Speaking to the media after a photo session at the historic Princep Ghat, Kenyan Leonard Barsoton, a silver medallist in the 10,000 mts African games, said: "My preparation is good. Last year I did not race. I had Achilles' heel, but I have recovered well. Planning to do cross country in the future. But now I'm focused on running marathon. I am optimistic of running a full marathon in the future. The longest distance I have done is 30k. So I fancy my chances here."
Kenyan American Stanley Kebenei said: "It is nice to visit Kolkata. I always wanted to visit India. 25k is a new territory, but I don't restrict myself. I believe with good preparation I can pull it off. I will try my best to give a good competition."
Ethiopian long distance runner Tariku Bekele, whose brother Kenenisa won the first edition of the international edition here, said: "My brother (Kenenisa Bekele) is my hero. Changing career to marathon, things seem different, but I am still trying my best. Kenenisa trains me, we are there for each other. I want to run very fast and training hard for that."
Ethiopian Birke Debele, who is leading the women's list, said: "I am eager to run here in Kolkata. I have already run three marathons this year but not at all tired and will try to give my best on Sunday. I would like to improve my performance in half marathon and in the future would want to run more in that category. I like long distance training while preparing."
Failuna Matanga, from Tanzania, said: "I have been training well and ready to run. I am focused on doing well in this marathon. I have done a lot of preparation for Kolkata. I want to impress with my performance on Sunday and break my current best timing."
( With inputs from IANS )