NAIROBI, March 5 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's Anthony Maritim says he is ready to put his title on the run when he arrives in Spain for Sunday's Barcelona marathon.
The 33-year-old has had a good performance ever since he finished fifth at the Hefei Marathon in China back in 2016 where he clocked a fast time of two hours, 13 minutes and 15 seconds.
Last year, Maritim set a personal best time winning in Barcelona in 2:08:08.
His 42km escapades have seen him claim four wins from his eight competitive marathons. He hopes to add the fifth on Sunday on return to Catalonian Capital.
"To prepare for a race that lasts a little over two hours takes four months of effort," says Maritim on Tuesday from Eldoret.
"You need to be both disciplined and hard-working. All marathons need to be taken seriously, otherwise you cannot expect too much from the race. The training needs to be very consistent."
Throughout his five-year marathon career, Maritim, who claimed victory on his marathon debut in Cologne, Germany (2:10:26), has come under the coaching influence of Patrick Sang, the former world and Olympic steeplechase silver medalist.
Describing his coach "as like a mentor", the experienced distance runner has complete faith in the man, who has also guided Eliud Kipchoge throughout his stellar career.
"The culture in camp is to have total trust in the coach. I know he will do the best for me, I just need to follow him and then when it counts I know I will be victorious. Sometime I struggle in training a little like last year I had a hamstring ahead of Barcelona Marathon. But he said to me in my last training session, I don't see it as a major problem. He can so often predict what the outcome is going to be."
Sang's thoughts proved prescient as Maritim went on to triumph in the Barcelona Marathon by a victory margin of 18 seconds, recording a best time of 2:08:08.
Matirim however, believes he is his main challenger in major races and spends less time to study his opponents.
"I normally do what is best for me and I do not focus on the other athletes. You just need to concentrate on yourself in order to do the best you can in the race," he said.
To avoid being an easy target by his opponents, Maritim believes it is important to vary the running styles adapting to the specific needs of the race. However, he insists on team work as critical in his quest to in Barcelona.
"Whenever you work together as a team you can be confident the outcome will be strong," he explained.
"To be encouraged by other athletes and to simple run and train with them is very inspiring," he added.
