Here are the contenders for the IMT Des Moines Marathon titles

The IMT Des Moines Marathon women's elite field, compared to previous years, is bursting at the seams with entrants.

Last year's 20th annual event featured just three invited runners, Ethiopian Hirut Guangul and locals Emma Huston and Danna Herrick. The realistic list of contenders for the title dropped to two beforehand when Herrick, just eight months from having a baby, knew she would not be in her typical race-ready shape. Guangul ended up cruising to victory in 2:36:05, the fastest winning time since 2016, and more than five minutes ahead of Huston. Herrick was nearly eight minutes behind Huston's 2:41:46 effort.

Fast forward to this year, where five women - three from Kenya and two from Ethiopia - are expected to toe the line at Court Avenue Sunday at 8 a.m. to chase a $2,500 top purse. The race pays out money only to the top three so expect the competition will be fierce.

"Usually we've gone begging for women," IMT Des Moines Marathon elite athlete coordinator John Tope said. "This year we have five. Everybody seems to be committed."

The 30-year-old Guangul was expected to vie for her third consecutive IMT victory in four years (there was no race in 2020). Tope said Guangul, however, suffered a leg injury Thursday and had to withdraw.

Guangul's fitness wasn't a certainty, anyway. She was beaten to the finish of the TBK Bank Quad Cities Marathon in Moline, Ill., by champion Damaris Areba of Ethiopia and Kenya's Isgah Cheruto on Sept. 25. Areba, 27, ran 2:30:29 in the flat course, with Cheruto, 33, runner-up in 2:36:51. Guangul was only third in 2:37:18.

Areba and Cheruto are entered Sunday. The field also includes Kenyan Gladys Kipsoi, who missed running in the Twin Cities Marathon two weeks ago when she came down with a stomach virus. Kipsoi, 36, owns the fastest marathon of the bunch, a 2:27:32 run at Houston in January of 2018.

"She comes in the freshest of all," Tope said. "(Missing the marathon) You've got the advantage of being able to train. It (running a second marathon so soon) takes something out of you. It does matter a little bit."

Add in Kenya's Gladys Yator, 30, and Ethopia's Buzuayehu Mohomed, 26, and you have the deepest women's marathon field for this race in many years. Yator owns a best of 2:31:27 at Warsaw, Poland, in April of 2019 while Mohomed is trying to bounce back from a fourth-place finish at Moline last month when she ran 2:44:51. Mohomed owns a best for the 26.2-mile distance of 2:38:37 from Rome in April of 2018.

Areba is the lone female elite with experience on the Des Moines course. The Ethiopian was second to Guangul in 2019.

"Very excited to have the depth we have in the women's field," Tope said. "It should lead to an exciting race Sunday."

Last year's men's IMT field was equally lean, with eventual champion David Too pulling away from Luke Kibet late to win in 2:16:19. Too, a former Iowa State track and field star, is not entered. Kibet, the winner in 2017, is coming to Iowa.

He's not necessarily the favorite. Former West Des Moines part-time resident Sammy Rotich clocked a 2:10:07 time and finished a close runner-up to Dominic Ondoro at Grandma's Marathon in June. Rotich missed the IMT race last year when he couldn't get a visa out of his native Kenya last year. He is back in pursuit of a coveted first IMT title.

Tope said Rotich owned a 30-second lead after 20 miles at the Quad Cities Marathon last month before he suffered IT band issues and had to back off. Rotich, 35, ended up third in 2:20:45, 2:41 behind winner Jackson Limo of Kenya.

"His time at Grandma's puts him as a favorite if his IT band is OK," Tope said. "He's a perennial top three in the marathon here. He knows this course. It's one that he hasn't been able to get quite yet."

Kibet, 39, finished runner-up at the Quad Cities Marathon in 2:19:53 and ran 2:18:08 here a year ago. Count on him to be in the mix for the win if the others cannot match his consistent 2:18 or 2:19 effort.

The men's elite field numbers four, with Limo and Kenya's Vincent Toroitich rounding out the contenders. Toroitich, 31, claimed the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon title in May in 2:19:52 while topping Kibet. He owns a marathon best of 2:10:52. Limo, 38, owns a best of 2:09:06.

"Luke and Sammy know each other very well," Tope said. "They could say, hey, let's take turns sharing the pace and see what we can do."

Cold weather traditionally leads to a slower pace by the East African runners. But elites Sunday could be motivated to run faster with race organizers offering a $1,000 bonus for times under 2:20 for the men and 2:40 for the women.

The men's half marathon will be a tremendous rematch from a year ago, when former ADM of Adel prep Mason Frank of Aurora, Colo., claimed victory and a $750 Scheels gift card. Frank, 33, ran 1:04:05 to top Blake Whalen, runner-up in 1:05:27, and third-place Cody Baele. Whalen and Baele, both Runablaze athletes from Des Moines, are running better than last fall. Baele, 27, captured the 10-mile Capital Pursuit title on Sept. 25 in 49:59, 10 seconds ahead of Whalen, 27.

"He's definitely got his sights set on breaking the course record," Tope said of Frank.

Frank, Baele, Whalen and possibly others will be taking aim at the mark of 1:03:20 set a decade ago by Kenya's Samuel Ndereba.

Samantha Wingert of Cedar Falls cruised to victory in the women's half marathon a year ago in 1:16:36. Wingert, 35, won by just over five minutes. The task figures to be much tougher this year for Wingert in her search for a third career IMT title.

Huston, who owns Drake University school records in the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000, set an Iowa all-time road racing record when she won Capital Pursuit last month in 57:19. Huston, 28, is a former Des Moines Roosevelt prep.

Herrick, a former Hansons-Brooks Distance Project athlete who is preparing for the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon on Nov. 5, also is entered. Herrick, a former Boone High standout, owns the third-best 10-mile time of 57:45 in Iowa history.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Here are the contenders for the IMT Des Moines Marathon titles