Kenyan Kipruto to make half marathon debut in France

Nairobi, Nov 17 (IANS) Beijing 2008 Olympic steeplechase champion Brimin Kipruto of Kenya will launch his career in the road race in France at Sunday's Boulogne-Billancourt Half-Marathon.

The 33-year-old, who also won the 2007 world steeplechase title, was eliminated from his heat at the IAAF World Championships London 2017, which was his last competition to date, reports Xinhua news agency.

"I have been looking for the opportune time to venture into road race and France will be my first stop in this journey. I have not set high expectation because I don't know how my body will react. But a win will be welcoming," said Kipruto on Saturday.

Having now shifted his focus to the roads, he will have much to do in Boulogne-Billancourt with the likes of Josphat Tanui and Olika Adugna also in the race.

Tanui has a personal best of 59:22 set last year in Usti, suggesting that Franklin Chepkwony's course record of 1:00:11 from 2013 could be in jeopardy.

His season's best, however, is 1:01:14 from the Prague Half Marathon in April, while his most recent performance at the distance was a 1:02:42 clocking in the Netherlands in September.

Ethiopia's Adugna illustrated his current form by winning the challenging Marseille-Cassis 20 km race three weeks ago.

The 19-year-old finished fifth in the 10,000m at the IAAF World Under-20 Championships Tampere, Finland in July.