Lonyangata keeps eyes on Paris prize

Kenya's Paul Lonyangata is targeting a glorious return to action at the postponed Paris Marathon in October.

Lonyangata, the reigning Shanghai Marathon champion, finished third in Paris last year to miss out on a hat-trick of victories in the French capital, having won the 2017 and 2018 editions.

This year's race has been rescheduled from April 5 to Oct 18 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, with his training restricted back home, Longyangata is trying to prepare as best as possible for a road-racing resumption, with reigning in Paris again top of his agenda. First and foremost, though, Longyangata wants to see the world rid of COVID-19.

"The world today is different and we must adapt to what the health officials are telling us. I still do my training, though not as I would have wanted," the 27-year-old said last week from West Pokot in Kenya.

"I have enough time to adapt and hopefully will have the training going on well soon.

"Of course I look forward to returning to action and hopefully stage a good run. I want to be on the podium by reclaiming the title, which I last won in 2018. That is what I pray to achieve."

Kenya's government has extended a 21-day dusk-to-dawn curfew and restricted movement across the country. Sports competitions have been canceled and athletes are not allowed to train in groups.

However, Lonyangata appears to be taking these inconveniences in his stride and still manages to fit in his all-important long runs.

Lonyangata clocked a personal-best 2:06:10 when winning the 2017 Paris Marathon, when he and his wife, Purity Rionoripo, became the first couple to do a men's and women's double in the race.

Kirui's struggle

Not all of Kenya's elite distance runners, however, have coped with athletics' shutdown as well as Lonyangata.

Geoffrey Kirui, the former world marathon champion, admits he briefly lost interest in training after the Boston Marathon was pushed back to September.

The 27-year-old says he has learned to live with the situation and has slowly resumed training in the hope of being fit to return to competition in September.

"The fear of contracting the virus made it hard to train in the first place. People were scared and locked themselves up," Kirui said last week.

"But I have still found a way to train in Nakuru and I have been enjoying my runs with hope of competing in Boston if it will not be canceled."

But with September's 2020 Berlin Marathon canceled last month, Kirui remains fearful that more hard work in training could ultimately go down the drain should Boston organizers follow suit.

"September is not far away. Already there will be no marathon in Berlin, but we hope America will open up and allow us to compete. People need to return back to life and see what sports can offer. I can only pray to God for things to change," he added.

Kirui suffered a drastic slump in form after winning gold at the 2017 world championships in London. His best result since then has been a second-place finish at the 2018 Boston Marathon and he finished 14th at last year's worlds in Doha.

However, he remains optimistic of one day topping the podium again.

"There will always be some race that will boost your career, and I believe after a turbulent time in the last two years, I can get a win and stabilize my running again," he said.

"There is a lot of competition from the younger athletes, but that is what is helping me remain focused. A small slip will be hard to recover from."

For now, Kirui recognizes that "our health and safety is the priority", but added: "While we maintain a safe distance, we need to focus ahead beyond COVID-19 and strategize on how to compete again."

Xinhua