The 15th edition of the Weir Venloop will also host the Dutch 10 km Road Championships. The start list includes as many as thirteen athletes who have run a 10 km under 30 minutes before. Fav.orites for victory among the men are Luuk Maas, Frank Futselaar and Filmon Tesfu. Among the ladies, Irene van Lieshout, Ruth van der Meijden and Marcella Herzog will compete for the title.
NK 10 km men
In March, Luuk Maas surprisingly became Dutch Champion at the half marathon in Nijmegen. He chose only at the very last moment to take a shot at the Dutch title in the ten-kilometer in Venlo. He ran his personal record of 28.53 minutes last year in Berlin. Frank Futselaar ran the limit for the Olympic marathon in Tokyo (Sapporo), but ultimately could not participate because five other Dutch marathon runners were faster. In 2017, Frank became Dutch Champion in the 10,000 meters and has been on the podium at this championship every year since. He ran his personal record of 28:45.30 minutes last year in Leiden. Filmon Tesfu was slightly faster than Frank this year. He ran a fast time of 28.35 minutes in Valencia and finished a handsome second at last year’s Dutch Championships 5000 meters.
Women’s NK 10 km
Among the women, the field of competitors is evenly matched. Favorite is Irene van Lieshout who ran a time of 33.17 minutes in Nijmegen earlier this year. Ruth van der Meijden became Dutch marathon champion last year in Amsterdam (2:29:55) and, like Irene, has a personal record of 33:17 minutes. In 2013, Ruth already became Dutch Champion in the half marathon in Venlo. Marcella Herzog, with a personal record of 33.25 minutes, is not much below these two ladies. Anne Luijten (33.44 minutes), Jacelyn Gruppen (34.08 minutes), Limburg’s Jenifer Gullikers (34.25 minutes) and Silke Jonkman are sure to compete for a podium finish. In 2018 and 2022, Jacelyn placed second at the NK half marathon in Venlo and Nijmegen, respectively. Silke Jonkman is debuting at an official 10 km, but already finished a handsome second at the Dutch Cross Championships in Tilburg last winter.
Strong Kenyan runners added to top half marathon field.
Unfortunately, some cancellations for the half marathon last week came from fast Kenyan and Ethiopian runners (Gete Alemayehu, Gloria Kite and Nelly Jepchumba) and an Ethiopian runner (Abdisa Tola). However, the organization still managed to find worthy replacements. Strong Kenyan runners such as Wilfred Kimeli Kimitei and Moses Koech were added to the top field. Wilfred ran a personal record of 59.40 minutes in Ras Al-Khaimah in 2018 and most recently ran a time of 59.56 minutes in Malaga. Moses even ran a lightning-fast unofficial time of 59.31 minutes at Roma-Ostia this year, officially he has 60.00 minutes.
Among the women, Ethiopian Dibabe Kuma is now the favorite. She ran a time of 66.45 minutes in Barcelona in 2019. She will face competition mainly from Kenyan Winfridah Moraa Moseti, who won the Madrid half marathon in 67.22 minutes in the spring.
