Prokopcuka eyes fourth title at Great Edinburgh Run
Tag it:
22.04.2009
Riding on a string of impresive performances this
season Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia emerges as the
front runner to claim her fourth title at the Bupa
Great Edinburgh Run.
Latvian Jelena
Prokopcuka who completed a hat-trick of Bupa Great Edinburgh Run victories
in 2007 will chase a fourth title on her return for this year‘s race on
May 3.
The 32-year-old
Latvian best known for her two victories in the New York City marathon, comes
back to the Scottish capital riding on a string of excellent performances this
year.
Prokopcuka, the 2002
World Half Marathon Bronze medallist, will start the 10 kilometers race well
aware of her strength after winning the Paris Half Marathon crown last month.
She showed plenty of
pace over the 10km distance when taking third place in a hotly contested
Great Ireland Run in Dublin earlier this month.
"The course was
probably at little to flat for her there," said Andy Caine, the event‘s elite
athletes manager.
"Jelena in the past
has thrived on the uphill stretches of the Edinburgh route which have always
proved to be the foundation for her victories," she added.
Prokopcuka will
however face stiff competition from Portugal‘s European Cross Country silver
medallist Jessica Augusto and the highly experienced Aniko Kalovics in the
field and who both know the course very well, a close contest is definitely
on the cards.
Kenya‘s former world
10,000m gold medallist Sally Barsosio will lead the African challenge, although
surprisingly no one from Africa has ever won the women‘s title in Edinburgh since
the meeting‘s inception four years ago.
