two years ago and won the Las Vegas race in 2:21:47. A 2008 Olympian, he has run for Britain on track, cross country and roads, and for Scotland at the 2014 Commonwealth Games when he was 12th in the 10,000m. He was 26th at the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships. His half marathon PB is 61:52 (downhill) and 63:00 (201). He set a half marathon treadmill world best of 67:29 in Born in Tokyo to an American father and Scottish mother, Lemoncelllo grew up in Ceres near St Andrews. His surname comes from his Italian grandfather, Antonio. His mother was a mountain runner who once won the Scottish over-50s cross country title and ran in the London Marathon when he was a teenager. He studied at Stirling and Florida State Universities and ran for Fife Athletics Club. He married in November Born: 3 October 1985 Belfast Marathon best: 2:14:52 Berlin 2015 London Marathon record: None Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: st 2:14:52 Manchester: rd 2:18:46 Olympics: th 2:20:06 Europeans: th 2:20:30 Kevin Seaward represented Ireland three times last year at the World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff in March when he was 42nd, at the European Championships where he was 34th, and at the Olympic Games in Rio where he was 64th. He made his marathon debut in 2014, placing third in Manchester over a course thought to be short in distance. He was 28th for Ireland at that summer s European Championships. His marathon best was set at the 2015 Berlin Marathon where he was 21st in 2:14:52, his Rio qualification performance. His half marathon best of 65:08 came in Reading in He ran a 10km PB of 29:12 in Manchester last March. Seaward was born in Belfast. He now lives in Loughborough and works as an assistant headteacher at a school in north west Leicestershire. He competes for Cardiff AC. Media Guide

24 MICK CLOHISEY (IRELAND) TASAMA MOOGAS (ISRAEL) CLOHISEY MOOGAS Born: 13 January 1986 Marathon best: 2:15:11 Seville 2016 London Marathon record: None Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 2:15:35 Rotterdam: th 2:17:43 Seville: th 2:15:11 Olympics: rd 2:26:34 Mick Clohisey ran for Ireland at last summer s Olympic Games having stepped up to the marathon in 2015 when he was 18th in Rotterdam and 29th in Berlin. He improved his PB to 2:15:11 finishing ninth in Seville last February, but was outside the top 100 finishers in Rio, more than 10 minutes slower than his best, thanks in part to a virus picked up at the team holding camp. He won the Vienna City and Dublin half marathon titles in 2014, was second in Dublin in 2015 and won the Waterford half last year when he set his PB of 64:25. He was 32nd in the half at last summer s European Championships. He has run for Ireland at one World and nine European Cross Country Championships. He was Ireland s cross country and 10,000m champion in He set fives PBs last year at 10,000m, 5 miles, 10km (30:00), half marathon and marathon. Clohisey runs for Raheny Shamrock AC. He lives in Dublin and often competes in sunglasses regardless of the weather. American author Jack Kerouac is one of his heroes, and his father, Vinnie, is a singer songwriter. Born: 2 February 1988 Ethiopia Marathon best: 2:15:29 Berlin 2015 London Marathon record: None Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 2:15:29 Rotterdam: th 2:19:48 Tiberias: th 2:18:28 Olympics: st 2:30:30 Tasama Moogas lowered his personal best by more than three minutes when finishing 25th at the Berlin Marathon in His time of 2:15:29 was the third best ever by an Israeli. That guaranteed him a place at the Rio Olympics where he was well below his best in 121st place. He made his marathon debut in January 2015 when he finished in the top 10 on home soil in Tiberias. He ran the Rotterdam Marathon just three months later before making his PB run in Berlin that September. Last year he ran for Israel at the World Half Marathon Championships, placing 55th in 66:41. His half marathon best of 65:50 was set when 11th at the 2013 World University Games in Kazan in Russia. He won the Beit She an half marathon in He set an Israeli 10,000m record of 28:12.58 on the track in 2013 and he ran over that distance for his country at the 2010 and 2012 European Championships. Formerly Ethiopian, Moogas became eligible for Israel on 31 December He grew up in the village of G og am and emigrated to Israel when he was 20. He lives at the Wingate Institute, in Netanya. 44 Media Guide 2017

25 MATTHEW BOND (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) ROBBIE SIMPSON (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) BOND SIMPSON Born: 17 July 1982 Marathon best: 2:15:32 London 2016 London Marathon record: th 2:15:32 : None : None Matthew Bond ranked fifth in the UK last year thanks to his performance at the London Marathon and gained his first British vest at the European Championships in Amsterdam last July when he was 42nd in the half marathon. His first international performance came six years earlier when he ran for England at the Lillebaelt half marathon in Denmark, a race he won. He lowered his half marathon best to 64:29 when finishing 15th at the 2012 Great North Run. He was close to that time last year, clocking 64:38 in the Spanish half marathon championships in Santa Pola. He competed for the cross country and track teams at Adams State College, Alamosa, Colorado, for two years from 2010 to 2012, winning five All-American honours while improving his 5000m and 10,000m PBs by over half a minute and a minute respectively. He has a 10km PB of 29:34 and ran 29:08.69 on the track in Bond took up triathlon at 21, inspired by seeing his brother Graham compete in the Lanzarote Ironman. He represented Britain in triathlon and duathlon before starting his running career at 23. He joined Sale Harriers Manchester in 2005 and was part of the training group run by coach Norman Poole. Born: 14 November 1991 Marathon best: 2:15:38 London 2016 London Marathon record: th 2:15:38 : None : None Better known as Britain s leading mountain runner, Scot Robbie Simpson finished 18th on his marathon debut in London last April, clocking 2:15:38 as the sixth Briton across the line. He had been aiming for 2:14 and a place in the Rio Olympic team. He was fourth in the Cardiff half marathon last March in 66:01 having set a personal best of 64:39 in Paris three weeks earlier. His 10km PB of 29:22 was set in France last December. He has run for Britain at six European Mountain Running Championships, winning silver in 2014 and placing fourth in Two years ago he became the first senior British man to win an individual medal at the World Mountain Running Championships when he won a bronze medal in Betws-y-Coed in Wales. Simpson runs for Deeside Runners. He often trains in Germany and Austria. He is coached by Martin Cox. He taught English as a foreign language in Budapest for two years in 2007 and 2008, then set up Elaces, a triathlon accessory and clothing company, when he returned to the UK. Media Guide

26 IAN KIMPTON (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) BOUABDELLAH TAHRI (FRANCE) LUTON ATHLETIC CLUB KIMPTON TAHRI Born: 8 November 1986 Marathon best: 2:15:55 London 2015 London Marathon record: th 2:15:55 Brighton: th 2:18:04 Frankfurt: th 2:22:14 : None Ian Kimpton took more than two minutes from his personal best to finish 17th at the 2015 London Marathon in 2:15:55, good enough to rank fifth in the UK for the year. He made his marathon debut in Brighton the previous year, finishing sixth in 2:18:04 and went on to finish 18th in Frankfurt that October. He also ran PBs in 2015 for the half marathon (64:31 for third in Reading), 10km (29:28 in Swansea) and 3000m (8:16.59) in He ranked 10th in the UK for the half marathon in 2015 and gained his first international vest, running for England at the Lillebaelt Half Marathon in Denmark that year. He finished second, helping England to team victory. Kimpton is coached by Tony Simmons and competes for Luton. Born: 20 December 1978 Metz Marathon best: 2:16:28 Metz 2014 London Marathon record: None Other World Marathon Majors New York: th 2:18:16 Metz: rd 2:16:28 : None Bouabdellah Bob Tahri moves up to the marathon after a long and distinguished career on the track, primarily as a steeplechaser at which he won a World bronze medal in 2009 and European silver in He broke the European record three times at 3000m steeplechase and twice at 2000m at which he also set a world best in He was European junior 5000m champion as far back as 2007 and represented France as a senior at three Olympics and seven World Championships, plus five Europeans. He only twice failed to make the final. He has also run at two World and two European Cross Country Championships. He ran his marathon debut in 2013 when he was 15th in New York. He lowered his PB to 2:16:28 when placing third in the French championships in his home town of Metz the following year. His half marathon PB is 63:38 from He didn t race at all in 2015 and retired from the track after dropping out of the 3000m at the Diamond League meeting in Paris last August. He runs for the Asptt Metz club. He is now coached by Cédric Thomas, coach to Christelle Daunay. 46 Media Guide 2017

27 JONNY MELLOR (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) ANDREW DAVIES (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) MELLOR DAVIES Born: 27 December 1986 Birkenhead Marathon best: 2:16:52 Frankfurt 2015 London Marathon record: None Frankfurt: th 2:16:52 : None Jonny Mellor runs the London Marathon for the first time 18 months after making his marathon debut in October 2015 when he was 24th in Frankfurt in 2:16:52. He has a half marathon best of 62:59 from 2012 when he was 18th in New York. He has twice finished 11th at the Great North Run and was 14th in A former British champion at 3000m indoors and 5000m, he ran 3000m for Britain at the 2014 World Indoor Championships and was a 10,000m finalist at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, although he did not finish the race. He won the Leeds Abbey Dash 10km last November in 29:12, the same time he ran to win the 2015 Great Yorkshire Run 10km in Sheffield. His 10km road PB is 28:50 (2011). He won a five miles race in Alsager this February in 23:57, close to his best of 23:41 from Born in Birkenhead, Mellor lives on the Wirral in Merseyside. He is an online coach and blogger. He is coached by Steve Vernon. Born: 30 October 1979 Marathon best: 2:16:55 Berlin 2015 London Marathon record: th 2:17:45 Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 2:16:55 Frankfurt: th 2:20:41 Manchester: nd 2:17:51 Commonwealths: th 2:18:59 Andrew Davies finished 20th on his London Marathon debut last year, clocking 2:17:45 as the eighth Briton, ranking ninth in the UK for He ranked eighth in 2015 thanks to his PB of 2:16:55 from Berlin that September, a minute inside his previous best. He ran for Wales at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, finishing 17th in 2:18:59 having finished second in the Manchester Marathon earlier that year behind Andi Jones, and was fifth for Britain at the 50km World Championships in Doha last November. He ran three PBs last year at 10 miles (49:54 at the Great South Run in October), 10km (29:13 over a short course in Manchester) and half marathon (65:20 in Cardiff). He ran a five miles PB of 24:35 to place fifth in Alsager in February. Based in north Wales, Davies runs for Stockport and Mercia Fell club. He is coached by Steve Vernon. Media Guide

28 TOM ANDERSON (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) JESÚS ARTURO ESPARZA (MEXICO) ANDERSON ESPARZA Born: 12 January 1990 Marathon best: 2:19:52 Chicago 2016 London Marathon record: None Other World Marathon Majors Chicago: th 2:19:52 : None : None Tom Anderson was 16th in last year s Chicago Marathon having set a half marathon best of 64:03 in Houston in January. He had been aiming to run between 2:14 and 2:15 in Chicago but was happy with his place. He won the Indianapolis half in 2014 and was 37th in Houston this January in 66:44 He set PBs at one mile, 10,000m, 10 miles, half marathon and marathon last year. A member of Winchester AC, he is now based in Indianapolis where he moved from Southampton University on scholarship to Butler, graduating in He does much of his racing in the US and is coached by Matt Roe from Butler University. Born: 26 August 1990 Marathon best: 2:23:04 Düsseldorf 2016 London Marathon record: None Düsseldorf: th 2:23:04 : None Jesús Arturo Esparza ran his first marathon in Düsseldorf last May, clocking 2:23:04 in 15th place. He was one of five Mexicans in the top 25. He won the Veracruz half marathon in January last year and was second in Culiacán this January. His PB of 64:55 was from Monterrey in He ran a 10,000m track PB of 29:17.06 in Norwalk, California, last April. He was 10th over 5000m for Mexico at the 2013 World University Games. He works in sports nutrition. Anderson s father, Keith, was a marathon runner who competed for England at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and had a PB of 2:16:08. He is a fan of Blackburn Rovers football club. 48 Media Guide 2017

