Running News Daily

Kenyans Kipngetich and Chembai were the winners of the 42nd edition of Göteborgsvarvet

Edmond Kipngetich and Susan Chembai – those are the names of the winners of the 42nd edition of Göteborgsvarvet.

“I didn’t expect to win, but I am really happy I did,” said Chembai, who crossed the finish line 20 seconds before the runner-up.

Four male and two female runners came to Sweden with personal bests under the current course records at Götebortsvarvet, but no new records were broken this day. However, Edmond Kipngetich finished first of the 40,000 participants and Susan Chembai was the first woman to reach Slottsskogsvallen.

Edmond Kipngetich, with a personal best an impressive 59:25 from last year, was in the lead at each of the split times and crossed the finish line at 1:01:46, 40 seconds before his fellow countryman Braved Kiprop and another 58 seconds before Alex Kibet, the runner in the starting field with the best personal best.

“It was tough today, but it felt great to win. The course was tougher than I thought and I had to fight hard, but was stronger than the others today,” he said.

First among the runners competing for Swedish clubs was Samuel Russom (Hässelby SK). The Eritrean citizen finished sixth at 1:04:04 and was the best non-Kenyan. David Nilsson from Högby IF was the best Swedish citizen, six seconds before Archie Casteel (Spårvägens FK).

In the women’s class four Kenyans and two Ethiopians took the first six positions. The best of them was Susan Chembai who was 20 seconds ahead of the runner up, finishing on 1;10:40. As predicted Hanna Lindholm was the best Swedish runner, finishing seventh, more than one minute and two positions in front of Johanna Larsson from Örgryte IS.

Göte­borgsvarvet and the race week in Sep­tem­ber 2021 is canceled

Göte­borgsvarvet 2021, which was to be arranged on Sep­tem­ber 11, is can­celed. Both the clas­sic 21km race and the oth­er races dur­ing the race week are can­celed, this due to covid-19 and the increased spread of the dis­ease in the region.

This is extremely sad for the organization as well as for all participants, but with great respect for the pandemic, which unfortunately still is increasing, we had to make this decision, says Jahja Zeqiraj, chairman of the Gothenburg Athletics Association.

After the cancelation of Göteborgsvarvet last year, hard work has been going on for over a year in order to arrange Göteborgsvarvet 2021 in a safe way. More than 35,000 participants were registered for this year's edition.

The last couple of weeks with the increased spread of Covid-19 in the region made it impossible to arrange a safe competition with start and finish around the area of Slottsskogsvallen. The decision applies to all races planed in September.

The decision was made at an extra board meeting last night after dialogue with the disease prevention and control authorities and representatives from the health care in the region.

We have for a long period of time planned and hoped to arrange Göteborgsvarvet and our other races in a safe form this fall, and the earlier dialogue we have had with authorities and healthcare has been positive. Which made this a hard but necessary decision, we still have a strong determination and will to fight for both Göteborgsvarvet and the Athletics Association with its’ 50 track and field clubs in Gothenburg to live on. In this, we need support from Gothenburg to get through these challenging times together. We are now looking forward to 2022. A long-awaited restart of society is on everyone's agenda, including ours.

Claes Mangelus, medically responsible doctor for Göteborgsvarvet

- We have had a good dialogue with authorities, the Police and the healthcare system all the way. The forecasts for the races to be arranged have been good, but with today's reality and the recent negative development make it untenable to arrange an event of this size. The pandemic is ongoing, the spread of infection is increasing again and the burden on the public healthcare remains high, so we all agreed that the decision to cancel this year's edition is the right one.

All registered participants for Göteborgsvarvet and Göteborgsvarvet Marathon will still be able to participate digitally. Digital participation gives a medal and an official result which is approved as qualifying time for Göteborgsvarvet 2022.

- Once again, we must switch from a physical to a virtual race. We know that there will be many questions from our runners and we ask you to please bear with us as we work through the details. Our goal and ambition is still to create a memorable running event even if we cannot be in the same place, says Jahja Zeqirai.

