Kenya trio to run as team

An elite Kenyan men's trio including the Olympic and world champions will try to replicate the team tactics of their successful cross country compatriots in tomorrow's London marathon.

Defending champion and Olympic gold medallist Sammy Wanjiru, world champion Abel Kirui and Duncan Kibet, the second fastest man ever, told reporters they will combine to run as a national team until near the end of the 42.195 kms event.

"We will run as a team until the last five kilometres," Wanjiru told Reuters.

Kenya swept all the individual and team medals at the world cross country championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, this year for the first time since 1994.

Wanjiru, 23, finished second behind compatriot Martin Lel on his London debut in 2008. Four months later he became the first Kenyan man to win the Olympic marathon title and last year he finished first in London and Chicago.

This year he has suffered from a back injury which prevented him from running in January but yesterday he said he felt capable of breaking his course record of two hours five minutes 10 seconds.

"I can run faster than last year, 2:04 is possible I think," he said.

"But I'm not thinking about the world record but the course record. The course is very hard because there are so many curves. Running for a long time is very hard."

Kibet's time of 2:04:27 in last year's Rotterdam marathon has only been bettered by world record holder Haile Gebrselassie.

Kirui clocked 2:05:04 while finishing third to Kibet and James Kwambai in Rotterdam last year before going on to win the world title in Berlin in a championship record of 2:06:54.