29 JONATHAN HAY (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) BEDAN KAROKI (KENYA) HAY KAROKI Born: 12 February 1992 Marathon best: 2:23:52 London 2016 London Marathon record: th 2:23:52 Houston: th 2:24:29 : None Jonathan Jonny Hay made his marathon debut in London last year when he was 26th in 2:23:52. He ran his second marathon in Houston this January. Hay had an impressive junior career on the track and cross country, which included a European junior bronze medal for 5000m in He ran for Britain as a junior at three World and three European Cross Country Championships, plus two under 23 races at the Europeans including 2014 when he just missed out on a medal, placing fourth. In 2015 he ran for the senior team at both events while he also ran half marathon for Britain at the European Championships in Amsterdam last July, finishing 77th. He ran his half marathon best of 64:09 to finish ninth at the 2014 Great North Run and he clocked a 10km PB of 30:11 in London s Lee Valley on New Year s Day this January. He was a British Universities champion at cross country in 2012, 5000m in 2013, and 10,000m in 2014 and He was second in the 2015 Westminster Mile and won the English National Cross Country Championships in February Hay runs for Aldershot, Farnham and District and is coached by Mick Woods. Born: 21 August 1990 Nyandarua Marathon best: Debut London Marathon record: None : None : None The world half marathon silver medallist, Bedan Karoki, steps up to the full distance for the first time less than three months after the biggest win of his career at this year s Ra s Al Kaymah half. Karoki ran the quickest race of his life to win the prestigious event in the United Arab Emirates by nine seconds in 59:10, the quickest half marathon time in the world this year and good enough to rank in the top 30 all-time. It was the 26-year-old s fifth victory in seven career half marathons, all but one of which have been run under the one hour mark. He was the 2014 Lisbon and 2015 Copenhagen champion before finishing second to Geoffrey Kamworor at the World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff last March, beating Britain s Mo Farah among others. He won a silver medal for Kenya over 10,000m at the 2011 All Africa Games and has finished fifth and seventh at the same distance at the last two Olympics. He was also sixth at the 2011 World Championships and fourth in Beijing in He won a silver medal at the 2015 World Cross Country Championships, again finishing behind Kamworor. His full name is Bedan Karoki Muchiri. He went to high school in Japan and speaks Japanese to a high level. Media Guide

30 DIEGO ELIZONDO (ARGENTINA) ELIZONDO Born: 24 October 1983 Marathon best: Debut London Marathon record: None : None : None Diego Elizondo has a half marathon best of 64:39 from winning the Buenos Aires half last September. He won a four-way battle in the closing stages despite stumbling near the finish line. He entered marathons in Valencia and Rotterdam in 2016 to try and quallify for the Rio Olympics but was forced to drop out both times with an Achilles injury. His 10km best is 29:40. He is an army sergeant in Argentina s Mountain Infantry Regiment in San Juan. He began his sports career as a modern pentathlete in the army before switching to focus solely on running. He almost gave up running after failing to qualify for the Rio Olympics when he was hampered by two operations, pneumonia and panic attacks. 50 Media Guide 2017

31 Elite Women Entries Bib no. Name Nation PB Bib name 102 Mary Keitany KEN 2:18:37 KEITANY 103 Aselefech Mergia ETH 2:19:31 MERGIA 104 Florence Kiplagat KEN 2:19:44 F. KIPLAGAT 105 Mare Dibaba ETH 2:19:52 M. DIBABA 106 Aberu Kebede ETH 2:20:30 KEBEDE 107 Tirunesh Dibaba ETH 2:20:35 T. DIBABA 108 Helah Kiprop KEN 2:21:27 KIPROP 109 Tigist Tufa ETH 2:21:52 TUFA 110 Lisa Weightman AUS 2:26:05 WEIGHTMAN 111 Andrea Deelstra NED 2:26:46 DEELSTRA 112 Maja Neuenschwander SUI 2:26:49 MAJA 113 Jessica Trengove AUS 2:27:45 TRENGOVE 114 Diana Lobacevske LTU 2:28:03 LOBACEVSKE 115 Laura Thweatt USA 2:28:23 THWEATT 116 Jo Pavey GBR 2:28:24 PAVEY 117 Krista DuChene CAN 2:28:32 DUCHENE 118 Kellyn Taylor USA 2:28:40 TAYLOR 119 Alyson Dixon GBR 2:29:30 DIXON 120 Louise Damen GBR 2:30:00 DAMEN 121 Charlotte Purdue GBR 2:30:04 PURDUE 122 Susan Partridge GBR 2:30:46 PARTRIDGE 123 Tracy Barlow GBR 2:32:05 BARLOW 124 Melanie Panayiotou AUS 2:34:35 PANAYIOTOU 125 Jenny Spink GBR 2:35:57 SPINK 126 Tish Jones GBR 2:36:13 JONES 127 Barbara Sanchez IRL 2:37:14 SANCHEZ 128 Hanna Vandenbussche BEL 2:38:35 VANDENBUSSCHE 129 Eleanor Davis GBR 2:42:38 DAVIS 130 Vivian Cheruiyot KEN Debut CHERUIYOT 131 Casey Wood AUS Debut WOOD 52 Media Guide 2017

32 Preview: Keitany Stars in Stellar Line-up The 2017 women s field, topped by two-time London Marathon champion Mary Keitany, is one of the strongest ever assembled for a major city marathon. Keitany is one of four women in the line-up who have broken the two hours 20 minute barrier while no fewer than eight have run quicker than 2:22. Among them are two of the three of medallists from last year s race, three previous London champions, and the winners at last year s Abbott World Marathon Majors races in Tokyo, Berlin, Chicago and New York. Keitany is again the quickest on paper thanks to the African record of 2:18:37 she set on her second London Marathon victory in 2012, a time that makes her the second quickest woman marathon runner of all time behind Britain s Paula Radcliffe. She completed a hat-trick of New York Marathon titles last November and is now aiming to become only the fourth woman to win the London Marathon three times. After finishing runner-up in 2015, Keitany could only place ninth last April after she was involved in a collision with two other athletes. That cost her a place on Kenya s Rio team and the 35-year-old will feel she has something to prove. Alongside her will be a trio of fellow Kenyans Florence Kiplagat, the 2015 and 2016 Chicago champion and a former half marathon world record holder who was third here last year and second in 2014; last year s Tokyo Marathon champion and 2015 world silver medallist, Helah Kiprop; and the Olympic 5,000m champion, Vivian Cheruiyot, who will make her marathon debut at 33. That quartet of quality Kenyans is matched by a fivestrong Ethiopian contingent with equally impressive credentials. They include the reigning world champion and Olympic bronze medallist, Mare Dibaba, who finished sixth last year; her namesake, Tirunesh Dibaba, the triple Olympic Media Guide

33 and five-time world track champion, who was third on her marathon debut in London three years ago; and the 2015 London champion, Tigist Tufa, who crossed the line second here last year. Ethiopia will also have high hopes for Aberu Kebede, the three-times Berlin Marathon champion who has also won the Frankfurt, Tokyo and Rotterdam marathons in recent years. And we shouldn t discount the 2010 London champion, Aselefech Mergia, who has won the Dubai Marathon three times. She also fell in that unfortunate incident 12 months ago. They include Andrea Deelstra, who ran for the Netherlands in Rio, and Switzerland s two-time Olympian, Maja Neuenschwander, who won the Vienna Marathon in Former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Lisa Weightman flies the flag for Australia, while Britain s 43-year-old five-time Olympian, Jo Pavey, will do battle with Rio Olympian Alyson Dixon and fellow GB internationals Louise Damen, Charlotte Purdue and Susan Partridge for London 2017 World Championship selection. Those nine east Africans will doubtless form the leading pack but they will be closely followed by a batch of top-class Europeans with realistic hopes of making their own mark on the race. 54 Media Guide 2017

34 MARY KEITANY (KENYA) Born: 18 January 1982 Kisok, Baringo District Marathon best: 2:18:37 London 2012 London Marathon record: st 2:19:19, st 2:18:37, nd 2:23:40, th 2:28:30 Other World Marathon Majors New York: rd 2:29:01, rd 2:23:38, st 2:25:07, st 2:24:25, st 2:24:26 : None Olympics: th 2:23:56 Mary Keitany returns to the British capital for the fifth time aiming to become only the fourth woman to win the London title three times. She joined a select band of athletes who have won a trio of New York marathons when defending her crown in the Big Apple last November. Despite her superb record, however, the mother of two from Iten feels she has something to prove after last year s event. Sick before the start, and a faller during the race, the two-time champion finished ninth in her slowest marathon time so far, and missed out on a shot at Olympic gold. Keitany relinquished her 100% record on the London course in 2015 when she lost touch with Tigist Tufa over the last three miles, but salvaged second place by beating Tirfi Tsegaye by one second. Her first appearance in London came in 2011 when she produced a brilliant victory in a time only Paula Radcliffe had ever beaten on the London course. The then 29-year-old strode home in 2:19:19 to move alongside Irina Mikitenko as the fourth fastest in history. She defended her title 12 months later in even more impressive style, leading five Kenyans home the first medal sweep in the women s race in 2:18:37 to take Catherine Ndereba s Kenyan and African record and rise to second on the all-time list. Keitany announced herself on the world stage when she was second to Lornah Kiplagat at the 2007 World Half Marathon Championships, running 66:48 as Kiplagat broke the world record. She had her first child in mid-2008, and returned in 2009 to win the World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham with an African record of 66:36, improving Elana Meyer s 1999 time of 66:44. Before her marathon debut in New York in 2010, Keitany said she had no idea how her body would react in the final few miles. In the end, Keitany was third in 2:29:01, losing out in the tussle over the ups and downs of Central Park. In February 2011 she broke Lornah Kiplagat s world half marathon record when she won the Ra s Al-Khaymah race in 65:50, 35 seconds inside the previous mark. En route to the first ever sub-66 minute time, she went KEITANY through 8km in 24:30 (a world best ), 15km in 46:40, 10 miles in 50:05 (another world best) and 20km in 62:36 (a world record). The half marathon and 20km records have since fallen. She returned to the New York Marathon in November 2011 seemingly in pursuit of the marathon world record. She swept through half way up on Radcliffe s pace (67:56) only to fade dramatically over the final 10km and finish third for the second year in a row. She won the RAK again in 2012 before her second stunning London Marathon victory. But there was disappointment for Keitany in the British capital that summer when she missed out on an Olympic medal by less than half a minute. She finished fourth in 2:23:56. Keitany skipped the 2013 season to have her second child but made a spectacular return to competition in 2014 winning the Great North Run half marathon in a PB of 65:39. She finally clinched the New York title that November in 2:25:07, three seconds ahead of Sumgong as both were slowed by the cold and windy conditions. After being brought down by the tripped Sumgong in London last year, she warmed up for her New York defence by setting a 10km PB of 30:45 in South Africa. In New York she was a commanding winner, taking the tape more than three and a half minutes ahead of Sally Kipyego. She has now won five of her nine marathons and only once placed lower than fourth. She was World Marathon Majors champion in 2011/12 and 2015/16. She ran her fastest ever half marathon at the RAK race this February, clocking 65:13 to finish seven seconds behind Peres Jepchirchir s world record. Mary Jepkosgei Keitany married Kenyan athlete Charles Koech on 31 December Her husband has run 61:27 for the half marathon. They have a son Jared Kipchumba, born in June 2008, and a daughter, Samantha, born in April She trains in Iten and is coached by Gabriele Nicola. Media Guide

