East London’s premier long distance runner Lusapho April jetted off from the East London Airport yesterday on his way to the US where he will take part in the annual New York City half marathon this weekend.
April is a regular at the race, having competed there over the past few years and will be aiming for another top performance.
“It is a race I enjoy competing in and I feel like I am part of the environment here so I hope I will do well,” said enthusiastic April.
In last year’s race April posted a personal best 20km time on his way to a fourth placed finish.
He will be aiming for another top finish this year, and having good knowledge of the route and conditions he should challenge for the title again.
“Personally I would like to improve on my personal best time and if possible I would like to try run under 61 . I would have to run something special to do that,” said April.
This weekend’s New York race carries added importance in that April is using it as a build up to the Hannover Marathon in Germany where he will attempt to run an Olympic qualifying time.
The official qualifying time for the Olympics is 2hr 19min, but April’s coach Karen Zimmerman claims that many people will be able to run that time and believes that he needs to run a time in the region of 2:10 if he is to qualify for the Olympics.
“This weekend’s race is part of the build up to Hannover, which is the big one, as that is the race I want to do really well in and qualify for the Olympics,” said April.
“It is the race that really put me on the map and got me noticed,” said April.
Having run his best marathon time of 2:08:32 on his way to claiming the Hannover Marathon title in 2013, this will be the perfect setting for April to run his qualifying time.
He knows the course well and proved that he can run a very quick time on it, so it will be interesting to see how fast he can go.
“Hannover is one of my favourite races. I enjoy running there and the people know me now, so it is almost like running at home,” said April.
The New York half marathon gets under way at 7.30am (1.30pm SA time) on Sunday and carries a $20000 (R323619) prize purse for the winning man and woman.
April seeks victory in New York
April is a regular at the race, having competed there over the past few years and will be aiming for another top performance.
“It is a race I enjoy competing in and I feel like I am part of the environment here so I hope I will do well,” said enthusiastic April.
In last year’s race April posted a personal best 20km time on his way to a fourth placed finish.
He will be aiming for another top finish this year, and having good knowledge of the route and conditions he should challenge for the title again.
“Personally I would like to improve on my personal best time and if possible I would like to try run under 61 . I would have to run something special to do that,” said April.
This weekend’s New York race carries added importance in that April is using it as a build up to the Hannover Marathon in Germany where he will attempt to run an Olympic qualifying time.
The official qualifying time for the Olympics is 2hr 19min, but April’s coach Karen Zimmerman claims that many people will be able to run that time and believes that he needs to run a time in the region of 2:10 if he is to qualify for the Olympics.
“This weekend’s race is part of the build up to Hannover, which is the big one, as that is the race I want to do really well in and qualify for the Olympics,” said April.
“It is the race that really put me on the map and got me noticed,” said April.
Having run his best marathon time of 2:08:32 on his way to claiming the Hannover Marathon title in 2013, this will be the perfect setting for April to run his qualifying time.
He knows the course well and proved that he can run a very quick time on it, so it will be interesting to see how fast he can go.
“Hannover is one of my favourite races. I enjoy running there and the people know me now, so it is almost like running at home,” said April.
The New York half marathon gets under way at 7.30am (1.30pm SA time) on Sunday and carries a $20000 (R323619) prize purse for the winning man and woman.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending Now
Latest Videos