Friday, February 22, 2008

Kenyan runner to defend Tainan International Marathon title

Taipei, Feb. 22 (CNA) Kenyan long-distance runner Bernard Mutai will make it to the southern city of Tainan to defend his title in the 2008 Tainan International Marathon, despite widespread violence that has torn his homeland apart, the Sports Affairs Council (SAC) said Friday.

Three other Kenyan athletes will not be able to leave the East African country, which has been mired in violence in which 1,000 people have died following a controversial presidential election, the SAC said in a statement.

Mutai finished first in the men’s group in two hours, 21 minutes and 11 seconds while Russian runner Oksana Lokhlova won the women’s group in 3:03:09 last year.

More than 6,000 runners will participate in four distances -- the 42.195-kilometer full marathon, the 21-km, half-marathon, the 10 km and the 3 km -- in the annual race. Taiwanese runner Wu Wen-chian, who has qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, will participate in the 10km event as a pre-Olympics warm-up.