35 ASELEFECH MERGIA (ETHIOPIA) Born: 23 January 1985 Woliso Marathon best: 2:19:31 Dubai 2012 London Marathon record: st 2:22:38, dnf, th 2:23:53, th 2:23:57 Other World Marathon Majors New York: nd 2:25:32, th 2:33:28 Dubai: st 2:22:45, st 2:19:31, st 2:20:02 Paris: nd 2:25:02 Olympics: nd 2:32:03 Worlds: rd 2:25:32, dnf Aselefech Mergia will start her fifth London Marathon tagged as the 2010 champion although she has yet to experience the joy of crossing the Finish Line first. She came to London that year having clinched the world bronze medal in Berlin the previous August and she finished third behind the Russian pair Liliya Shobukhova and Inga Abitova who have since been suspended for doping violations. Since that race, Mergia has won the lucrative Dubai Marathon three times, including in 2012 when she broke the course record and Ethiopian record with 2:19:31 as three women finished under 2:20. Although her national mark fell soon afterwards to Tiki Gelana, Mergia is still placed eighth on the world all-time list as one of just 20 women who have run sub-2:20. After three years of success at the half marathon, Mergia made her marathon debut in Paris in She finished second in a swift 2:25:02 winning her place on Ethiopia s World Championships team. In Berlin she shadowed the Asians for 40km before dropping back to claim a bronze medal just 17 seconds behind the winner, China s Bai Xue, and beating all of the more renowned Africans. She continued her good form in London the following April with a performance that has finally been rewarded with a winner s medal. She won the first of her three Dubai titles in January 2011 before returning to London where she dropped out after 30km having lost touch with the leading group powered by Mary Keitany. MERGIA She didn t race again for two years when she was on maternity leave, returning with a half marathon in Gothenburg in May Her return to the marathon came in January 2015 when she became the first woman to win the Dubai Marathon three times, taking victory and the $200,000 prize after a sprint finish against Gladys Cherono. She was part of a large leading group that approached the final three miles in London that year but missed out on a podium place by 11 seconds. She performed well at her first New York Marathon that November, losing to Keitany only in the last few miles. She was less successful in 2016 when she was fifth in London after inadvertently causing the trip that brought down Sumgong and Keitany, and then sixth in New York. In 2008 Mergia was second at the World Half Marathon Championships in 69:57. Her half marathon PB is 67:21 from New Delhi in Aselefech Mergia gave birth to her daughter Sena in July She is coached by Gemedu Dedefo. She failed to finish the testing Daegu 2011 World Championships marathon that summer, dropping out in the final few kilometres, but was back to winning ways in Dubai in January 2012, dipping under 2:20 for a national record that lasted all of three months until Gelana sliced half a minute from it in Rotterdam. While Gelana went on to triumph at the 2012 Olympics, Mergia struggled with London s wet conditions and finished well down the field. 56 Media Guide 2017

36 FLORENCE KIPLAGAT (KENYA) Born: 27 February 1987 Kapkitony, Keiyo District Marathon best: 2:19:44 Berlin 2011 London Marathon record: th 2:20:57, th 2:27:05, nd 2:20:24, th 2:24:15, rd 2:23:39 Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: st 2:19:44, st 2:21:13 Boston: dnf Chicago: nd 2:25:57, st 2:23:23, st 2:21:32 : None : None Florence Kiplagat lost her world half marathon record earlier this year, but she will start her fifth London Marathon full of confidence after retaining the Chicago Marathon in October last year. Her Chicago victory was her fourth in a World Marathon Majors race as she had won the Berlin Marathon in 2011 and The closest she came to winning in London was in 2014 when she lost out to her namesake Edna Kiplagat in a sprint down The Mall, the three-second difference the smallest losing gap for 17 years. She returned in 2015 aiming to go one better but had to be satisfied with fifth less than a minute behind the winner. She seemed destined to finish outside the top three again last year when she was dropped by the rampaging Sumgong. But she clawed her way back into contention and overtook Mergia and Mare Dibaba to place third. She broke the world half marathon record for the second time in two years in Barcelona in 2015, lowering the mark to 65:09 and breaking 15km and 20km world records along the way. That time was beaten by Peres Jepchirchir who went three seconds quicker in Ra s Al- Kaymah this February. Kiplagat made her marathon debut in Boston in 2011 but dropped out after going through half way in 1:11:42 and 30km in 1:42:59. It was an inauspicious start that she soon put behind her by winning the first of her two Berlin Marathon titles that September. Kiplagat led from start to finish in Berlin and crossed the line more than two and a half minutes clear after shrugging off the attentions of two of the fastest women of all time, world record holder Paula Radcliffe and German record holder Irina Mikitenko. She came to London in 2012 as one of five Kenyans vying for Olympic selection but finished fourth behind Mary Keitany, Edna Kiplagat and Priscah Jeptoo and so missed out on an Olympic place. Twelve months later, she was leading at 25km with Jeptoo and Edna Kiplagat, but faded to sixth. She made a victorious return to Berlin in September 2013 when she regained the title ahead of Sharon Cherop and Mikitenko. F.KIPLAGAT After nearly tasting victory in London in 2014, she reached another World Marathon Majors podium in October when she finished third at that year s Chicago Marathon (now second following winner Rita Jeptoo s disqualification for doping violations). She returned to the Windy City in 2015 and improved to first, pulling away from a pair of Ethiopians in the last 5km. She was even more dominant last October when she beat Edna Kiplagat by more than two minutes. Kiplagat began winning international medals at a young age, starting with a 5000m silver at the 2006 World Junior Championships, when she was 19. She was fifth in the senior race at the 2007 World Cross Country Championships and, after becoming a mother in 2008, returned to win the 2009 World Cross in Amman. Later that year she clocked 30:11.53 over 10,000m in Utrecht to erase Linet Masai s Kenyan record, but a hamstring injury meant she could only finish 12th at the 2009 World Championships. Injury prevented her defending her cross country title in 2010, but in September that year she made her half marathon debut, and a month later won the world half marathon title in Nanning, defeating Dire Tune in the final stages. She won the Barcelona half marathon for the fourth consecutive year on 12 February this year in 68:15. Her full name is Florence Jebet Kiplagat. She used to be married to Moses Mosop who ran 2:03:06 when he was second at the 2011 Boston Marathon and set world track records for 25,000m and 30,000m in She has two daughters, Faith and Aisha. Her uncle, William Kiplagat, is a marathon runner with a best of 2:06:50 from She lives on a 20-acre farm in Eldoret with 1200 chickens, among other livestock. Edna Kiplagat is a neighbour. She is coached by Renato Canova. Media Guide

37 MARE DIBABA (ETHIOPIA) Born: 20 October 1989 Sululta, Oromia region Marathon best: 2:19:52 Dubai 2012 & Xiamen 2015 London Marathon record: th 2:24:09 Other World Marathon Majors Boston: nd 2:20:35, nd 2:24:59 Chicago: st 2:25:37 Dubai: rd 2:19:52 Frankfurt: th 2:25:27 Los Angeles: rd 2:30:25 Rome: rd 2:25:38 Toronto: nd 2:23:25 Xiamen: st 2:21:36, st 2:19:52 Olympics: nd 2:28:48, rd 2:24:30 Worlds: st 2:27:35 Mare Dibaba became Ethiopia s first ever World Championships marathon gold medalllist in Beijing two years ago when she outbattled three other women inside the Bird s Nest stadium to claim gold for her country. In a thrilling finish, Dibaba defeated Helah Kiprop by one second in 2:27:35 with Eunice Kirwa another three seconds back in third and Sumgong fourth just seven seconds separating the top four in what was the closest marathon in World Championship history. Dibaba may have had to fight for the title but her victory was not a surprise as she started the race as the fastest entrant after winning the Xiamen Marathon in China early in 2015 in 2:19:52 equalling her own personal best from Dubai three years before. Dibaba confirmed her good form in Boston that April when she was second to Caroline Rotich, before going on to claim the world title wth her second victory on Chinese soil. She made her London Marathon debut last April and was on course for a podium place with three miles left before fading to sixth as Sumgong powered away in the final stages. She battled Sumgong again in Rio and this time held on to pick up bronze behind Bahrain s Kirwa as the Kenyan again pulled away. M.DIBABA She didn t compete in 2013, then finished third at the Boston Marathon in 2014 before going on to finish second in Chicago that October. Both races were won by Rita Jeptoo who has since been disqualified for doping violations, making Dibaba the 2014 Boston runner-up and Chicago champion. She competed for Azerbaijan from February until December 2009 under the name Mare Ibrahimova and set Azerbaijani records for 3000m and 5000m on the track as well as for the half marathon when third in New Delhi in 68:45. She lowered that time to 67:13 when second in Ra s Al-Khaymah in 2010 after reverting to Ethiopia. That remains her personal best. Her full name is Mare Dibaba Hurssa. She is not related to the sisters, Tirunesh and Genzebe Dibaba. She competed for Azerbaijan from February until December 2009 under the name Mare Ibrahimova but was revealed to be over age when entered for the European junior cross country championships. Dibaba made her marathon debut in 2010 when she was third in Rome in 2:25:38. She improved slightly when fifth in Frankfurt that October and took her best down to 2:23:25 finishing second in Toronto in Her breakthrough came the following January when she was third in Dubai in 2:19:52 winning selection for the 2012 Olympics that summer. The rainy London weather didn t suit Dibaba for she was 22nd in the Olympic race, nine minutes outside her best. That remained her only global championship race until Beijing, although she did win the All Africa Games half marathon title in 2011 in a Games record of 70: Media Guide 2017

