Running News Daily

Ethiopian Tsehay Gemechu outkicked Brigid Kosgei to retain her title in Lisbon

Tsehay Gemechu outkicked Brigid Kosgei to retain her title, while Keneth Kiprop Renju claimed a clear men’s race win at the EDP Lisbon Half Marathon, a World Athletics Elite Label event, on Sunday (8).

Ethiopia’s world 5000m fourth-place finisher Gemechu ran 1:06:44 to win by two seconds ahead of Kenya’s world marathon record-holder Kosgei, while Kosgei’s compatriot Renju ran solo to a time of 1:00:13, 47 seconds ahead of Ethiopia’s Mohamed Esa.

Gemechu, Kosgei and Ethiopia’s Gotytom Gebreslase had remained together until the closing kilometres, passing 10km in 31:37 and 15km in 47:25. Before they reached 20km in 1:03:27, Gemechu and Kosgei had managed to drop Gebreslase and the leading pair were seven seconds ahead at that point.

Their advantage only grew and as they kicked in battle it was Gemechu who had the best closing strength, winning in a sprint finish. The race came a couple of months after Kosgei’s Tokyo Marathon victory in 2:16:02, with Gebreslase third on that occasion.

“I am so happy for my win,” said Gemechu, who finished second in the Istanbul Half Marathon in April. “The weather is very hot. I am happy to win against a strong athlete like Brigid Kosgei.”

Israel’s Lonah Chemtai Salpeter finished fourth in 1:08:33 and Italy’s Sofiia Yaremchuk fifth in 1:10:35.

Renju, meanwhile, passed 10km in 28:11 and 15km in 42:15 in the men’s race before clocking 57:02 at 20km and continuing on untroubled to triumph.

The battle for the runner-up spot was much closer and Esa ran 1:01:00 to beat Kenya’s Elvis Kipchoge Cheboi by three seconds, with his compatriot Kipkemoi Kiprono another five seconds back.

Marathon debutante Piasecki wins in Florence

Britain’s Jessica Piasecki recorded the second-fastest time in the history of the Asics Firenze Marathon, winning the World Athletics Bronze Label road race in 2:25:29 on her debut at the distance on Sunday (24).

Ethiopia’s Nigussie Sahlesilassie Bekele took the honours in the men’s race with 2:10:14, just four seconds shy of the PB he set earlier this year.

A leading group formed by Piasecki, Kenya’s Salina Jebet, Viola Yator Jelagat, Ethiopia’s Mekash Dinknesh Tefera, Amelework Bosho Fikadu, and Burundi’s Elvanie Nimbona went through 15km in 52:34.

Tefera, the fastest runner in the field with a 2:23:12 PB from a few years ago, went to the front and reached the halfway mark in 1:14:31, closely followed by Piasecki, Yator and Jebet. Tefera and Piasecki then broke away, clocking 1:27:55 at 25km with a 14-second margin over Yator.

Piasecki launched her attack soon after, opening up an eight-second gap on Tefera by 35km, reached in 2:01:38.

The 29-year-old continued to ramp up the pace and by 40km her lead had grown to more than a minute. She crossed the finish line in 2:25:29 to move to third on the British all-time list. Only Lonah Salpeter, who won here in 2:24:17 last year, has recorded a faster time on this course. Tefera finished second with 2:26:47 ahead of Salina Jebet (2:30:28).

“The course was quite twisty, but it was an amazing race,” said Piasecki, the 2012 European U23 cross-country champion. “It was the first marathon race of my career and I achieved my goal of getting the Olympic qualifying standard for Tokyo. I can’t believe it.”

Her next goal is the 2020 London Marathon in April, which will double as the British trials for the Olympic Games.

A six-man group formed by Kenyans Kipkemoi Kiprono, Jackson Rutto Kemboi, Peter Kirui Cheruiyot, 2014 Florence winner Asbel Kipsang and Ethiopians Nigussie Sahlesilassie Bekele and Azmeraw Gereme Mengistu took the early lead, going through 10km in 30:15, 15km in 45:24, half way in 1:04:28 and 30km in 1:32:00.

Bekele stepped up the pace and broke away from Mengistu, going through the 35km mark in 1:47:18 with a lead of 24 seconds. Kipsang was further back in third place.

