Leonard Patrick Komon's firm intention is to debut
at the half marathon with a world record. The Kenyan athlete wants
to execute that plan on Sunday 11 March during the 38th ABN AMRO
CPC Run The Hague.
RECORDS
Komon already owns the 10 and 15K world records. The top athlete
who was born on 10 January 1988 in Nairobi, established those
records in 2010 during the Singel Run in Utrecht (26.44) and the
Zevenheuvelen Run in Nijmegen (41.13).
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Last year, the weather thwarted Komon's attempt to establish a
world record in the 10 mile Dam tot Dam Run; he was four seconds
short with his time of 44.27. Komon won the silver medal in
the 2008 World Championships.
AMBITION
"We have been following Komon with great interest for the last
few years and are very happy that he has chosen the ABN AMRO CPC
Run The Hague to make his debut at the half marathon," says
organiser Mario Kadiks. "We have the ambition to bring the world
record back to The Hague and Komon is pre-eminently the athlete who
can make that happen. He is ready."
WANJIRU
In 2007 Samuel Wanjiru gave the half marathon world record to
the CPC Run. The Kenyan Olympic marathon champion of 2008
(Beijing), who died suddenly last year, finished in the Dutch Royal
city in 58.33. Since then, the world record, 58.23 (Lisbon, 2010),
has been in the possession of Zersenay Tadese from Eritrea. Komon
is convinced that he can surpass that performance on the fast track
in The Hague.
ENTRIES
At the ABN AMRO CPC Run The Hague Komon will be leading a field
of maximum 32,000 participants. Meanwhile, almost 10,000 entries
have already come in for the various components. That is over three
thousand more than in the same period on 1 January 2011 for the
previous edition of this traditional family event.
GREAT INTEREST
"It's moving at high speed" says organiser Kadiks. "The interest
is greater than ever." To guarantee the high quality level of
this Like2Run-event, the line has been drawn at 32,000 runners.
Last year 30,097 took part, a record number.
Those who want to be assured of a bib number would do well to enter
quickly at www.cpcloopdenhaag.com
MALIEVELD
At the ABN AMRO CPC Run The Hague, besides the largest half
marathon of the Netherlands, the Dunea 10 km Run, the West 5 km
Run, the Aramco Student Runs, the ABN AMRO Youth Run, the Ernst
& Bobbie Children's Run, the Schools' Run and the Business Runs
will also be taking place. The Malieveld is the atmospheric,
throbbing heart of the event.
WAVE START
To provide an even better service to the participants, a
so-called wave start will be introduced for the first time. The
runners in the half marathon and ten K will be allocated to
various starting pens on the basis of their expected finishing
time.
SCHOOLS' RUN
The Schools course is the most popular and largest of the
Netherlands. Last year an unprecedented 8,500 runners from 83 Dutch
primary schools took part. The Business Runs, for
organizations that run in a team with colleagues and associates,
are another very popular part of the event. In March 2011, 489
corporate teams took part.
FINAL SPRINT
Last year the ABN AMRO CPC Run The Hague was decided by a final
sprint. The Ethiopian Lelisa Desisa won over compatriot Azmeraw
Bekele: 59.37 against 59.39 minutes. The best five athletes
finished within the hour. Koen Raymaekers, the Dutch number one,
achieved three personal bests: in the 10 kilometres (28.43), 15
kilometres (43.32) and the half marathon (1.02.09).
CHARITY
The charity of the ABN AMRO CPC Run The Hague is AMREF, Flying
Doctors. Participants can make a donation to this organization at
the time of entry. In this way they help to educate doctors in
South Sudan and to give the population a healthier future.
There will be a year long campaign in The Hague to support the
reconstruction in the former war-torn country. That will take place
under the motto "The Hague flies for the doctors of South
Sudan".