38 ABERU KEBEDE (ETHIOPIA) Born: 12 September 1986 Shewa Marathon best: 2:20:30 Berlin 2012 London Marathon record: th 2:24:34, th 2:24:04, th 2:23:21 Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: st 2:23:58, st 2:20:30, nd 2:20:48, st 2:20:45 Boston: th 2:26:52 Tokyo: st 2:25:34, th 2:23:01 Dubai: nd 2:24:26, th 2:20:33, th 2:21:17 Frankfurt: st 2:22:21 Rotterdam: st 2:25:29 Shanghai: st 2:23:28 Worlds: th 2:31:22, th 2:38:04 Aberu Kebede returns to the London Marathon for the first time since 2014 when she placed fifth, the best finish of her three previous appearances here. Kebede is due a better result for she has an impressive record having won seven of her 16 big city races. She has placed in the top five 13 times. Most notably, she has won the Berlin Marathon three times, a feat matched only by German legend Uta Pippig and Poland s Renata Kokowska. The first of those wins came in 2010 and was the crowning achievement of a highly successful debut season as a marathon runner. Despite steady rain, she ran the second half about a minute faster than the first and crossed the line in 2:23:58 to become the youngest woman ever to win the Berlin title. She had started the year by placing second in Dubai, and then won the Rotterdam Marathon that April. She first ran the London Marathon in 2011 and did well to finish eighth in 2:24:34. Alongside the leaders for much of the race, she dropped away only in the closing stages. She went on to represent Ethiopia at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu but found the Korean heat and humidity tough. She finished 12th in 2:31:22. She ran two quick marathons in 2012, first taking three and a half minutes from her personal best when she was fifth in Dubai in 2:20:33, and then in September when she shaved off another three seconds to regain the Berlin title. In between she made her second appearance at the London Marathon, finishing sixth in 2:24:04, a decent performance but not good enough to win a spot on Ethiopia s Olympic team. KEBEDE She found it hard going in Moscow, however, finishing 13th in the World Championship marathon, nearly 18 minutes outside her best. She returned to form that December when she won the Shanghai Marathon in 2:23:27, her second victory of the year. After finishing fifth in London the following April she notched up her sixth big city win in Frankfurt that October when she ran alone from just after half way. Having finished fifth in Dubai and seventh in Boston in 2015, she narrowly failed to regain the Berlin title that September when she was second behind Gladys Cherono in 2:20:48. She was just three seconds quicker last September when she completed the Berlin hat trick, winning by more than three minutes from Berhane Dibabe. Before making her marathon debut, Kebede was third at the 2009 World Half Marathon Championships in Birmingham, in 67:39, which remains her PB for the distance. Her first international appearance was in 2007 when she finished 16th at the World Junior Cross Country Championships. She won this year s Meknes half marathon in Morocco in 70:32. Her full name is Aberu Kebede Shewaye. She was back in Ethiopian colours at the 2013 Worlds, having won the Tokyo Marathon that February. Despite windy conditions, she missed the Tokyo course record by just six seconds in 2:25:34. Media Guide

39 TIRUNESH DIBABA (ETHIOPIA) Born: 1 October 1985 Bekoji, Arsi region Marathon best: 2:20:35 London 2014 London Marathon record: rd 2:20:35 : None : None Tirunesh Dibaba is one of the greatest women distance runners of all time with three world records, five world titles and five Olympic medals on the track, not to mention five world cross country titles (and a record 21 world cross country medals). She retained her Olympic 10,000m title at the London 2012 Games, beating world champion Vivian Cheruyiot with a trademark blistering finish, having stunned the world by winning the 5000m and 10,000m double at the Beijing Olympics four years earlier. She won world 5000m titles in 2003 and 2005, and the 10,000m crown in 2005, 2007 and 2013, not to mention the African titles in 2008 and After the London Olympics she turned her attention to the roads and won her first half marathon, the Great North Run, in 67:35, beating then world marathon champion Edna Kiplagat. Her full marathon debut came in London in 2014 when she was third behind the Kiplagats despite dropping a drinks bottle at 30km which may have cost her the race. Dibaba then took a break to become a mother, returning last year in a bid to retain her Olympic 10,000m title. Remarkably, she ran the fastest race of her life in the Rio final but it was only good enough for bronze as compatriot Almaz Ayana took her title and broke the world record. Dibaba first emerged on the international scene in 2001 when she was fifth in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships, improving to runner-up in 2002 when she was also second at 5000m at the World Junior Championships. The following year she won the senior world 5000m crown in Paris. That win at 17 years 333 days made her the youngest ever world champion at an individual event and earned her the nickname the baby-faced assassin. In 2004 she broke world junior records indoors for 3000m and 5000m and outdoors for 5000m, but minor injuries meant she wasn t at her best at the Athens Olympics and had to be satisfied with a 5000m bronze behind Meseret Defar and Isabella Ochichi. Dibaba broke her first world senior record (for 5000m indoors) in 2005, and won both long and short course titles at the World Cross Country Championships. She also equalled Paula Radcliffe s world 5km best. On the track she won the distance double at the World Championships in Helsinki. Intermittent illness meant 2006 was less successful, although Dibaba retained one of her world cross titles. In 2007, despite a mid-race tumble and abdominal pains, she managed to retain her world 10,000m title. T.DIBABA In 2008, she won another world cross title in Edinburgh after watching her younger sister Genzebe win the junior race, and that summer in Oslo smashed more than five seconds from Defar s world 5000m record. She then ran the second quickest 10,000m ever seen to win the Olympic title in Beijing. The 5000m gold duly followed. Injuries hampered her in 2009 and from 2010 onwards she missed 16 months of competition. She returned in 2012 to become the first woman to defend the Olympic 10,000m gold, although a hamstring injury meant she had to settle for bronze in the 5000m. She regained her world 10,000m title in Moscow the following year and made her marathon debut in London in April She won 11 out of 11 10,000m track races until May last year when she was third at the Olympic trial in Hengelo. She was third at last September s Great North Run and ran a PB of 66:50 to finish fifth in this February s Ra s Al-Kaymah half. Her full name is Tirunesh Dibaba Kenene. She married 2004 and 2008 Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Sileshi Sihine in October Their son, Natan Sileshi, was born in March She is the third of five children, younger sister to Ejegayehu and older to Genzebe. Ejegayehu was Olympic 10,000m silver medallist in 2004 while Genzebe is current world 1500m champion and world record holder indoors and out. Derartu Tulu, the two-time Olympic 10,000m gold medallist and 2001 London Marathon champion, is their aunt. After the Beijing Olympics Dibaba received a car from the Ethiopian President, was promoted to chief superintendent in the prisons police administration, and a hospital in Addis Ababa was named Tirunesh-Beijing. She also received 1,030 square metres of land in her home state of Oromiya. 60 Media Guide 2017

40 HELAH KIPROP (KENYA) Born: 7 April 1985 Marathon best: 2:21:27 Tokyo 2016 London Marathon record: None Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 2:28:02 Tokyo: nd 2:24:03, st 2:21:27 Frankfurt: th 2:27:14 Seoul: st 2:27:29 Olympics: dnf Worlds: nd 2:27:36 Helah Kiprop was one of four women to enter the Bird s Nest stadium at the end of the World Championships marathon in Beijing two summers ago and came within one second of the gold medal when she was beaten in the closest of sprints by Mare Dibaba. KIPROP It was the second time that year that Kiprop had come close to a major marathon victory. The first was in Tokyo in February when she lost to Berhane Dibaba by 48 seconds. She made up for that 12 months later when she returned to the Japanese capital and beat a field full of champions, breaking the course record in a big personal best of 2:21:27. That won her a place in Rio where she dropped out, bringing to an end her record of six consecutive top five marathon places. This will be Kiprop s London debut although she ran as a pacemaker last year, taking the field through to 25km. She made her marathon debut in Berlin in 2013 when she was fourth in 2:28:02, a time she has steadily improved ever since. She took more than a minute off to win the Seoul Marathon the following March and went quicker still when fifth in Frankfurt in October Her two runner-up finishes in 2015, followed by victory in Tokyo last February, meant she finished second in Series IX of the World Marathon Majors with the same points total as the champion, Mary Keitany. She has competed extensively at the half marathon, winning big city races in Nice, Poznan, Zwolle, Egmond Aan Zee and Berlin over the last few years, while she was sixth at this year s Ra s Al-Kaymah half in UAE in 67:48. That was just nine seconds slower than her PB run on the same course in She has a 10km PB of 31:44 from Her full name is Helah Jelagat Kiprop. She began training with the GS Valsugana Trentinoclub in Trento, Italy, in She is coached by her husband, Ugandan David Marus. Media Guide

41 TIGIST TUFA (ETHIOPIA) Born: 26 January 1987 Marathon best: 2:21:52 Shanghai 2014 London Marathon record: st 2:23:22, nd 2:23:03 Other World Marathon Majors New York: th 2:29:24, rd 2:25:50 Dubai: dnf Houston: th 2:41:50 Jacksonville: nd 2:40:45 Ottawa: st 2:24:31 Santa Monica: nd 2:28:04 Shanghai: st 2:21:52 Olympics: dnf Worlds: th 2:29:12 Tigist Tufa made a mockery of the pre-race predictions on her London Marathon debut two years ago when she burst from the lead pack with three miles to go and opened a winning gap to secure her first World Marathon Majors victory. Tufa s 18-second triumph over two-time winner Mary Keitany was only the third for Ethiopia in the women s race following Derartu Tulu s win in 2001 and Aselefech Mergia s elevation to become the 2010 champion. Tufa went on to finish sixth at the Beijing World Championships that summer her first championships race and then placed third behind Keitany and Mergia at the New York Marathon in November, her fourth marathon start of the year. She ran well in London again last year, when she came within five seconds of defending her crown, succumbing only to Sumgong s surging determination in the last couple of miles. Her performance at the Rio Olympics was less successful, however, as she was one of a number of top names to drop out. Tufa s London victory in 2015 was the culmination of a four-year sequence of improving performances, from her 2:41:50 marathon debut in Houston six years ago to her victory in Shanghai in November 2014 when she clocked one of the quickest times of that year. She raced three marathons in 2014, winning two in course record times and finishing second in the other. She also reduced her PB each time, a big improvement of eight minutes in the year, and a huge 19 minutes in 20 months. TUFA She tackled her first World Marathon Majors race that November and finished eighth in New York after sharing a three-and-a-half minute lead with her compatriot Buzunesh Deba at mile 15. Despite fading in the last 10km she reduced her PB again by 11 minutes to break the 2:30 barrier for the first time. Tufa was back in the States in spring 2014 to contest the Santa Monica Marathon. She was second in the west coast race, taking another 80 seconds from her best. Her first marathon victory came in Ottawa that May when she clocked 2:24:31, another 3:27 improvement and a course record. She continued her winning habit in Shanghai on 2 November where a time of 2:21:52 removed more than a minute from that event s course record, set by Feyse Tadese in She was the fifth successive Ethiopian winner of the race. A familiar figure on the US road racing scene, she ran a 15km PB of 51:05 in 2014 finishing fourth in the Utica Boilermaker race in New York State. Her half marathon best of 70:03 was set in Lisbon in Tufa lived and trained with Buzunesh Deba in the Bronx in New York for 11 months to prepare for the 2013 New York Marathon. She moved back to Addis Ababa in December 2013 when she joined the training group led by coach Haji Adilo. She also led the 2015 Dubai Marathon by a minute at 20km only to pay the price in the second half, losing the lead and later dropping out. After placing eighth on her debut in Houston in 2011, she left it two years before attempting another marathon. She fared a little better, finishing second in Jacksonville in 2:40: Media Guide 2017