Over 4,000 runners in Göteborgsvarvet Virtual Race 21K

This weekend, 15-17 May, you can join a virtual version of one of the largest running events in the world - and support the sport! Make a difference when it matters and support the future of running.

Göteborgsvarvet Virtual Race 21k is also a seeding race before the Göteborgsvarvet Half Marathon 2021. There will be a livestream from the race on Saturday May 16th with one of Sweden´s best runners at the Swedish media channel gp.se, it starts at 12.45 pm CET. The solo runner is Suldan Hassan from a local athletics club in Gothenburg, and he will run after the race leader car, the 100% electric Polestar 2.

All runners in the race is contributing to the local athletics with their start.

The registration to the Göteborgsvarvet Virtual Race 21k is open until May 17th, and already have 4200 runners from 21 different countries registered to the race.

Main partners to the virtual race are the electric performance brand Polestar, and Garmin, the race is organized in collaboration with the athlete’s app Strava and one of the world’s largest races Göteborgsvarvet Half Marathon.

The 41st annual Göteborgsvarvet Half Marathon takes place on 22 May 2021. (The 2020 years race has been cancelled due to the corona virus). The great half marathon in Gothenburg, Sweden was first held in 1980 and approximately 80,000 runners are usually participating in one of the races during race week of the Göteborgsvarvet Half Marathon.

Göteborgsvarvet Half Marathon is organised by Gothenburg Athletic Association in favor of the athletics clubs in the region and is certified according to the ISO 20121 standards for sustainable events. 

Gichia and Kimining winners of the 40th Göteborgsvarvet Half Marathon

Perfect weather conditions, tailwind on Hisingen island and, as usual, a huge supporter crowd cheering for the runners. Those were the circumstances when Göteborgsvarvet celebrated its 40th year anniversary with another festive half marathon.

In the elite field there were a handful competitive and world-class long-distance runners. All was set for an interesting elite race, and indeed it became something very thrilling also this year.

In the women’s class we witnessed a phenomenal duel between Cynthia Jerop, Kenya, and Tabitha Gichia, Kenya, here Gichia became the first to cross the finish line after an impressive sprint during the last kilometres. Her finish time was 01.08,18.

In the men’s class Shadrack Kimining defended his victory from last year by some very strong last kilometres. His finish time, 1.00,38. Second place came Jirius Birech, Kenya and third place, Moses Kurong, Uganda.

Göteborgsvarvet Half Marathon was also the Swedish Championship in Half Marathon and in that national competition the winners were Charlotta Fougberg and Robel Fsiha.

Wilson Kipsang is going after sub 59 minutes at Gothenburg Half Marathon

Kenya's former world marathon record-holder Wilson Kipsang will have his first competitive race after almost three months when he takes part in the Gothenburg Half Marathon on May 19. Kipsang, 34, had to let his Tokyo Marathon title go without much fight after he developed problems just 15 kilometers into the race back in February.

However, he has recovered from his injury and will be trying to gauge himself against some of the fastest half marathon runners in the Swedish race on Saturday.

"During my last race, I really wanted to go fast, but after suffering from stomach problems just days before the race, I didn't have the power to run a decent race. I'm still disappointed, I was really ready for it," said Kipsang on Tuesday from Iten, Kenya.

The former world marathon record holder (2:03:23) and Olympic bronze medalist believes he has the strength to challenge his personal best time of 58:59 when he lines up in Gothenburg, the second-largest city in Sweden.

"I have done well since pulling out of Tokyo Marathon and will be keen to test my limits again," he said. Kipsang will be out to use the race in Gothenburg as part of his preparations before the latter half of the year, where he is expected to race in Berlin, Chicago or New York. 

Kipsang faces a strong line-up including Kenyan teammates Leonard Langat (59:18) Peter Kirui (59:22), Albert Kangogo (59:25), Richard Mengich (59:35) and Ethiopia's Abera Kuma (60:19). Former world 10,000m champion Ibrahim Jeilan, who has a best time of 61:47 will also compete. T