Men’s and women’s world record-holders to race together

Dennis Kimetto after his marathon world record in Berlin in 2014.

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Both world record-holders in the marathon are scheduled to race together at the start of December, though that may be where the similarities end.

Dennis Kimetto, who less than two weeks ago broke the men’s world marathon record at the Berlin Marathon, has announced that he will be next racing at the Montferland Run in Heerenberg, Netherlands, alongside women’s record-holder Paula Radcliffe.

The 15K race has grown to one that regularly attracts many of the world’s top road runners, having been won by greats such as Haile Gebrselassie and Kenenisa Bekele, though the two runners are at notably different points in their careers.

Radcliffe set her record in 2003 at the age of 29. She’s now 40 and has had her career curtailed by a series of nagging injuries.

Kimetto, 30, just became the first man in history to run under 2:03 in the marathon, and seemingly gets better with every race he runs. He’s won three marathon major appearances in the last year (Tokyo, Chicago, Berlin). In his first major appearance, he finished second to training partner Geoffrey Mutai, at the 2012 Berlin Marathon, running what was then the fastest debut at the distance ever. Some thought that he may have even let Mutai win.

The Kenyan man has raced Montferland before and finished fifth, meaning he’s familiar with the event. Radcliffe, according the to IAAF, has never even raced on Dutch soil or even contested a 15K race.

Kimetto will likely be in contention for the win, a race Haile Gebrselassie doubled-back to win after setting his marathon world record in 2007. Radcliffe, though still an elite runner, will likely be outclassed by the current crop of top road racers competing on the day.

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