42 LISA WEIGHTMAN (AUSTRALIA) Born: 16 January 1979 Marathon best: 2:26:05 Melbourne 2013 London Marathon record: th 2:32:22 Frankfurt: th 2:29:23 Houston: nd 2:27:35 Melbourne: st 2:26:05 Nagano: st 2:28:48 Osaka: th 2:29:09 Olympics: rd 2:34:16, th 2:27:32, st 2:34:41 Worlds: th 2:30:42 Commonwealths: rd 2:35:25 Weightman s last appearance at the London Marathon was all of nine years ago when she made her debut, running 2:32:22 to finish 13th and qualify for Australia s Olympic team. She finished 33rd in Beijing and has gone on to run marathons for Australia at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics, as well as the Berlin World Championships in Her biggest international achievement came at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi where she picked up the bronze medal. She ran her personal best on home soil in Melbourne in 2013, a race she won in 2:26:05 having chalked up her first marathon victory three years earlier in Nagano, the first of six sub-2:30 performances. WEIGHTMAN Her full name is Lisa Jane Weightman, and goes by the nickname Goa. She is the daughter of former Australian Rules footballer Peter Weightman and married her training partner, Lachlan McArthur, in They have a son called Peter Richard, born in December Weightman lives in Melbourne and is coached by Dick Telford. Away from running she is a business consultant and project manager for IBM. She also finished fourth in the Osaka Marathon in 2013 and second in Houston last year when she was close to her best in 2:27:35. Before she became a marathon runner Weightman represented Australia at the 2006 World 20km Road Race Championships in Debrecen, where she finished 37th, and at the 2007 World Half Marathon Championships, when she came 33rd. She has worn the gold and green at three World Cross Country Championships, improving from 42nd in 2007, to 20th in 2008 and 17th in She has won the Gold Coast half marathon three times, including 2010 when she clocked her PB of 69:00 and triumphed at the 2015 Melbourne and 2016 Sydney half marathons. Media Guide

43 ANDREA DEELSTRA (NETHERLANDS) Born: 6 March 1985 Niebert Marathon best: 2:26:46 Berlin 2015 London Marathon record: None Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 2:26:46 Eindhoven: th 2:34:33, nd 2:35:39 Olympics: th 2:40:49 Europeans: th 2:32:39 Andrea Deelstra took nearly six minutes from her personal best to finish fifth at the 2015 Berlin Marathon. Her time of 2:26:46 qualified her for the Rio Olympics where she finished 60th in 2:40:49. DEELSTRA A former steeplechaser, she began her marathon career in Eindhoven in 2012 when she was fourth. She was fourth again the following year and ran for the Netherlands at the 2014 European Championships, finishing 13th in a PB of 2:32:39. She ran 3000m steeplechase for the Netherlands at the 2006 Europeans but was knocked out in the heats. She has also represented her country as a junior and under 23 athlete at three European Cross Country Championships. She ran her half marathon best is 73:37 when she was eighth at Egmond Aan Zee in She was sixth there earlier this year in 74:53. Last year she was 21st in the Berlin half marathon. She has a 10km PB of 34:02 from She was national steeplechase champion in 2007 and 2010, won the Dutch half marathon title in 2012 and the marathon title in She was born in Niebert and lives in Apeldorn. She runs for the AV Heerenveen club and is coached by Bram Wassenaar. 64 Media Guide 2017

44 MAJA NEUENSCHWANDER (SWITZERLAND) Born: 13 February 1980 Bern Marathon best: 2:26: Berlin London Marathon record: None Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 2:45:22, th 2:40:01, th 2:38:53, th 2:35:44, th 2:33:45, th 2:26:49 Tokyo: th 2:27:36 Frankfurt: th 2:29:42 Hamburg: nd 2:30:50 Paris: th 2:36:48 Rome: th 2:35:07 Vienna: st 2:30:09 Zurich: rd 2:44:24, th 2:44:49, th 2:40:42, nd 2:31:56 Olympics: nd 2:34:50, th 2:34:27 Europeans: th 2:45:17, th 2:31:08 Maja Neuenschwander lowered her marathon best by nearly three minutes when she was sixth at the 2015 Berlin Marathon, just behind fellow European Andrea Deelstra. MAJA She was born in Bern and competes for the STB Leichtathletik club. She is coached by Sandra Gasser and Beat Aeschbacher. Her time of 2:26:49 qualified her for the Rio Olympics where she finished 29th. It was the 37-year-old s second Olympics, having placed 52nd in London four years earlier. She also ran marathons for Switzerland at the 2010 and 2014 European Championships, placing ninth in Zürich three years ago. She won the Vienna Marathon in 2015, the one victory in her 20 career marathons, although she has placed third, fourth and second in the Zürich Marathon since she made her debut there in 2006, and was second in Hamburg in She has run the Berlin Marathon six times and has improved with each appearance. Last February she was eighth in the Tokyo Marathon in the second quickest time of her career. She was 23rd in the half marathon at last year s European Championships in Amsterdam. She won the 2015 City Pier City half in Den Haag in a PB of 71:08. Her 10km PB of 34:36 was set in Berlin two years ago. She first represented Switzerland in 1998 when she was 16th in the junior race at the European Cross Country Championships. She was seventh in the 5000m at the 1999 European Junior Championships. She made her half marathon debut in 2000 in Uster but then dropped out of the sport for six years. She ran 72:28 to finish eighth in the Barcelona half marathon in February this year. Media Guide

45 JESSICA TRENGOVE (AUSTRALIA) Born: 15 August 1987 Naracoorte, South Australia Marathon best: 2:27:45 Melbourne 2015 London Marathon record: None Melbourne: st 2:27:45 Nagoya: th 2:31:02, th 2:31:23 Olympics: th 2:31:17, nd 2:31:44 Worlds: th 2:37:11 Commonwealths: rd 2:30:12 The Glasgow Commonwealth Games bronze medallist returns to Britain for her first big city World Marathon Majors race. She ran her first marathon in 2012 when she was 14th in Nagoya in 2:31:02, the fastest marathon debut ever by an Australian woman and nearly a minute inside the London 2012 qualifying time. She represented Australia at that summer s Games, placing 38th and was 11th at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow and at the Nagoya Marathon the following March. She produced a personal best to bag bronze at the 2014 Commonwealths in Glasgow where she finished behind two experienced Kenyans. TRENGOVE Her sporting idol is the four-time Olympian Benita Johnson (Willis) who signed Trengove s ticket when the 13-year-old was in the crowd at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Last year, she started a running underwear company called Rundies with her brother, Jack, and boyfriend, Dylan Stenson. Another big PB followed in October 2015 when she won the Melbourne Marathon by nearly 12 minutes in 2:27:45 having set a half marathon PB of 71:07 finishing second in San Diego that May. She ran well again in Rio to place 22nd in the punishing Olympic marathon last summer. Trengove rose to prominence on the Australian distance running scene between 2010 and 2012 with victories at Adelaide s City to Bay fun run, the Australian cross country championships, the Melbourne half marathon and Sydney s iconic City2Surf race. She was sixth in the Hobart 10km in February this year in 33:57, close to her best of 33:14. Nicknamed Trenny, Jessica Trengove was born in Naracoorte and moved to Queensland where she studied physiotherapy. She now works as a physiotherapist and pilates instructor. She played netball and basketball until she was in her 20s and was once a long and triple jumper. Her brother Jack Trengove is an Australian Rules footballer with the Melbourne Demons. Her sister, Abbie, is state-level rower who represented Australia at the Youth Olympic Games. She is coached by Adam Didyk and is a member of Hills District Athletic Club and Team Tempo training squad. 66 Media Guide 2017

46 DIANA LOBACEVSKE (LITHUANIA) Born: 7 August 1980 Vilnius née Maciusonyte Marathon best: 2:28:03 Carpi 2010 London Marathon record: th 2:38:26 Beruit: th 2:34:16, dnf Carpi: nd 2:28:03 Dubai: th 2:44:20 Guangzhou: th 2:42:38 Hamburg: st 2:29:17, th 2:28:57 Istanbul: dnf Leicester: st 2:43:29 Mexico City: st 2:40:32 Osaka: th 2:30:09 Venice: th 2:35:06 Vienna: th 2:40:17 Vilnius: st 2:45:31 Olympic: th 2:29:32, th 2:30:48 Worlds: th 2:36:05, th 2:37:48 The 2013 Hamburg Marathon champion, Diana Lobacevske ran for Lithuania at the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games and the 2011 and 2013 World Championships. She finished 12th in Moscow three years ago and clocked only her second sub-2:30 time on the wet roads of the London Olympic route. She was just outside 2:30 in Rio where she was 17th. Lobacevske ran 5000m for Lithuania at the 1999 European Junior Championships, finishing sixth in Riga, and 10,000m at the 2001 European under 23s having run 3000m at the World Juniors in She gave up top level athletics when she went to Vilnius Pedagogical University and only returned to competition in 2005, running road races for Beaumont Leys Running Club in Leicester where she was living. She moved up to the marathon in 2008 when she won both the Vilnius Marathon and the Leicester City Marathon. The following April she was the first woman home from the mass start of the 2009 London Marathon (placing 149th overall) in a personal best of 2:38:26, a time she lowered at the Venice Marathon later that year. She dipped under 2:30 for the first time at the Carpi Marathon in Italy in October 2010, clocking 2:28:03 in second place behind Kenya s Helen Mugo. LOBACEVSKE She raced little in 2014 but returned to place fourth in Hamburg in 2015 in 2:28:57 before failing to finish the Beirut Marathon that November. She ran the Osaka Women s Marathon in January last year, placing fourth in 2:30:09 behind three Japanese runners. She won the high altitude Mexico City Marathon at the end of August, just two weeks after running in Rio, dropped out of the Istanbul Marathon in November and then placed sixth in Guangzhou in December, her fifth marathon start of Just one month later she was racing again, placing 12th at the Dubai Marathon on 20 January this year, her sixth marathon in less than 12 months. In the midst of all that she ran a half marathon PB of 71:33 in Annecy last April, and placed 33rd for Lithuania in the half marathon at the European Championships last July. On the track she clocked PBs at 3000m and 5000m last May. She was born Diana Maciusonyté. She was selected for Lithuania in 2011 her first international vest for 10 years and finished 24th at the World Championships in Daegu. After going under 2:30 again at London 2012, she won the Hamburg Marathon in April 2013 in 2:29:17. Lobacevske achieved her victory in dramatic fashion, coming from nearly a minute and a half behind with less than 10km to go to overtake a trio of favoured Africans. Media Guide

47 LAURA THWEATT (UNITED STATES) Born: 17 December 1988 Durango, Colorado Marathon best: 2:28:23 New York 2015 London Marathon record: None Other World Marathon Majors New York: th 2:28:23 : None : None Laura Thweatt made an encouraging start to her marathon career when she was seventh in New York in 2015, breaking the 2:30 barrier at her first attempt. She stayed with the leaders until the 30km point and finished as the top US runner. Her time was the seventh fastest by an American on the famous course. THWEATT She had represented USA for the first time earlier that year when she was 29th at the World Cross Country Championships in Qingzhen having won the US cross country title that February. She passed up a chance to be on the US team at this year s World Cross in Uganda, choosing to focus only on the London Marathon. She ran her half marathon best of 71:02 when fourth in the Philadelphia half in 2014 and won the Rock n Roll Virginia Beach half a year later in the build up to New York. She was sixth in the New York 10km race last year while on the track she finished fifth in the 10,000m at the US Olympic trials, narrowly missing a place on the US Rio team. She had run a 10,000m PB of 31:52.94 in Stanford last April (a world lead at the time), having set PBs at 3000m and 5000m indoors earlier in the year. Her 10km PB of 32:37 stems from New York in Born in Durango, Thweatt now lives in Superior, Colorado. She is coached by three-time Australian Olympian Lee Troop and runs for Boulder Track Club. 68 Media Guide 2017

