NAIROBI, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Former Mumbai and Amsterdam marathon champion Valentine Kipketer from Kenya is facing a strong challenge with confidence towards Sunday's Frankfurt marathon.
The 25-year-old will be racing in his second marathon this season after winning the Madrid's Rock & Roll marathon in April clocking 2:30:40.
However, she will face headwinds, especially from her countrywomen led by Paris marathon champion Betsy Saina (2:22:56), Nancy Kiprop (2:24:18), Janet Rono (2:26:03) and Sylvia Medugu (2:29:09) for the title.
"It will be my first time to run in Frankfurt," said Kipketer on Thursday in Nairobi. "But that does not mean I am afraid. Events of this caliber have strong women and for me to win, I must be at the top of my game. My training has gone well and I feel I have the extra energy to destroy the opposition."
In March Kipketer was in position 12 at the Kilimanjaro Half marathon, but she recovered to go for the gold in Madrid.
But after recovery from the Madrid exhaustion, Kipketer believes her training has been strong and challenging enough to propel her to another win in Germany city.
"The idea is to leave a lasting mark on the heart of Germans and to do so, I need to win this race. Many have not believed in me, but I know what I have done in training and what strategy to use in Frankfurt," said Kipketer.
With a personal best time of 2:23:02 from her win in Amsterdam in 2013, Kipketer wants to improve on the time, but that will only come if she has wrapped up the victory.
"The important thing is to win. I have strong opponents who will push me all through the course. So time will just fall into place," she added.
Saina is the fifth fastest in the elite women's field with a personal best time of 2:22:56 behind a quartet of Ethiopians led by Mare Dibaba (2:19:52) and Haftamnesh Tesfay (2:20:13).
The men's line-up is headed by Kenya's Wilson Chebet (2:05:27) and Ethiopia's Kelkile Gezahegn (2:05:56). Enditem