Bekele crossed the finish line in 2:10:14, missing his career best by just four seconds. It was his third consecutive 2:10 clocking of the year, having set PBs of 2:10:46 in Wuxi in March and 2:10:10 when winning in Stockholm in June.

“After 30km I tried to step up the pace,” said the winner. “I saw that my rivals were not able to keep up with my pace. I held on until the end.”

Course record fill at the Madrid Half Marathon Sunday

Kenya’s Kipkemoi Kiprono and Tigist Teshome of Ethiopia secured their respective victories at the Movistar Madrid Half Marathon, an IAAF Bronze Label road race, on Sunday April 7. 

While the men’s victor managed to lower the previous race record by seven seconds thanks to a 1:01:47 performance, Teshome’s clocking came 28 seconds outside the women’s best.

The men’s race opened at a cautious rhythm as the first half of the race was uphill. The leading group reached five kilometres in 15:07, composed of 12 men including the favourites Kiprono, Ronald Kiptotich, Bernard Kiprop Kipyego, Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Abera and South Africa’s Desmond Mokgobu.

Kenya’s Langat Kipkurui went through the 10km checkpoint in 30:10 closely followed by Kiprono and the Ethiopian tandem of Abera and Erkihum Jenberie as the main group had whittled down to nine.

Once the race entered in the downhill section the pace increased dramatically. It was the eventual winner Kiprono who took charge of the race to clock a 14:32 split for the next five kilometres (44:43 overall), a pace that only Abera, Kiprotich and Erkihum could mustre.

Shortly before the 18th kilometre, Kiprono shook off his rivals and began to cushion his lead and turning his attention, successfully, to breaking the 1:01:54 course record.

In the fight for the runner-up spot Abera, a 2:04:24 marathoner, got the better of Kiprotich, 1:01:59 and 1:02:02 their respective times. The Ethiopian was making his first outing in 18 months while the unheralded Kenyan set a new career best.

Paced by Spain’s Francisco Javier de León, the women’s contest kicked off at a steady 3:20/km clip with five Ethiopian runners at the front: Teshome, Hawi Magersa, Abebech Mulugeta, Obse Abdeta and Aberu Ayana. Mulugeta was the first to drop while the remaining four clocked 33:32 for the opening 10km.

Around the 12th kilometre, Teshome and Magersa broke away, reaching 15 kilometres in 50:03. Teshome’s relentless pace paid off shortly afterwards when she forged on alone, eventually reaching the line in 1:10:08, a new personal best.

Magersa was second in 1:10:55 while Mulugeta regrouped to finish third in 1:11:08.

Several runners set for the Madrid Half Marathon are capable of breaking the course Record

Ethiopia’s Tesfaye Abera, who boasts an impressive 2:04:24 marathon PB set in Dubai in 2016, has a best of 1:00:32 for the 13.1-mile distance but hasn’t raced since October 2017.

He will face stiff opposition from Kenya’s Emmanuel Kipsang, Kipkemoi Kiprono and Bernard Kiprop Kipyego. Kipsang and Kiprono have sub-1:01 PBs, but managed 1:02:24 and 1:03:38 at the Rome-Ostia Half Marathon four weeks ago. Kipyego is the 2009 world half marathon silver medallist and has a best of 59:10 but hasn’t bettered 1:01 since 2014.

Uganda’s Daniel Rotich set his 1:00:59 PB in 2016 and should be in contention for a podium place, as will South Africa’s Desmond Mokgobu. Spanish hopes rest with Javier Guerra, a 1:01:18 athlete who will use Sunday’s event as a build-up for the Madrid Marathon later this month.

The men’s race record of 1:01:54 was set by Uganda’s Moses Kibet in 2017, while the women’s record of 1:09:40 has stood to Cynthia Jerotich since 2014 and looks similarly vulnerable.

Ethiopia’s Muliye Dekebo, who produced a huge career best of 1:07:57 in Rome last month, leads a large Ethiopian contingent which also includes Tigist Teshome, Hawi Magersa, Abebech Mulugeta Aynalem Kassahun Teferi, Aberu Ayana and Adawork Sadura.

Italy’s Sara Dossena, who set a big PB of 2:24:00 at the Nagoya Marathon four weeks ago, will be trying to prevent an Ethiopian victory and looks capable of breaking her PB of 1:10:10. Morocco’s Soukaina Atanane and Burundi’s Elvanie Nimbona should also feature among the lead pack.

More than 20,000 runners will take part in the event.