48 JO PAVEY (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) Born: 20 September 1973 Honiton, Devon. née Davis Marathon best: 2:28:24 London 2011 London Marathon record: th 2:28:24 Other World Marathon Majors New York: th 2:28:42 Yokohama: dnf : None When Jo Pavey thrilled the nation by finally winning a major international title at the 2014 European Championships in Zürich few would have begrudged the then 40-year-old mother of two if she had decided to call it a day. After all, she had been representing her country at one level or another, at one distance or another, for more than two decades. But last year Pavey became the first British track athlete to compete at five Olympic Games and this year she will revive her marathon career with two goals to lower the PB she set on her 26-mile debut six years ago, and to gain yet another British international vest, this time as a marathon runner at the London 2017 World Championships, thus extending a journey that began aged 15 when she first ran for Britain over 1500m. Before Pavey reached her peak at 40-plus, she amassed a string of world and Olympic final places at 5000m and 10,000m, finishing fifth at Athens in 2004, fourth at the 2007 Osaka World Championships, and seventh twice at London The journey started in 1988 when Jo Davis (as she was then) set a British under m record of 4:27.9. Blighted by injuries she missed most of the following decade but did qualify for her first World Championships in 1997 over 1500m. In only her third 5000m race, Pavey qualified for the 2000 Olympic final, finishing 12th in a lifetime best of 14: Despite improving her PBs, bad luck invariably left Pavey out of medal contention at major championships, although she made the final of every major outdoor championships between 2000 and After starting a family in 2009, she returned to competition in 2010, ran her debut marathon in London in 2011 and placed ninth in the New York Marathon that November. She returned to the track in 2012 and won a 10,000m silver at the European Championships before finishing seventh at both 5000m and 10,000m at London PAVEY She bagged another bronze at the Continental Cup in Marrakech that September and ran for Britain twice last summer, finishing fifth at the Europeans in Amsterdam and 15th in Rio, both at 10,000m. Her half marathon best stems from 2008 when she was third in the Great North Run in 68:53. At 10km, she has won the Great Manchester Run and the London 10,000 twice apiece. Her 10km PB is 31:47 and she has run 30:53.20 for 10,000m on the track. Pavey has represented Britain on the track at five Olympic Games, five World Championships and five European Championships, while she has run for England at three Commonwealth Games. In the UK, she ranks second all time behind Paula Radcliffe at 5000m and 10,000m, fifth at 3000m and half marathon, and 10th at the marathon. A life-long member of Exeter Athletic Club, she lives and trains in Devon with her husband and coach Gavin, son Jacob, born in 2009, and daughter Emily, born in She studied physiotherapy at Bristol University, graduating in She received an MBE in 2015 and released her autobiography, Jo Pavey: This Mum Runs, in July She is known for running in trademark long white compression socks. Her second pregnancy kept her out of action in 2013 but she made a triumphant return in 2014, winning 5000m bronze at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games and a glorious 10,000m gold at the European Championships. She was the oldest female European champion in history at the age of 40 years and 325 days. Media Guide

49 KRISTA DUCHENE (CANADA) Born: 9 January 1977 Strathroy, Ontario Marathon best: 2:28:32 Toronto 2013 London Marathon record: None Ottawa: th 2:39:08 Rotterdam: th 2:32:06, rd 2:29:38 Toronto: th 2:50:37, th 2:32:16, th 2:28:32, th 2:34:02 Olympics: th 2:35:29 Worlds: dnf When Krista DuChene ran 2:29:38 to finish third at the Rotterdam Marathon in April 2015 it was a triumph for more than one reason. Not only was it the first time she had been under the 2:30 barrier, but it represented a remarkable recovery for the then 38-year-old who had broken her femur 12 months earlier just 500m from the finish line of the Banque Scotia 21K in Montreal. She limped home to finish third, but many thought that would be the end of her career. Within 16 months, however, she was running for Canada at the Rio Olympics where she placed 35th in 2:35:29. She had represented her country just once before, at the 2013 World Championships in Moscow, but on that occasion had failed to finish. She completed her recovery last October, just nine weeks after the Olympics, by finishing fifth in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon. As the first Canadian she became the national marathon champion for the second time. She ran her first marathon as a recreational runner in 2002, clocking 3:28, but made her marathon debut as a pro in Toronto in 2009, when she was ninth in 2:50:37, a time she gradually improved over the next three years. DUCHENE She lives in Strathroy, Ontario, where she was born, and is a registered dietician. She is married to Jonathan and has three children: Micah (born 2006), Seth (2008) and Leah (2011). She is described as Canada s Jo Pavey, and known as marathon mom. She was nicknamed Mouse as a child. She played hockey at the University of Guelph where she studied applied human nutrition. She originally took up running for fun. DuChene s injury in 2014 required surgery to implant a plate and three screws. She needed seven months rehab and was forced to miss the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 Pan American Games. She placed seventh in Rotterdam in 2012 in 2:32:06 and was only 10 seconds slower when fourth in Toronto that October. She was fourth again in 2013, two months after her international debut, but the femur fracture in 2014 put her out of action for 12 months until her triumphant return in Rotterdam two years ago. She ran 70:52 for the half marathon in 2013 and won the Canadian half marathon title earlier that year. She has won the Vancouver half three times and last year returned to Montreal, the scene of her dramatic break 24 months earlier, and was victorious in 72:30. Her 10km PB is 32:41 from She won the 2016 Toronto 10km last June. 70 Media Guide 2017

50 KELLYN TAYLOR (UNITED STATES) Born: 22 July 1986 née Johnson Marathon best: 2:28:40 Houston 2015 London Marathon record: None Houston: th 2:28:40 Los Angeles: th 2:32:49 : None Kellyn Taylor won a bronze medal in the 5000m at the 2015 Pan American Games just months after making her marathon debut in Houston that January. She broke 2:30 on her first attempt, finishing sixth in Houston in 2:28:40. It was sixth fastest debut ever by an American woman. TAYLOR She ran her second marathon last February when she was sixth in the US Olympic trial race in Los Angeles in 2:32:49. She ran for USA at the World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff last March, finishing 25th in 72:42. Her half marathon best of 71:01 was set in 2015 when she was fourth in Philadelphia. She has won a number of half marathons in the States in Potomac, Green Bay, St Louis and San José. She was 13th at the Houston half in January this year, in 73:13. Her 10km best of 32:49 was run in Atlanta in She won the US 25km title in On the track she ran a 10,000m PB of 31:40.70 in Stanford last April. She was fourth at the Olympic trials in Eugene in July and was named as a reserve for the Rio Olympics. She was born in Sussex, Wisconsin, and now lives and trains in Flagstaff, Arizona. She is coached by Ben Rosario. She studied at Wichita State University in Kansas and is currently training to be a firefighter. She is married to Kyle Taylor and has a young daughter, Kylyn. She is a member of the Northern Arizona Elite training group. Media Guide

51 ALYSON DIXON (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) Born: 24 September 1978 Coventry Marathon best: 2:29:30 Berlin 2015 London Marathon record: th 2:43:48, rd 2:35:46, th 2:31:52 Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 2:29:30 New York: th 2:42:50 Brighton: st 2:34:51, nd 2:31:10 Olympics: th 2:34:11 Worlds: nd 2:50:51 Commonwealths: dnf Alyson Dixon improved her marathon best by 100 seconds at the Berlin Marathon in September 2015 when she finished 11th in 2:29:30, breaking the 2:30 barrier for the first time and dipping well inside British Athletics Rio 2016 Olympic qualifying standard. The Sunderland Stroller secured her Team GB place by finishing 13th in last year s London Marathon, the first Briton home ahead of Sonia Samuels. It was the same story in Rio where she was 28th to Samuels 30th. Dixon has been gradually improving since her low-key debut in London in 2010 when she finished 24th in 2:43:48. She lowered her time at that year s New York Marathon where she was the quickest in her age group, and was called up to run for Britain at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu after winning the inaugural Brighton Marathon in April that year. She was 42nd in Daegu, hampered by a foot injury that turned out to be two broken bones. She returned to the London Marathon in 2012, after just five months training since her Daegu injury, in an attempt to qualify for Britain s Olympic team. She was close to her best in 24th place, running 2:35:46. DIXON Known as Aly to her friends, she lives in Sunderland and runs for Sunderland Strollers. She previously ran for Chester-le-Street AC and Sunderland Harriers. She is self-coached. Her father was a marathon runner and she says she was brought up with athletics as part of her life. She started to take running seriously when she won the British university championships 10,000m in She writes an award-winning blog which carries the motto, Marathon running: it s not a hobby, it s a lifestyle. It won the 2014 Sports Blog of the Year award at the North East Bloggers Awards. She says: I want to use it to show people the ups and downs of racing and training to a high level. To share... the good times when it all goes to plan and you run a PB or gain selection to a major champs, but also the heartache of everything going wrong and not achieving your goals. Returning to Brighton the following April, she ran a PB of 2:31:10, but could not quite regain the title, finishing second, 2 minutes 20 behind Kenya s Eunice Kales. Ranked second in Britain at the end of 2013, she was selected to run for England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow but dropped out of the race with a tear to her right calf. That was her last marathon outing before the 2015 Berlin race. She was 18th for Britain at the 2014 World Half Marathon Championships in Copenhagen, clocking a PB of 70:38 after placing 43rd at the 2009 World Half in Birmingham. She was 27th at last year s World Half in Cardiff and 13th over the same distance at the European Championships last summer. She ranked second in the UK last year for the marathon and fourth for the half marathon. She won the Dewsbury 10km in February this year. 72 Media Guide 2017

52 LOUISE DAMEN (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) Born: 12 October 1982 Winchester Marathon best: 2:30:00 London 2011 London Marathon record: th 2:30:00, th 2:31:37 Osaka: th 2:32:21 Yokohama: dnf Commonwealths: th 2:32:59 Louise Damen s marathon best dates from her debut in London in 2011 when she was timed at exactly 2:30:00. She hoped to repeat that form the following year but missed out on Olympic selection when she was 15th in 2:31:37. Two years later she won a place on England s team for the 2014 Commonwealth Games by finishing eighth at the Osaka Women s Marathon in 2:32:21. She ran well in Glasgow to finish seventh in 2:32:59. Now 34, she returns to London for her first marathon since that race having not run a half marathon since That might seem a risk, but the fact that Damen is a runner at all is something of a minor miracle, let alone one with serious World Championship ambitions. She was born without a left hip socket and spent several of her first months in traction and splints. DAMEN A Hampshire-based teacher, Damen used to write a running blog for realbuzz.com. She is a member of Winchester AC. She used to be self-coached but is now guided by Richard Nerurkar. She used to train occasionally with Michelin-starred chef Alan Murchison. Yet by the age of 21 she was running for Britain at World Cross and European Under 23 Championships, picking up bronze over 10,000m in the latter. In 2004 she won another bronze helping Britain s women to third at the World Cross Country Championships as she finished 22nd. Three years later she won the Reading half in an impressive 70:47, which remains her PB, and helped Britain to silver at the European Cross. In 2011 and 2013 she won the English cross country title and was second in the 2011 Bath half before making her marathon debut in London. It proved to be a triumph as she strode home second Briton in 2:30:00. It seemed like a promising start to what could be a successful marathon career, but as yet Damen has been unable to improve on that performance. She dropped out at half way in the 2011 Yokohama Marathon suffering from the 25-degree heat. Having finished fourth at the Bupa London 10,000 in 2014, she won the Bristol 10km race in May 2015 and the Chichester 10km last February, although she has competed sparingly over the last few years. Media Guide

