Kenyan's Ondoro Confident Of Defending Melbourne Marathon Titles

KENYAN runner Pius Dominic Ondoro is confident of defending his Melbourne Marathon crown tomorrow as he eyes the Australian all-comers record. Ondoro won in a race record time of 2hr 10min 47 sec last year and used the $35,000 prizemoney to buy land in his home town of Eldoret. But Ondoro is hoping to improve on that performance tomorrow, targeting the Australian all-comers record of 2:09.14 set by Kenyan Silah Limo on the Gold Coast in July this year. The quietly-spoken Ondoro, 25, said his training times indicated he was in better form than last year. He won a marathon in Minneapolis in June in 2:09.06 to break the race record. Ondoro admitted he dreamt of breaking the marathon world record of 2:02.57, set in Berlin two weeks ago by compatriot Dennis Kimetto. Commenting yesterday on Kimetto’s world record, Ondoro said simply: “One time I would like to be like him.” He identified Ethiopia’s Abera Belay as his main opposition in tomorrow’s race, which starts outside Rod Laver Arena and finishes at the MCG.