53 CHARLOTTE PURDUE (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) Born: 10 June 1991 Windsor Marathon best: 2:30:04 Frankfurt 2016 London Marathon record: th 2:32:48 Frankfurt: th 2:30:04 : None Charlotte Purdue made her marathon debut a year ago after winning four individual medals at junior and under-23 level at European Cross Country Championships. At 24, Purdue was very much the baby of the British pack chasing Rio Olympic places at last year s London Marathon, but she produced an impressive debut to finish third Briton behind Alyson Dixon and Sonia Samuels. She went on to finish sixth at the Great North Run before improving her marathon best by nearly three minutes in Frankfurt last October. Her time of 2:30:04 made her the quickest Briton of 2016 by nearly two minutes and means she will be a serious contender for a World Championships place. PURDUE She runs for Aldershot, Farnham & District and is coached by Nic Bideau. She is a grade five level ballet dancer. Purdue moved up to marathon running after a successful junior career on the track that included a 5000m silver at the 2009 European Junior Championships. She was a dominant winner of the European junior cross country title in 2010 having won silver in 2008 and bronze in She went on to win bronze in the under 23 race in As a senior she was 14th for Britain at the 2011 World Cross Country Championships after finishing sixth at 5000m and fourth at 10,000m for England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, despite missing much of that year with a knee stress fracture. On the roads, she won the Great Ireland Run 10km race in Dublin in 2011 and ran her PB for the distance there in 2012 when she was second to Gemma Steel. She made her half marathon debut at the 2014 Great North Run, finishing eighth in 71:43, which remains her best. Last year she ran half marathons for Britain at the 2016 World Half Marathon Championships in Cardiff, where she was 33rd, and the European Championships in Amsterdam where she did not finish. She has won numerous English, English schools, British universities and national titles at track and cross country in the junior and senior age groups. She has track bests of 15:23.4 for 5000m (2010) and 32:03.55 for 10,000m (2012). She was fourth in the Hobart 10km this February in 33: Media Guide 2017

54 SUSAN PARTRIDGE (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) Born: 4 January 1980 Carluke Marathon best: 2:30:46 London 2013 London Marathon record: th 2:41:44, th 2:37:50, th 2:41:40, th 2:35:57, th 2:34:13, rd 2:37:41, th 2:30:46, dnf Other World Marathon Majors Chicago: th 2:31:31 : None Worlds: rd 2:35:57, th 2:36:24 Europeans: th 2:39:07 Commonwealths: th 2:39:54, th 2:32:18 An experienced international with 13 marathons to her name, Susan Partridge made her bid for 2012 Olympic selection when she was third Briton home in London in 2011 in 2:34:13, a PB by more than 90 seconds and inside the Olympic B standard of 2:35. Partridge went on to finish 23rd at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu where she was first Briton in 2:35:57, but she couldn t improve again in 2012, finishing 23rd that year in London in 2:37:41. PARTRIDGE Raised in Oban, in west Scotland, she is now based in Leeds and runs for Leeds City. She is coached by British record holder Steve Jones, the 1985 London and Chicago Marathon winner. She made a big leap forward in 2013 when she was ninth in 2:30:46, again winning a place at the World Championships. She performed superbly in Moscow to place 10th in 2:36:24. She had finished 10th for Scotland in the marathon at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, a position she improved to sixth on home soil in Glasgow eight years later. She also ran for Britain at the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona, finishing 13th and helping Britain to team bronze in the European Marathon Cup. Her most recent marathon finish was in Chicago in October 2015 where she finished 11th in 2:31:31, within touching distance of British Athletics Rio Olympics qualifying time. Unfortunately, having run 71:51 at the Prague Half Marathon in early April, she then dropped out of last year s London Marathon and missed out on a chance of selection. Raised in Oban, the Leeds-based Scot made her marathon debut in London in 2004 when she was 20th in 2:41:44, a time she improved by almost four minutes the following year. Having been a junior cross international in the late 1990s, she first represented Britain as a senior in 2005 when she was 25th at the World Half Marathon Championships. Her current half marathon PB of 70:32 was set in Bath in She ranked first in the UK at the distance for Media Guide

55 TRACY BARLOW (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) Born: 18 June 1985 Blackpool Marathon best: 2:32:05 Frankfurt 2016 London Marathon record: th 2:59:58, th 2:54:15, rd 2:40:02, th 2:33:25 Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 2:51:29 Amsterdam: rd 3:19:28 Frankfurt: th 2:32:05 Toronto: th 2:38:52 : None Tracy Barlow has run the London Marathon six times in the past but never from the elite Start Line. She won her place among this year s international runners after finishing as the first female club runner in 2016, 125th place overall, in 2:33:20. Her first experience of the London Marathon was just six years ago when she finished in 3:52:59, the 7,597th runner across the line. She has steadily improved ever since, clocking 3:27:18 in 2012 and breaking the three hour barrier in 2013 with 2:59:58. That placed her 48th in the club race. She improved to 26th in 2014, clocking 2:54:15, good enough for 808th overall. BARLOW Born in Blackpool, she now lives in Winchester and runs for Thames Valley Harriers. She is coached by Nick Anderson. She works as a nurse. She ran three minutes quicker in Berlin that September when she was 18th and was the fourth female club runner in London two years ago in 2:40:02 (2:39:56 chip time, 291st overall), breaking the Thames Valley Harriers club record in the process. Barlow s steady progression continued at the 2015 Toronto Waterfront Marathon where she was 13th representing England Athletics. After her club victory in London last year she posted yet another PB in Frankfurt last October when she ninth in 2:32:05. She has made a 22-minute improvement in two and a half years, a one hour 20-minute progression in six. Last year she ranked fourth in the UK behind Alyson Dixon, Sonia Samuels and Charlotte Purdue. She also lowered her half marathon time last year to 74:25 when finishing second in Bath last March, her 10km best to 34:25 in Berlin last July, and her track times for both 3000m and 5000m. She had her first road race victory at Run Norwich last March when she won the 10km event in 35:46. She has carried on in the same vein this year, smashing her half marathon PB in Barcelona in February when she was 10th in 72: Media Guide 2017

56 MELANIE PANAYIOTOU (AUSTRALIA) Born: 21 July 1984 Marathon best: 2:34:35 Rotterdam 2015 London Marathon record: None Melbourne: rd 2:41:48 Nagoya: th 2:38:26 Rotterdam: th 2:34:35 Commonwealths: th 2:35:01 Melanie Panayiotou finished eighth at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in her third marathon. She was the surprise performer at the 2013 Melbourne Marathon where she finished third in 2:41:48 on her debut. PANAYIOTOU She improved by three minutes to 2:38:26 at the 2014 Nagoya Marathon, winning a place on Australia s Commonwealth Games team for Glasgow where she again set a PB. She won the Sydney half marathon a couple of months later before placing fifth at the Rotterdam Marathon the following April in 2:34:35, inside the qualifying mark for both the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and the Rio Olympic Games and good enough to rank third among Australians for Injury kept her out of the Worlds but she returned to action that November to place third in the City to Sea 15km race in Melbourne. Last year she won the Gold Coast 10km and was second in the Noosa half marathon in 75:25. She was Australian half marathon champion in She lives and trains in Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. She is coached by Dick Telford. She works full-time as head veterinarian at Australia Zoo. She has the same name as one of the sisters of the late singer, George Michael. Media Guide

57 JENNY SPINK (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) Born: 7 August 1981 née Jagger Marathon best: 2:36:00 Toronto 2015 London Marathon record: th 2:52:28, st 2:37:41 Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 3:06:10 Frankfurt: th 2:39:55 Toronto: th 2:36:00 : None Jenny Spink runs her third London Marathon having steadily lowered her PB by more than 16 minutes from her debut here in 2013 to her current best of 2:36:00. Spink was third in the London Marathon women s championship race in 2015 (22nd overall) with a twominute PB, having finished 18th in In between she was 12th at the 2014 Frankfurt Marathon in 2:39:55. SPINK She set her personal best when 10th at the Waterfront Marathon in Toronto in October That was Spink s first international (she was part of an England squad), and her time was good enough to rank fifth in the UK that year (two above Paula Radcliffe). She also ranked seventh at half marathon in 2015 thanks to her personal best of 73:02 from Cardiff where she was fourth. She was due to run last year s London Marathon her first as part of the elite field but withdrew after dropping out of the World Half Marathon Championships last March. She returned to competition in the autumn and won the Bristol half in September before setting PBs for 10 miles at the Great South Run (56:30, although she ran 55:41 during the 2015 Cardiff half) and 10km in Leeds (33:36). She was close to her PB when 12th at this year s Barcelona half marathon in 73:36 shortly after being runner-up in the Hamilton 10km in Canada behind Gemma Steel. Spink runs for Bristol & West Athletics Club and is coached by Bruce Tulloh, the 1962 European 5000m champion. She works as a personal trainer and sports masseur in Bristol and has a degree in Sport and PE from the University of Wales. She was the headline coach for Love Running, a Bristol-based charity initiative that saw over 700 people, including new runners, take on the Bristol 10km. She is married to Richard Spink and their son, Josh, was born in Media Guide 2017

58 TISH JONES (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) BARBARA SANCHEZ (IRELAND) JONES SANCHEZ Born: 7 September 1985 Marathon best: 2:36:13 Cape Town 2016 London Marathon record: None Cape Town: st 2:54:04, st 2:36:13 : None Tish Jones described her second victory in Cape Town last year as a dream come true after she had lowered her personal best by a huge 17 minutes to beat Ethiopia s Megertu Geletu in 2:36:13, good enough to rank fifth in the UK for Jones made Cape Town her home throughout 2016 and ran her marathon debut there in February s Cape Peninsula Marathon, a race she also won in 2:54:04. She also ran in Cape Town s Two Oceans Ultra Marathon in March, a 56km race she finished in 6:40:25, and won the Bay to Bay 30km race. She has a half marathon best of 72:56 and a 10km best of 33:05, both from She was third in the London 10,000 road race in She is a member of Belgrave Harriers and works as a personal trainer. Born: 29 March 1981 Marathon best: 2:37:14 Seville 2013 London Marathon record: None Amsterdam: th 2:53:43 Copenhagen: st 2:41:17 Dublin: th 2:52:52, th 2:49:54, th 2:39:39, th 2:42:11 Hamburg: th 2:46:28 Paris: th 2:46:24 Prague: th 2:54:00, th 2:42:05 Rotterdam: th 2:38:41 Seville: th 2:37:14, th 2:43:31, th 2:39:49 Valencia: rd 2:42:43 Europeans: st 2:43:59 Barbara Sanchez arrives in London for her first World Marathon Majors with 16 marathons behind her, from her first in Dublin in 2006 to her latest in Paris last April. She won the Copenhagen Marathon in 2012 soon after switching from France to Ireland and has finished in the top 10 in Prague, Dublin, Seville and Rotterdam. She was fifth in Seville in 2013, when she ran her current personal best of 2:37:14, and in 2014 when she also ran for Ireland at the European Championships in Zürich. Last year she was 14th in Seville and 14th in Paris. She ran a half marathon best of 75:57 finishing third in Copenhagen in 2012 when she was also third in the Irish championship half in Athenry. She won the Dublin half last September and ran a 10km PB of 34:39 in Paris last February. Sanchez is a former French athlete who switched to Ireland in February She runs for Clonliffe Harriers. Media Guide

59 HANNA VANDENBUSSCHE (BELGIUM) ELEANOR DAVIS (GREAT BRITAIN & NI) VANDENBUSSCHE DAVIS Born: 3 July 1987 Marathon best: 2:38:35 Paris 2016 London Marathon record: None Amsterdam: th 2:42:53 Annecy: nd 2:45:02 Düsseldorf: rd 2:39:50 Paris: th 2:38:35 Rotterdam: th 2:40:15 : None Hanna Vandenbussche finished in the top 10 at the Rotterdam and Amsterdam Marathons in 2015, and twice dipped under 2:40 last year, clocking her best of 2:38:35 in Paris last April. That won her a place at the Rio Olympics only for her to lose it when Manuela Soccol ran quicker a few weeks later. In an attempt to win it back, Vandenbussche ran in Düsseldorf just three weeks later, but could not improve, clocking 2:39:50 in third. She also ran a half marathon best last year, clocking 74:00 to place fourth in Breda, plus PBs at 10 miles (57:11) and 10km (34:20). She was Belgian half marathon champion in 2013 and placed 10th at this year s Egmond Aan Zee half in 77:04. She ran for Belgium in the under 23 race at the 2008 and 2009 European Cross Country Championships. She runs for AV Roeselare, having switched from Marathon Athletics Club Westhoek last year. She has a doctorate from the Institute of Philosophy at the University of Leuven. Born: 21 February 1989 Marathon best: 2:42:29 London 2015 London Marathon record: th 2:58: th 2:42:38 Other World Marathon Majors Berlin: th 3:25:44 Milan: th 3:38:48 : None Eleanor Davis starts among the elites for the first time after finishing eighth from the championship start in 2015 when she clocked 2:42:38 (a chip time of 2:42:29). Sister Julia and dad Martin also ran sub-three that day. She had been 49th in London in 2014 when she first broke three hours. She first ran the marathon in 2011 when she was among the top 50 finishers in Milan. She ran some 23 minutes faster in Berlin the following September. She finished fifth in the 2015 Bath half and went on to win the Oslo half that September in 75:45. She also won the Ljubljana half in 2014 and was third in the British half marathon championships in Nottingham last year behind Tracy Barlow. She won the Brighton half marathon on 26 February this year in a PB of 74:27. She won last September s Cardiff 10km in 33:59, her second 10km PB of She also set track PBs last year, running 9:37.97 for 3000m and 16:50.9 for 5000m. She lives in St Agnes in Cornwall and is a member of Newquay Road Runners. She is coached by John Scott. Her older sister Julia is also a runner. The day after winning the Oslo half in 2015 she stumbled into a pot hole, broke a metatarsal and was forced to pull out of the Toronto Marathon where she was due to run for England for the first time. 80 Media Guide 2017

60 VIVIAN CHERUIYOT (KENYA) Born: 11 September 1983 Logosho, Rift Valley Marathon best: Debut London Marathon record: None : None : None Vivian Cheruiyot makes her marathon debut at 33 after a glittering career on the track that yielded four World Championship titles and Olympic medals of every colour, not to mention a world cross country title and gold at the Commonwealth Games. One of the most experienced athletes on the circuit, Cheruiyot s international career goes back to 1999 when she won World Youth and All Africa Games bronze medals at 3000m and 5000m respectively. She won the African Junior title in 2001 and the World Junior bronze at the same distance in She went on to win two senior world 5000m titles (in 2009 and 2011), two at 10,000m (2011 and 2015) and in Rio last summer finally clinched Olympic gold when she held off the much-fancied 10,000m champion and world record breaker Almaz Ayana to claim the 5000m crown. It was a sweet moment for Cheruiyot at her fourth Games as she had been pipped for gold in London four years previously by half a second. She was fifth in the 5000m final in Beijing 2008 and 14th in She was world junior cross country champion in 2000 and senior world cross champion in CHERUIYOT She was educated at Sing ore Girls High School from 2002, an institution famed for its athletics prowess. She is managed by Ricky Simms as part of the Pace Management group and is a member of the Panellinios Athletics Club in Athens. She is married to Moses Kiplagat, a former runner who is also her coach. Their son, Allan Kiprono Kiplagat, was born in October They live in Kaptagat and have interests in real estate, farming and transport in Eldoret and Nairobi. She is an inspector in the Kenya Police Force and was named as Laureus Female Athlete of the Year in On the roads she has won the prestigious World s Best 10km race in San Juan three times, setting her PB of 30:47 there in She beat Tirunesh Dibaba and former London Marathon champion Priscah Jeptoo to win her debut half marathon at the Great North Run last September in 67:54. The ever-smiling Cheruiyot is the third fastest woman ever at 5000m and 10,000m and holds Kenyan records for both distances 14:20.87 for 5000m and 29:32.53 for 10,000m, the latter run in the Rio Olympic final. She has also broken national indoor records for 3000m and two miles. Her full name is Vivian Jepkemoi Cheruiyot. Her surname means one born during bedtime in her native dialect. Nicknamed Pocket Rocket, she started running at school and broke into the national junior team in 1998 aged 15. Media Guide

61 CASEY WOOD (AUSTRALIA) WOOD Born: 24 February 1989 Marathon best: Debut London Marathon record: None : None : None Casey Wood takes on the marathon for the first time after winning Sydney s City to Surf 14km race in 2014 in 47:59. It s a race that finishes on Bondi Beach and Wood only entered at the last minute after she was initially refused inclusion among the elite field. She was fourth in last September s Australian Road Running Championships held as part of the 12km City to Bay fun run in Adelaide. She clocked 41:47. She was seventh in Australia s World Cross Country Trials in Canberra this January. She set a 10km best of 33:47 when finishing fifth in the Sydney road race in She also set two 5000m PBs that year and ran her half marathon best of 73:29 in Melbourne. She lives in Adelaide and is coached by her father, Grenville, a former runner who competed for Australia at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, won Australian Olympic marathon trials and three City to Bay events in 1982, 1985 and She works full time as a design consultant and supports Adelaide Crows Australian Rules football club. Her sporting idol is Britain s marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe. 82 Media Guide 2017

62 Awards & Bonuses for Elite Races Awards for place Men Women 1 $55,000 $55,000 2 $30,000 $30,000 3 $22,500 $22,500 4 $15,000 $15,000 5 $10,000 $10,000 6 $7,500 $7,500 7 $5,000 $5,000 8 $4,000 $4,000 9 $3,000 $3, $2,000 $2, $1,500 $1, $1,000 $1,000 $156,500 $156,500 Total prize money: $313,000 Time & Record Bonuses Men Women Any runner recording sub: Any runner recording sub: (not cumulative) (not cumulative) 2:05:00 $100,000 2:18:00 $100,000 2:06:00 $75,000 2:20:00 $75,000 2:07:00 $50,000 2:22:00 $50,000 2:08:00 $25,000 2:23:00 $25,000 2:08:30 $15,000 2:24:00 $15,000 2:09:00 $10,000 2:25:00 $10,000 2:09:30 $5,000 2:26:00 $5,000 2:10:00 $3,000 2:27:00 $3,000 2:11:00 $1,000 2:28:00 $1,000 In addition to the above, any runner achieving the following will receive: first in race and men s course record (2:03:05) - $25,000 first in race and women s only course record (2:17:42) - $25,000 first in race and men s world record (currently 2:02:57) - $125,000 first in race and women s only world record (currently 2:17:42) - $125,000 Media Guide

63 The British Race The British athletes listed on the following page are those who will line-up on the elite start lines. To be considered for a place among the elite entries British athletes must satisfy the following criteria: Men: athletes who have run a sub-2:18:00 marathon or sub-67:00 half marathon between 1 January 2016 and 31 December Women: athletes who have run a sub-2:38:00 marathon or sub-1:17:00 half marathon between 1 January 2016 and 31 December These athletes are offered travel expenses and two nights accommodation. Any other athlete achieving these times at the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon will have their travel expenses reimbursed World Championships selection The 2017 London Marathon is also the official British Athletics marathon trial for the London 2017 IAAF World Championships. To be eligible for selection athletes must have run the following qualifying times on an IAAF accredited course between 1 January 2016 and midnight on 23 April 2017: Men: 2:16:00 Women: 2:36:00 The first two British athletes to finish the London Marathon who hold the qualifying time will be selected automatically. Athletes who have achieved the standard before 1 January 2017 will be expected to prove their fitness over 10km, 10 miles, half marathon or marathon between 1 January 2017 and midnight on 23 April British Athletics can select up to three athletes for the men s and women s World Championship marathons. The British marathon competitors for the 2017 IAAF World Championships will be announced in the week commencing Monday 24 April Currently, the following athletes have achieved the British Athletics marathon standards: Men: Callum Hawkins (2:10:52); Tsegai Tewelde (2:12:23); Derek Hawkins (2:12:57); Chris Thompson (2:15:05); Matthew Bond (2:15:32); Robbie Simpson (2:15:38). Women: Charlotte Purdue (2:30:04); Alyson Dixon (2:31:52); Sonia Samuels (2:32:00); Tracy Barlow (2:32:05). Note: British Athletics announced in December that Callum Hawkins has been selected for the London 2017 World Championships. Hawkins was eighth in the 2016 London Marathon in 2:10:52 and ninth at the Rio Olympics in 2:11:52. This February he set a Scottish record of 60:00 to win the Marugame half marathon. UK Championships The 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon is also the 2017 British Athletics men s and women s marathon championships. To compete in the championships an athlete must be a member of a UK Athletics affiliated club and have run the following times in 2015 or 2016: Men: 2:45, or 1:15 half marathon Women: 3:15, or 1:30 half marathon UK Bonuses These bonuses apply to all British athletes eligible to compete for the UK in major championships. These sums are not cumulative. Men Women Sub 2:11:00 - $8,000 Sub 2:31:00 - $8,000 Sub 2:12:00 - $7,000 Sub 2:32:00 - $7,000 Sub 2:13:00 - $6,000 Sub 2:33:00 - $6,000 Sub 2:14:00 - $5,000 Sub 2:34:00 - $5,000 Sub 2:15:00 - $4,000 Sub 2:35:00 - $4,000 Sub 2:16:00 - $2,500 Sub 2:36:00 - $2,500 Sub 2:17:00 - $1,500 Sub 2:37:00 - $1,500 Sub 2:18:00 - $1,000 Sub 2:38:00 - $1,000 Sub 2:19:00 - $500 Sub 2:40:00 - $ Media Guide 2017